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Don’t
Sell The Quarry
Increase
sales by focusing on benefits
Are
you having problems keeping your prospect’s
attention? Do you spend a lot of time talking
about what your product or service can do, but
your customer just doesn’t “get it”? Are you
treated with hostility after your sales
presentations? If you said “yes” to any one of
these questions, perhaps your problem is that you
are selling “features” instead of
“benefits”.
Many
years ago I worked for a company that sold
super-minicomputers along with a suite of
software. As the database product manager in the
marketing department, I frequently worked with
Sales reps doing presentations and demos. One of
the more seasoned sales reps used to tease the
newer reps who focused too much on product
features instead of what benefits the customer
would see. His little taunt went something like
this:
"When
you discuss the hardware, don't just tell the
client about all the parts and pieces. Instead,
explain what quarry we got the sand from to
make the silicon for our chips, how the silicon
was made, and how the chips are
manufactured."
That
was his way of saying -- “…don't bore the poor
prospect with all the features. All they care
about is what it will do for them – or what the
benefits are.” So, Don't Sell The Quarry.
Sell the Benefits!!
This
little parody has helped remind me over the years
that we should be selling and presenting solutions
and benefits, not just features and functions.
It's amazing how often this is forgotten. As I
train and coach sales professionals in many
different industries, it’s amazing how often I
see this happen, regardless of what industry
they’re in. I’ll ask a sales rep to explain
the top three benefits of their product and most
of the time they will tell me the features. As
much as sales reps want to believe they know the
benefits of their products or services, what they
really know are just the features.
This
can be detrimental to your selling efforts. For
instance, during an initial sales call do you find
yourself presenting all the detailed features of
your product or service, such as telling them all
the particulars of your service, instead of
discussing how your service can streamline their
workflow? Or, have you ever found yourself showing
the prospect how "easy" it is to
calculate their own mortgage or insurance premiums
instead of doing it for them so they see how much
they can save through your company? These are
sure-fire ways of putting your prospect to sleep
– and losing the deal!
Discussing
features only has the potential of scaring the
client away because they won’t understand how it
will benefit them. There's plenty of time to show
exactly how a product works, but not in a one or
two hour meeting when you're trying to convince
the prospect that, a) your product can solve their
problems, b) your company is solid and viable, and
c) YOU are an experienced sales professional with
many years in the industry providing solutions to
clients, just like them. Most importantly, you
want to use that first meeting to identify all
your prospect’s problems and pains so you can
present the right solution to them.
One
of your primary goals during initial visits with
prospects should be to keep them thinking about
why they should buy from you, instead of why they
shouldn't. The best way to do this is to avoid any
objections the prospect may have about you or your
product. Getting involved with detailed feature
descriptions will almost always raise objections
and fears that your offering is too complex to
use. When you purchase a new car, the salesman
doesn’t explain how the engine works, does he?
A
good test to make sure you are on the right track
is the “So What” test. Every time you say
something, imagine your customer saying “So
what!” In other words, you tell them something
that you think is important, but the customer says
“So what. Why is that important to me?” The
answer to that simple question will be the
benefit. Also, make sure you present the value to
your customer. It’s not as important what the
product or service costs as it is to increase the
value to the customer.
Here
are five Quick Tips to remember when
selling benefits and value to your customers.
1.
Emphasize the Benefits. If you present
benefits that your prospect isn't interested in,
they won't be motivated to buy. So be sure to know
what your client is looking for so you can sell
the right benefits
2.
Put a Price Tag on the Benefits. Once you
find out what your prospect wants, find out what
those benefits are worth to them. Will your
product/service save them time? Reduce labor
costs? Increase profits? Show them what problems
it can solve and the goals it can help them meet.
This information is also useful after the
installation in order to measure the success of
the project.
3.
Focus on Value, not Price. What's most
important to the customer is what they get for
their money, not just how much it costs. Make sure
they understand what the value is to them, not
just the cost of your product.
4.
Sell to People. Even though the prospect's
company has a need for your product, make sure you
show how the decision maker(s) will personally
benefit from it. Then provide them with examples.
5.
Appeal to their Emotion. Paint an
emotional picture of your prospect using your
product or service in their particular
environment. Help them to see how pleased they'll
be that they won't need to create reports any
more, or that their people will be more
productive. Remember the last time you bought a
car and the sales rep had you sit in it. She might
have kept referring to it as "Your" car
and how well "You" look sitting in it.
Selling
is hard enough. We must remember not to make it
even harder by overwhelming our prospects with
features and details. We must resist the
temptation to show the client just how much we
know. There will be plenty of time to do that,
once you get invited back. By then, you could even
take them on a tour of the quarry if you want.
Good
luck and good selling!
Russ
Lombardo
PEAK
Sales Consulting
russ@peaksalesconsulting.com
(702)
655-5652
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