NB: The following advice is mainly for proactive marketers, salespersons and others who need to look for business opportunities by going out physically or contacting prospective customers or clients (prospects) either digitally or through social media.
If the prospect has not yet made a decision, find out under what circumstances he would consider a purchase. If the prospect has made a decision to buy, but not necessarily from you, try to add value by engaging as many of his senses as possible e.g. sight, touch and hearing (depending on the nature of the product or service). If done properly, the prospect’s sub-conscious mind will tell him that
you are selling a product or service that is completely or substantially different from any competing or comparable ones. Remember that physical features are not the only important issue in the buying decision. This aspect of uniqueness will give an advantage to your product or service.
According to Analytico, it is important to understand what the customer considers to be most important when making a buying decision, and then educate them about why you are the best choice-in very specific terms.
The following points can help you to build a compelling case for your product or service:
- Sell on value, not on price. If the prospect brings up the price issue early in the conversation, explain why price is not the only important, and indeed is not the most important issue in the decision he has to make. Be prepared to give the maximum possible value to the prospect, while making a reasonable profit (and of cause without incurring a loss). However, you should never knowingly short-change a prospect or customer.
- Make or include an irresistible offer to the prospect. Make the greatest possible use of discounts, bonuses or freebies if this will not cost you too much. Make an offer which stands out from anything else being made by competitors, including a money-back guarantee.
- If using email to sell to customers or clients, write out a number of scripts based on different scenarios, and try them out on different prospects, to see their impact. Consider using sales reps with different styles to see if you will get different results.
- Sell your product or service from the prospect’s point of view. It is important to understand what could be going on in the prospect’s mind e.g. issues like affordability, urgency, and immediate impact on financial position if the purchase if implemented. Persuade the prospect that, regardless of all the different issues to be considered, he will be overally better-off if he goes ahead with the purchase.
- Make sure that your presentation is credible. In other words, the prospect must not have the slightest doubt about the value of the product or service, or the truthfulness of your statements. Everything that you say must be believable.
- Research and experience have shown that prospects usually use the words ‘Let me think about this’ or “I will call you’ to avoid making a commitment or decision on the spot. More fundamentally, this type of response indicates any of the following:
- (i) You have not explained the features or benefits of the product or service to the prospect’s satisfaction
- (ii) you did not properly qualify the prospect
- (iii) The prospect has silent objections or lingering doubts about the product or service
- (iv) The prospect does not trust you, or maybe does not like you
- (iv) You have done or said something that put off the prospect.
Note that, if the prospect has decided to make a purchase, the issue of paying immediately is a different type of problem which can be solved e.g. by offering short-term credit to the prospect.
If you want to have more impact in your marketing or selling activities, help is only a phone call away.
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