From Art Sobczak:
How to Ensure You Never Hear
"I Don't Need That"
Greetings!
I saw that just yesterday, real estate company
Century 21 decided to quit producing and running
TV ads. They were usually entertaining, and
I'll miss them.
One of my favorites was a humorous piece that
illustrated a great a great sales point.
A real estate agent is showing a couple a house.
He pulls in a driveway of one that looks exactly
like the 20 others on the block and says "How
about this one?"
The wife says, "We said no ranches."
He backs out of the driveway and pulls into one
directly across the street. "This is more of a
Colonial-inspired ranch."
"No ranches," they respond in unison.
So he then drives them across the street again
to another identical house: "Well, this is a
Tudor-inspired ranch."
"NO!" the husband shrieks.
At that point the narrator comes on and states
"Century 21's Pledge Point #13: Century 21 agents
will show only the houses you want to see."
Wow, what a novel concept, I say with my tongue
firmly planted in cheek.
Why in the world wouldn't that be the first thing
that all new agents hear?
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to sales training.
Our first point: show only homes that people want to
see. Thank you and go get 'em."
Matter of fact, it should be one of the first things ANY
new sales reps hears: talk only about what prospects
or customers are interested in.
There you go. Follow that point.
Live it.
Make it an ironclad rule.
It will reduce or eliminate objections.
Matter of fact, one thing you should never hear is
"We don't need that."
Here are specific action items to help you avoid
hearing the "We don't need it" objection.
Have a "Needs" Mindset
Never begin a call, or the planning of a call, from a
product/service presentation perspective. Such as "I'm
going to call today to present our new product line to
customers."
Instead, adopt the mindset of "What needs, problems,
and desires must my customers be aware of in order
for our new product line to be of value?"
Take your product/service benefits and results and
define what needs or problems must exist before
the benefits truly would be of value. Then create
questions you'll ask. For example, a sorter/collator
attachment for the prospect's copy machine would
only be of value if,
1) they don't have one already;
2) they have-or anticipate-copy jobs that require
sorting and collating; and,
3) they're doing it manually and it's taking the time
of a person who could be doing something else, or
they want to prevent that from occurring.
Embellish their Needs and Problems
The hungrier someone is, the better that scrumptious
dish sounds, and the more desirous they become.
You enhance their hunger with your questions so
that when they hear your presentation, they're listening
from an open, receptive, salivating state of mind.
This is the key to helping them want to buy instead of
selling them.
Using the sorting and collating attachment example
mentioned above, taking point 3, where the company
had a person performing the tasks manually,
embellishment questions would include,
"How much time are they spending?"
"What does that cost in terms of labor?"
"What other things could they be doing?"
Recommend AFTER Questioning
Only present after you've identified their needs,
problems, and potential gains they desire. Make this
an unbendable rule! It's here that you ensure you
won't hear the "Don't need it" objection.
Get Information Before You Give It
I define a "pushy" salesperson as one who presents
something a person doesn't want or need. Asking the
questions first eliminates that possibility.
Know When to Leave
In some cases you'll come up empty in the needs
department. In that case, don't hesitate letting go
without a time-wasting presentation that would only
create objections. You might, however, want to ask
one more catch-all question to drag your net through
the sea to catch anything you might have missed:
"Joe I'm not sure if what I have would be of any value
to you. Could you see any possible circumstances
changing where you would be expanding your assembly
line?"
Again, a simple concept: talk about only what they
have interest in. It's the difference between "pitching,"
and giving someone what they want.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Optimists are right. So are pessimists. It's up to you
to choose which you will be."
Harvey Mackay
Go and have your best week ever!
Art
Contact: Art Sobczak, President, Business By Phone Inc. 13254 Stevens St.,Omaha, NE 68137, (402) 895-9399. Or, email:arts@businessbyphone.com Sphere: Related Content
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