The SPIN Doctor family was eating dinner at home on a recent evening when someone knocked on the door. A young man stood on the porch, smiling uncertainly. "Hi, how are you? My name's Bob. I'm the area manager for _______ Exterminators. Today I'm visiting homes in your area..." The SPIN Doctor said "no thanks" and closed the door.
Poor Bob. He'd been given a script that just didn't work, and he wasn't aware of the research that shows that an unsolicited pitch has only nine seconds to catch a prospect's interest. Bob wasted his nine seconds providing information of no importance to the customer-his name, his job title, his company name-and as soon as he paused for breath, the sales call was over.
What should Bob have done differently? One approach would be to simply say, "Exterminator. Seen any mouse droppings in your basement?" Bob must know that there are woods behind all the houses on that street, and as the weather gets colder the mice start looking for indoor accommodations.
Hmm, I haven't SEEN any mouse droppings, but then, I haven't LOOKED for any mouse droppings. And would I know them if I saw them? Just how tiny are mouse turds, anyway? Maybe Bob could take a look. Suddenly, Bob isn't interrupting my dinner; he's helping me with a problem. A single question using SPIN could have gotten Bob through the door.
Bob's sale is worlds away from the long-cycle, high-dollar, major account selling that Huthwaite and its clients are usually concerned with. But there is a fundamental principle of selling that links the world of a door-to-door salesman with the world of a Fortune 100 super-seller. That principle is putting yourself in the buyer's shoes. Would YOU buy from you?
There's a famous episode of "Seinfeld" where Jerry gets a call from a telephone solicitor. Jerry explains that he can't talk now, "but give me your home number and I'll call back you back tonight." When the seller declines, Jerry says he understands: "You probably don't want people calling you at home... well now you know how I feel!"
We all pay lip service to "customer-centric" selling, but it doesn't add up to anything important unless you make an effort of imagination to see the situation as the customer sees it. Call it the Seinfeld Effect: If you and the buyer switched roles, how would you see one of your typical sales calls? Are you talking about things that matter to you (your products, for example) or things that matter to the buyer (business problems)? If you're blowing your own horn, don't be surprised if your solo is only nine seconds long.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
The Seinfeld Effect
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1 comment:
I like it that's just the way it is.
My name is john i have been selling door to door, telephone sales and etc. My story is when i was selling dictionary on the doors. I banged one door, a man came out i took a short presentation of my self i got in i looked around said it was a nice place, turned around said to the man : you are lucky now i don't use sugar or milk in the coffee, he said to me do you want a cup of coffee ? i said yes please. He was looking thru the books,(here is my points) and he said well i i am not sure if this is for me... i looked at him and the three children and i said,without any hesitation:if my father had these books to help me with my home works do you think i would be going around selling these books?? he looked at me and then at the children and he bougth the books.
After that i never took myself serious, and i made many moore sales. It is different to sell where iam from and thats norway.any questions please feel free to kontakt me on : jon1petterathotmaildotcom
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