Customers and prospects prefer to be told in a nice way, not sold in any way!

If you become the client of a ‘professional’, such as an architect, an engineer or a doctor, you probably welcome being told what is best for you…providing of course that the ‘telling’ is done in a pleasant way, and with good intentions. We expect such people to ‘down-sell’, not ‘up-sell’, and remember we do not have to take the advice offered…since we, the customers, control the decision making process. However, we should also remember that we, the customers, most often do as we are told by professionals, because they know what they are talking about…and they operate with our best interests at heart. My question is this: ‘when are people in business going to start behaving in this manner?’ It would seem that suppliers are concerned with ‘selling what they make’, and professionals specialise in ‘telling what they know’. If you want and need to sell more products, then talk less about products and talk more about the best ways for the customer to achieve success…with your product.

I am currently writing a book to help individuals and companies improve their sales results, and here is an abbreviation of a new presentation process called ‘T.E.L.L.’...

* TELLING customers and prospects why you want to meet with them, using words such as these (after a brief introduction): “‘Since I assume that your current supplier is quite satisfactory, there is only one reason for me to be here, and that is to investigate whether it is possible for us to create much better results for you…in areas that are important to your company. This is not a hit and miss approach, because we specialise in delivering results as well as products and service. The service we offer is called (you should have a service that is named in accordance with your aim to create better results, such as ‘A20M’ – referring to an Assessment, aimed at determining if a Minimum 20% improvement can be achieved).

This service will create one of two positive outcomes for your company: the first is that our assessment might show that we can’t achieve a minimum 20% improvement, and the second is that the assessment does show that a minimum 20% improvement can be achieved.” This kind of ‘opening’ has the effect of disarming the market.

EXAMINING customer performance standards (if available), to be presented by you to show that levels of ‘good’, ‘better’ and ‘best’ exist…followed by questions to determine where the customer or prospect stands now, in terms of their results and the way they do things (with their supplier). If we assume that your ‘service’ (such as A20M) is driven by a radical, proven strategy, then at this point you need to ask only enough questions to see if the strategy you offer is being used by the incumbent supplier or not. If not, then you proceed to the next stage.

LISTING the details of your higher strategy, to show how it makes a positive difference to results…compared to ‘traditional’ supplier ways of doing things. Most suppliers do not engage in efforts to improve results, simply because they play the role of distributors, not contributors.

LEADING discussion to the point of immediate action, either of the kind that will serve to ‘prove’ that you can deliver on your opening promise…or the kind that results in a complete change from the incumbent supplier to your company. One way or the other, the key here is to recommend action that the person will find acceptable and manageable.

The phrase ‘tell it like it is’ applies strongly to what the market has a right to expect from leading suppliers…providing that your ‘it’ is designed to significantly lift their results with your kind of product or service. Use the ‘T.E.L.L.’ process effectively, and customers will do as they are told.