All too often, when a salesperson meets with a prospective client, he spends more than half of the meeting focusing on the features and benefits of the products or services that he represents.
While features and benefits do convey information and educate, they do little to grab, and hold, the prospect's attention. Facts are cold. They don't evoke emotion, which is the secret sauce of sales. In order for prospects to take action, there has to be an emotional reason for them to decide to make a change.
The following is an example of a salesperson's prospecting approach (the names have been changed to protect the guilty):
For more than 17 years, Production Max Associates has helped injection molding manufacturers maximize production, improve quality control and reduce expenses through a comprehensive workflow analysis and the development and implementation of optimized processes.
Technically, there is nothing wrong with this description. It highlights aspects of the company's services and mentions a few benefits. It's informative, but certainly isn't the kind of exciting and thought provoking discussion that will compel prospects to immediately take action.
Read the salesperson's statement again. Is it a statement that a prospect is going to be so intrigued by that he will immediately call his staff together to discuss the positive impact that Production Max's solution could have at his company?
Using a bunch of technical buzzwords with lifeless overused adjectives just doesn't spur a prospect to action. When you describe your business, product or service, work hard to breathe some life into the descriptions. Tell a story. Add names. Add numbers. Make it real, and relatable.
Let's breathe some life into our salesperson's example:
For more than 22 years, 87 percent of the nation's leading injection molding manufacturers, including Padron Casting, Owen Fabricators and PrecisionCast Metals, have relied on Production Max's solution to increase production capacity by no less than 32 percent while increasing profits by up to 45 percent. Additionally, extreme precision tolerances have been maintained while achieving unprecedented reject rates below one-half of 1 percent.
Names and numbers make the description more interesting and give the prospect something to grab on to. Descriptions should refer to real situations and, when permissible, reference real clients and customers.
When you make your product or service descriptions more interesting, your prospects will be more interested.
For more information, call (760) 931-7777 or e-mail Suzanne Audiss at [email protected].
If you mention this article, you will receive a complimentary invitation to her next two-hour sales workshop.
While features and benefits do convey information and educate, they do little to grab, and hold, the prospect's attention. Facts are cold. They don't evoke emotion, which is the secret sauce of sales. In order for prospects to take action, there has to be an emotional reason for them to decide to make a change.
The following is an example of a salesperson's prospecting approach (the names have been changed to protect the guilty):
For more than 17 years, Production Max Associates has helped injection molding manufacturers maximize production, improve quality control and reduce expenses through a comprehensive workflow analysis and the development and implementation of optimized processes.
Technically, there is nothing wrong with this description. It highlights aspects of the company's services and mentions a few benefits. It's informative, but certainly isn't the kind of exciting and thought provoking discussion that will compel prospects to immediately take action.
Read the salesperson's statement again. Is it a statement that a prospect is going to be so intrigued by that he will immediately call his staff together to discuss the positive impact that Production Max's solution could have at his company?
Using a bunch of technical buzzwords with lifeless overused adjectives just doesn't spur a prospect to action. When you describe your business, product or service, work hard to breathe some life into the descriptions. Tell a story. Add names. Add numbers. Make it real, and relatable.
Let's breathe some life into our salesperson's example:
For more than 22 years, 87 percent of the nation's leading injection molding manufacturers, including Padron Casting, Owen Fabricators and PrecisionCast Metals, have relied on Production Max's solution to increase production capacity by no less than 32 percent while increasing profits by up to 45 percent. Additionally, extreme precision tolerances have been maintained while achieving unprecedented reject rates below one-half of 1 percent.
Names and numbers make the description more interesting and give the prospect something to grab on to. Descriptions should refer to real situations and, when permissible, reference real clients and customers.
When you make your product or service descriptions more interesting, your prospects will be more interested.
For more information, call (760) 931-7777 or e-mail Suzanne Audiss at [email protected].
If you mention this article, you will receive a complimentary invitation to her next two-hour sales workshop.