Jeffrey Gitomer Prospects have rules. Follow them to make an easy sale.
When you make a presentation, you’re not the only one with expectations. The person you’re presenting to has as many or more than you. Are you aware of them? Or are you just making a pitch for your commission?
Most salespeople believe that they are selling their product or service. Wrong. The prospect is buying it and in order to get the maximum amount of buy’s, you must approach each sale with the maximum understanding of the buyer’s position.
Making the sale is so much easier when you take the prospect’s point of view and direct your actions based on his principles and expectations rather than yours.
Here are 19.5 prospect Wants and Expectations from a professional salesperson (like yourself) …
- Don’t waste my time. I’m busy. I’ve got a million things to do that are more important than listening to you unless I perceive a need.
- Be organized and prepared. When you call me, write me, propose to me, or visit my office, be ready with facts and direct answers.
- Be interested in me. (Not your sales pitch or your commission.) Take a genuine interest in me and my company. Take a tour. Ask how we serve others. Ask what’s most important. Ask what our aspirations are.
- Know my needs. Don’t even try to tell me what you think I need. Know exactly what I need. Question me before you sell me.
- Take notes. You can’t remember everything. I want you to recall every detail of our conversation. I want our communication error-free.
- Show me how you help me. I’m not interested in what you do or what you sell unless you show how it helps me or my business. Tell me how you are helping me if I buy.
- Know who I am. The better you understand me, the easier it is to get me to a decision. I’m not going to buy until I understand you, I suggest you understand me as well.
- Tell me the truth. I want to trust you, but I’m skeptical. If I sense the truth, I’m most likely to buy and vice versa.
- Tell me what’s in it for me. Show me how things will be different, better after I buy. Tell me why what you do will make a difference in what I do after I buy.
- Prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Don’t tell me, prove it to me. Show me testimonials of others who are like me who bought your product or service and are satisfied.
- Help me buy, don’t sell me. I want to feel that it’s my choice. If you push me, I’m skeptical. Figure out a way to let me choose what I want to buy.
- Paint me a picture I can see in my mind’s eye. Let me visualize owning it, using it, benefiting from it not just buying it.
- Reinforce my choice. Tell me about others’ successes. Reassure me that I’ll be happy and satisfied.
- Make me feel special. Tell me the wisdom of my choice. Thank me personally by mail. Give me something to remember you by.
- Make me laugh. I want to feel comfortable. I want to feel at ease with you. Laughing helps me to relate to you and sets a great tone for the business.
- Listen to me. You may think you have all the answers, but you won’t use them to your best advantage if you don’t know what I need to hear. If you listen closely, I’ll tell you exactly what I want and exactly how I want to be sold.
- Show me value for my money. My money is tight. I work hard for my money. I want to spend it in a way that makes me feel that I got real value. Tell me the extra benefits I derive by purchasing
- Tell me this is a long-term relationship. Not just a one-day stand. I’m buying because I feel confident that if all goes the way I hope it will go that I will buy again. I want to have a business friendship not just make a purchase.
- Make me feel proud. Proud enough about what I bought to go out and tell others or refer others to you.
19.5 Deliver what you promised. Not just your product. Not just your service. Deliver what I expected, and surprise me by delivering something unexpected.
Sales are driven by questions. Those you ask the prospect and those you ask yourself before you begin the selling process.
As salespeople and entrepreneurs, you each have a point of view and perspective as to how you approach a sale. Let me challenge you that unless that view and perspective is the same as the prospect you seek to sell, it’s useless. The prospect’s point of view is more important than yours. The prospect’s perspective is not only more important than yours, it’s the one the sale will be made with.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerLearningAcademy.com. For information about training and seminars visit www.Gitomer.com or email Jeffrey at [email protected] or call him at 704 333-1112.
