The best product or the best end dream?
If you have the best product in the marketplace, it does not make you successful…it just means you have the best product. It is a great starting point and yet products and competitors that you may consider to be a lower standard can somehow secure customers and business that you would love to win.
So, what might it be that they be doing consistently well, that if you did, it would move your business to great and bigger success? It will very likely be how they associate their products and solutions to the dreams, needs or ambitions of the customer.
Introduction
I was once approached by a salesperson who simply asked me if I enjoyed or wanted to enjoy a peaceful, bed bug free sleep? Well, who wouldn’t? Two hours later I had bought a Dyson vacuum…in a house that had 95% wooden floors! Never once until the close of the sale did I think I was buying a vacuum…I was buying a great night’s sleep for me, my wife, and my young children. I was working as a sales manager at the time and immediately offered the salesperson a job in my team (selling insurance rather than vacuums!) …so I got a vacuum and the best salesperson in my team for the next 5 years.
5 Parts to Brilliant Sales…
Every sales business or person has a ‘process’ they follow, whether it is the ‘official’ company sales process or an approach they have developed which they repeat with every customer. A huge factor in how successful you are or become is the process you adopt, work with, and become a specialist at delivering. In this blog we will offer you 5 parts to a brilliant sales approach. Here goes…
Part 1: Name a Big, Relevant Change in the World
How often have you sat across from a salesperson and the first thing they do is tell you about their company, products, history, or other clients? Or worse about themselves?
Don’t kick off a sales presentation with these things. Instead, focus on an undeniable shift in their business world that creates a big opportunity for them and the need for urgency or action.
Note I am not saying start with “the problem.” When you start by saying the customer has a problem, you may put them on the defensive. They may be unaware of the problem, or uncomfortable admitting they suffer from it.
But when you highlight a shift in their business world, you get them to open up about how that shift affects them, how it scares them, and where they see opportunities. Most importantly, you grab their attention.
Here is an example for insurance brokers:
“Safely navigating the complex insurance landscape”.
Rather than just buying or selling policies, gain a strategic partner, helping you navigate the complex insurance landscape. The best will achieve even greater social impact by acting as society’s “financial safety net” and contributing to a better workplace, marketplace, and society overall.
Part 2: Show There’ll Be Winners and Losers
All potential customers suffer from what is called “loss aversion.” That is, sticking to the status quo (what they already have and know), rather than risk the advantages of opting for something new.
To combat loss aversion, show them how the change will create winners and big losers. In other words, you have to show both sides of the story:
- That making the change will likely result in a highly positive future for the prospect; and
- That not doing so will likely result in potentially very negative future.
…and then showing how the “winners” who have shifted to your solution have benefitted.
Part 3: Tease them with the Dream!
Now you need to resist the temptation to jump into the details of your product or service. Resist, resist, resist!
Instead, first present a “teaser” vision of the happily-ever-after that your product/service will help the prospect achieve - the dream.
Here is an example for insurance brokers:
- Ongoing premium value,
- Realtime support and information,
- Personalised solutions for your personal business challenges,
- Memorable and valued experiences with a trusted broker,
- A peaceful sleep every night – knowing you are covered no matter what.
Your dream should be both desirable (obviously) and difficult for the prospect to achieve without your help.
Note that the dream is a new future state, not your product or service.
Part 4: Introduce features as “gifts” for overcoming obstacles to the dream
If your prospect is Luke, and you’re Obi Wan, show them a ‘lightsabre’ (your product) to help him defeat the Empire (their dream). Please excuse the Star Wars link!
When you introduce your product or service, do so by positioning its capabilities like the lightsabre as a “gift” for helping your main character (prospect) reach that much-desired dream.
Position your product or solution as the big step from the old to the new, and make sure they know that the dream can only be achieved by taking those first steps with you.
Part 5: Present evidence that you can make the dream a reality
In telling the sales narrative this way, you’re making a commitment to prospects: If they go with you, you’ll get them to the dream.
But the road to the dream is, potentially, littered with obstacles, so prospects are rightly sceptical of your ability to deliver. The last piece of the approach, then, is the best evidence you can offer that you can make the story you’re telling come true. So, get testimonials from those you have already supported and use them frequently!!
Final thought…
A sales story works best when everyone tells it…successes in sales rarely happen as the result of one great approach. For salespeople to be successful, the entire business must be using the same language about change, the dream, and gifts (should that be the language you choose to use?).
In fact, these things must be the theme of all your business communications and campaigns, as well as its public vision.
Insurance Support Solutions Ltd can provide business support and guidance to support the successful answering of the question ‘How can we deliver sales brilliance?” ensuring:
Dream delivery
Raised customer awareness
Customer trust and confidence
Brilliant sales experiences
Ask us about what is involved, and we will work with you to provide a bespoke solution that gives you the confidence and conviction that customer experience is making a positive impact within your business and on your customer relations.
And Finally…
I was recently fired from my job selling amplifiers, when I asked why I was told I hadn’t achieved a sufficient volume for sales!
