Every time a salesperson opens their mouth ~ even if the person they are talking with is already a customer ~ the person listening is THINKING “but why do I care?”
Seriously, as salespeople, it is our job to connect the dots from the problem / issue / concern / challenge / pain (pick a word for yourself) the prospect is having …. DIRECTLY to what our product or service does to fix it!
Notice I don’t say “what your product does” because your prospects and customers just don’t care. If I were in marketing, I would start to explain about features… but I’m not so I won’t!
I will stress that the facts about your product or service don’t interest anyone. You know, it is the stuff we’re really proud of:
- small or big
- how long the warranty is
- all the beautiful colors
- fast or slow
- how it is made
- where it is made
I’ll also tell you why the stuff you sell is WONDERFUL doesn’t interest anyone either!
- smaller or bigger
- longer warranty or faster replacement than the competition
- brighter, more options, longer lasting colors
- faster or slower
- 10-step process….
- made locally
no one cares but YOU, so stop talking about what it is or why it is great and
start talking about WHY THEY CARE
Sound easy? It’s not – believe me I try all the time to follow my own advice, then hear myself talk about my “stuff” and mentally kick myself.
To begin, take the advice of Jill Konrath’s book SNAP Selling and begin by making a list of everything your product or service
- increases
- decreases
that will begin to change your thought process from what it is into what it does for your prospects and customers.
Need another great idea? Talk with your best customers about what it does for them! No better way to find out what your products and services do than ask the people who are already using them.
Plus, that will give you the story of what it does for them – people always connect more to stories than any other way we communicate. Share both what it does, and what it looks like in the world of people similar to them.