- The most important ‘winning sales behaviour’ to activate - 11 February 2022
- The question asked most often by sales people - 4 November 2021
- How to muscle in, and boot the competition out - 9 July 2020
Pay-off: Stop selling that. Sell this.
Investment: 2.5 minutes
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That thing, idea, or service you think you’re selling – it could be getting in your way. You could be banging your head against the wall (or the competition) making your life much harder than it needs to be.
You’d probably be much better off selling something else that’s easily within your reach…
What they told you to sell
Years back they used to bang on about not selling ‘features’ but instead selling ‘benefits’. “Good point!” everyone said.
Then some smart-arse leant in and added, “yeah, you don’t sell the drill do you? You sell the hole”. And everyone nodded.
Until buyers realised they weren’t happy with just the hole that the sales people were trained to sell. No, they actually wanted to fill that hole with a hook to hang their new original Banksy painting on, because they figured it would look cool above the dining table, filling them with immense pride.
What you sold
So, maybe you didn’t sell them a hole after all? Maybe you sold them the means to a better future?
Maybe you sold them the feeling they got when their friend’s jaw dropped and threw out the word, “Wow!”
Maybe you sold them the dopamine rush – the feeling of excitement and urge to show it off to their next guests when they come to visit.
What you should be selling
But, really, you shouldn’t just be selling the means to a better future. That’s if you want to stay in the game and remain relevant. Because a ‘better future’ usually has a short use-by date.
If you want to survive and thrive, you’re going to need to sell again to that customer. Whether it’s an idea, product or service that you sell, you’re going to want them to come back and buy from you again.
And not just once again. Or twice. No, as Peter Drucker said, “the purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.”
So, you should be selling the circumstances that have that buyer make a beeline for you and repeatedly buy from you into the future, to continuously create a better future for themselves.(Which creates a better future for you too.)
If you want to play at a level above your competition, then remember what you’re selling;
You shouldn’t just be selling that thing that you thought you were. You should be selling in and creating the circumstances, conditions and reasons for them to come straight back to you for the next thing. Again and again. Because every time they do, their future just gets better and better.
Clear? OK. How are you going to get your ducks in a row to do it?
Give me a shout if you think I can help you, your team or your business.
Please share if you think others will find this useful.
Some more of my posts you may find useful:
- Finding perfect sales opportunities (and coincidences)
- Transform yourself by picking a new challenge
- This post will sharpen your sales focus
- How to stop worrying about what others think of you
- Increase sales by increasing your confidence
- The (hidden) way to win people over
- How to apply what you learn
- The art of introducing yourself
- 7 common thoughts that hurt intelligent non-sales people (and damage business!)
- How to get 10 times more out of what you learn
- Learn up to 10 times faster
- The smart way to increase your probability of getting “yeses”
- Should you be likeable to succeed in sales?
- How to comfortably step out of your comfort zone
- How to improve at pre-empting objections
- How to eliminate sales objections
- Are you misunderstanding what persuades people?