Sam Manfer, Sales Mastery
Sales Force Training and Development - Focusing on Executive Relationships and Selling
Make Your Buyer Feel Good
Show Them What They Want and Then Differentiate
Part IV in a IV-Part Series of Selling Techniques
By Sam Manfer
The key to presenting is to make your buyers feel good about what they just heard by showing them you have what they want better than any alternative.
Step One - You must know your buyer’s vision solution:
In Part III of this series, I showed how to pull out of the individual exactly what s/he wants and how to enhance it with some other ideas you have that the buyer may not have mentioned. These together will explain their vision solution. It may or may not be similar to that of other people you’ve worked with. However, this buyer feels that theirs is unique and that it is theirs alone. So respect this.
Knowing this vision solution, you now must ‘present’ to it. If you deviate, for example, by showing something not mentioned but you think is hot, you run the risk of losing credibility. If you thought it was hot you should have mentioned it during the expose and entice phase. And, if they said “not interested,” then no means no. If you’re stubborn, you might say, “I know you said no, but one more time, would you like to see ….?” If you forgot to ask about something, just say, “I forgot to ask about this feature, etc. Is this of interest to you,” or something similar. Bottom line: stick to their vision—not what you think it should be. Otherwise, you’re going to look pushy … and nobody likes to be pushed.
Step Two - When presenting, you have to quantify to differentiate:
Face it, most of your competitors are similar to you, but you are not there to compare or bash the competitors. Your role is to fit your products and services to the buyer’s vision so that they feel good buying from you. The best way to do this is to tell your story with numbers … quantify. Start with you: a brief description of why they should listen to you. For example, you’ve been doing this for 5 years and had 200 hours of training by 4 of the manufacturers about these units. So, you are the first differentiator.
Quantifying: using numbers to explain makes your presentation come to life. Numbers paint a colorful picture, which is what anchors the feel of happiness for the individual. People buy because it feels good, or right, or comfortable, etc. They justify it later with reasoning. The more colorful you paint the picture, the more they can visualize it and the more real it becomes to them. When you ask people why they choose one over the other, they will usually say, “I don’t know, it just felt right,” and then go on to give reasoning. So, you can say, “This particular model, number 324, is 400 watts with 32 cycles, holds 14 gallons and we sell at least 14 a week to people in $2 million homes, $1/2 million homes and $100,000 homes.” Now that’s colorful. Rather than saying, “This unit has lots of power, many cycles, a large tank and we sell them like candy to all types of home owners.” No color here whatsoever. Which sounds more believable and which is easier to visualize?
Some of this may sound like overkill, but I’ll bet that after you’ve told your story a few dozen times, you’ll want to say, “It’s great; people love it; so buy it.” However, you’ve got to pump yourself up as if this is your first time, and it will be a lot easier, because now you know what you’re talking about, and it will be more fun because you’ll see the buyer getting jazzed. Knowledge leads to confidence, which leads to passion and enthusiasm, which leads to believability. Be careful here: If you stop at confidence (sort of cocky-confident) and miss the passion, the respect and trust elements of credibility are lost and you come off as annoying.
Probably one of the reasons you’ve stopped quantifying is that you think it’s boring to lots of people. You picked this up as you saw the reactions of buyers getting restless or annoyed as you did it a number of times when you started. What happened is they weren’t interested in what you were showing, and you made it worse by torturing them with details. So you stopped doing it. But if you show the product they want, they’ll be glued to the details. This is why your pre-presentation interview (Part III) is so important. Now, if you’re still concerned about going into details, just check in with them: “Am I getting too detailed for you?” Also be careful how deep you go. They want to know the exact time and you want to tell them how to build the watch … so to speak.
There are two other presentation skills you’ll also want to make use of. They are: “So What?” and “For Instance, …” When you say, “It has 32 cycles,” consider that the person will say, “So what?” and you will respond, “Well, you said you wanted lots of different options for different conditions.” “For instance, let’s say the kids come in with yadda, yadda, yadda, and you want something fast and easy, or you’ve had a fine dinner party and you want something delicate, or you want to sanitize.” The “So What?” keeps you on track with the buyer’s vision solution. The “For Instance, …” keeps enhancing the color of their picture.
The importance of this for you is the preparation. People usually don’t say, “So what?” But if you prepare yourself for a ‘just in case,’ you will keep yourself from wondering and you’ll be able to confirm the person’s desires. In retail situations, you go from interview to presentation immediately, but you can prepare while you interview. I suggest taking notes. Nobody minds. As a matter of fact, they’ll be impressed. As you write what the customer is saying, “Lots of options,” you’re also writing in the margin “32 cycles,” and underlining “Kids,” “Dinner parties,” and “Germs.”
Step 3 – Now for the real test:
Can you ask the most powerful question of selling, and the least used? That is, “How do you feel about what I just described?” Then can you stop talking and let the person tell you? The word feel is very important here. It’s not, “What do you think?” You have to get their feelings, because this will tell you where they’re at. If you don’t think you have to ask it because you can tell by the way they smile or object, you’re wrong. People can disguise their feelings and/or you can easily misread them, especially when you don’t know the person. But when you ask, you’ll know for sure.
If they ‘feel’ good, move in for the closing. “So this is the one to sign you up for?” or whatever you like to use. Be sure to have a few closing questions. Keep the “if’s” out of them and make them solid—requiring a yes or no answer only.
If their answer to the feel question is “Well, OK …,” or worse, you have to stop and back-up. Say, “Oh, you seem concerned or not sure. Tell me what’s bothering you.” This is not a question. It is a command sentence stated in a concerned manner. Then let the person explain and here, you have to be very careful. Give them some time to bring out their concerns/apprehensions and, once they start, you must hold yourself back. You’ll want to jump in and defend, but you must not! Rather, you should ask, “What do you suggest I should do?” Then listen to what they tell you.
You’ll have to figure out how to handle them, but they have just told you how to address their objections or issues. You can always excuse yourself to look for help from a manager or someone, if you need it. It’s important not to just answer—give it some space. If there are other things to see, you can move to them and come back to this later. You have to show that this is not just a flip response—you’ve given it consideration and you now have some suggestions. Tell them your suggestions and ask again, “How do you feel?”
This is your ticket to success. It takes all the guess work out as to whether or not the person will buy from you. You’ll know where you stand and what you have to address, without floundering and missing their main points of contention. Even if you blow it by not doing a pre-presentation interview, and go right into your song and dance, it’s still the best question because it will tell you where this person is at.
Summarizing: Once you know what the person wants (by interviewing), show them you have it better than any alternative by quantifying it—using numbers and discreet
visuals. Then ask for their feelings. If good, close by asking them to commit. If not so good, ask them to explain their concerns and listen. Ask what they suggest you should do about it and listen again. Clean it up, and once again ask for their feelings. Do this and you’ll be singing your way to the bank.
Sam Manfer delivers key note speeches and in-depth selling work shops for those anxious to increase sales. His hands-on coaching turns individuals and sales organizations into selling whirlwinds. Sam’s selling awards and $ Million sales recognitions support his methods. His book, TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER$ along with his Matching Chemistry’s CD and sales seminars replace selling myths and clichés that frustrate decision makers with a proven approach that captures their attention. Follow Sam’s C-Level Selling Blog for more insights. Sign-up for his free Selling E-Zine.
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