Sometimes when we do a good job of giving a Feature, Advantage and Benefit presentation we just don’t get the excited “buy in” we are looking for from our prospect. There could be any one of several reasons for a less than exceptional reaction. For the purposes of this article, I am going to concentrate on just one reason and explain how to fix it. Read the following benefit statements aloud. “Mr. Prospect, the new management skills that your managers will have at the end of each monthly session will help them improve productivity and profitability.” “Mr. Prospect, the new tread design on ...
The great sales trainer, Larry Wilson, taught that before we could sell our prospect, we needed to “warm them up.” He recommended using an ember. Now don’t get the wrong idea! He did not mean we were to set them ablaze. In this case Larry used ember as an easy to remember acronym. E.M.B.E.R. stands for “Establishing a Mutually Beneficial Empathic Relationship.” Some salespersons today might say that we need to create a “Win Win” relationship with the prospect. For both the salesperson and the prospect to believe that the purchasing ...
The great sales technician and trainer, Doug Edwards, said “people buy emotionally and then justify their purchase logically.” Salespersons have been proving this statement true for decades through their own experiences. Since we know that our prospects are very likely to have their emotions involved in their buying decision; that should affect how we present the benefits of our product. As professional salespersons, we know that a presented benefit tells the prospect what the product “helps them gain” or “helps them avoid losing.” Should we present our benefits positively or negatively? The answer is “Yes.” Studies over many years have determined ...
Some salespersons sell products that lend themselves very well to “add on” sales. For the purpose of this article, I define “add on sales” as additional products or services that may be of value to a buyer of a new item. In this article I will use the sale of a 54” High Def Flat Screen TV as the primary purchase. This product is currently listed at about $2000. The two “add on” items I will use are a stand to hold the TV and a Five Year In-Home Service Warranty. This stand would sell for approximately $200 ...
When closing a sale, sometimes it takes to. No, I did not misspell that last word of the first sentence. I really meant to write “t” “o”. Those two letters are the initials for one of the most long-practiced sales techniques we know. They stand for “Turn Over.” The “T.O.” is used in sales environments where the salesperson has other salespersons or sales managers nearby when they are presenting to prospects. This would usually be in a retail setting or perhaps a group sales presentation of some type. The “T.O.” is the technique of “Turning Over” a prospect to another ...
Communicating with one another is an interesting process. We use words to help each other understand what we want each other to know. However, when we say a word, the other person does not really envision the word we have said. For example, when we say the word “dog,” the person does not see in their mind the three letters “d o g.” The person will see in their mind an image of a dog. So what actually happens when communicating is that we paint “word pictures” in the mind of the person to ...
Do You Have an “Elevator Speech?” The other day my son called me. He is a new, but already successful, young internet entrepreneur. He told me that he had been invited to a luncheon of businessmen and that he would be given 60 seconds to introduce himself to the group. He told me that he had gone onto this web site to use the FAB Script writing tool to prepare what he proudly referred to as his “Elevator Speech.” (If you are a member of this site, you have free access to this great tool.) It is obvious that he had ...
As all of us in the sales profession know selling is a communication skill. Communicating is not an easy process even in the most trusting of settings much less the precarious setting of a sales presentation. Often we think of communicating as the sounds that are being sent back and forth between people. However, communication scientists tell us that in speaking to one another, we actually communicate more non-verbally than we do with the words we say. When we are making a sales presentation we should be aware of what our body is saying while we are speaking and listening. Just ...
The Sale After the Sale … Getting Referrals. Referrals have always been the single most valuable commodity a salesperson can acquire. The more referrals a salesperson is able to collect, the more income he is going to make. After we have created a new client, it is time to start selling again. We must sell the new client on giving us some referrals. In my 30-plus years of selling and coaching salespersons, I have noticed that most salespersons are very poor at getting referrals. There may be a number of reasons. If a salesperson is having a “run of success,” ...
What is “Post Closing” and Why Is it Important? “Post closing” helps to prevent the prospect from “changing his mind” after he has made a purchase. We do this by helping a new client reduce any “post purchase” doubts that may be entering his mind just after making the buying commitment. Do you remember the thoughts going through your mind the last time you made a major purchase (i.e. automobile, home, life insurance policy, etc.)? It is not uncommon for a person to begin to “second guess” his decision. This is often called “Buyer’s Remorse.” It does not always threaten ...
