Sales Clinic: Gimme A Good Reason!

Again, these are not magic words that will work every time, but the fundamental idea is the same—give people a good reason to meet with you and more of them will.

Agree To Buy

One of the most common situations in selling is when you have someone “almost sold.” They seem to accept all of the benefits you’ve described to them, and they may even have told you that your prices are very competitive, but they still haven’t given you any orders.

“Here’s where I think we are,” you might say. “I think I have almost sold you on doing business with me, but, obviously, not quite. If you were me, what would you do to take this relationship to the next level?”

Key point: You don’t have to guess at what the “good reason” might be. You are allowed to ask! I have written before that the best selling is interrogatory rather than declaratory. In fact, it might be a good idea to go back to that definition of prospecting and add another element of identification to the conversation stage—identification of the buyer’s hot buttons.

I have also written before about “tipping points” (“Tipping Points”, QP, January 2008), and you might look back to that column to get some more ideas on how to identify and take advantage of buyers’ hot buttons. Again, the fundamental idea is to give people a good reason to do what you want them to do. If you accomplish that, you have every right to expect that more of them will.

Don’t Be Common!

I overheard another conversation recently between a grandmother and her grandchildren. “Don’t be common,” she told them. When I asked her later on to tell me exactly what that meant, she explained that it’s a Southern term for being low-class.

I wouldn’t accuse you of being low-class, but I think “don’t be common” is still good advice if we interpret it this way: Don’t be the same as everybody else. Find ways to differentiate yourself in your selling style. Be more assertive, which I think automatically makes you more interesting and increases the likelihood that you’ll be taken seriously.

If you can couple all of that with at least one good reason why it’s in their best interest to do what you want them to do, I’m pretty sure you’ll see better selling results.

Dave Fellman is the president of David Fellman & Associates, Cary, NC; a sales and marketing consulting firm serving numerous segments of the graphic arts industry. Contact Dave by phone at 800-325-9634, by fax at 919-363-4069, or by email at dmf@davefellman.com. Visit his website at www.davefellman.com. See the ad for Dave’s products and services in this issue.