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When you think about how you are going to present your
product or service, think of every buyer as having in his or her mind a scale.
The scale contains two bowls: one bowl is price (what the buyer pays);
the other bowl is value (what the buyer gets).
Until value outweighs price in the buyer’s mind, no sale will be made. Your task is to make every aspect of your presentation show
the buyer that the value of your product does indeed outweigh its price. When putting together a presentation, it is helpful to
think of it as having two main features: (1) its content, and (2) its style.
Attention to each feature of the presentation is important: It’s no
good having excellent content, yet presenting the content in a way that
prohibits interaction between you and your potential buyer.
By the same token, all the good rapport in the world won’t help you
when you don’t have the facts you need to drive home your point and get the
sale. Content: Identify What The Buyer Values The content of your presentation should address the value
of your product or service to the buyer. To
do this, you first must determine what that buyer believes is valuable.
Until you address this issue, it doesn’t matter how great your product
or service is. Every customer carries in his or her head the WIIFM
questions: What’s In It For Me?
All buyers want to know what’s in it for them.
What will they be getting for their money?
You can determine what is of value to the buyer by asking good questions
and really listening to the answers. Focus on the wants, needs and concerns of
your buyer, not on the product. To be successful, a
salesperson must be able to identify the dominant buying value of each client
and address it during the presentation. Let’s look at some of the basic human
wants:
Want to Gain
Want to Avoid
Comfort
Criticism
Money
Embarrassment
Time
Loss of property
Health
Trouble or unhappiness
Praise
Missed opportunities
Acceptance
Loss of respect
Control
Extra effort
Respect
Pain and confusion It may help to devise strategies beforehand for dealing
with these different wants as they arise. Plan Your Presentation to Stress Value The first steps in selling should always be planning and
preparation. Being well organized
and prepared helps you avoid embarrassment, gives you more control, saves time,
increases your confidence and increases your sales. Professional salespeople use some form of planning sheet or
guide to prepare for the important sales calls. In addition to the identifying information of the prospect,
the planning guide will have space for answering key questions that will prepare
the salesperson for the call. This
might include such elements as: name of the key contact; objective of the call;
potential problems or needs of the prospect; questions to ask in order to
uncover, clarify or amplify these problems; features and benefits to be
emphasized; proofs and testimonials to bring along; possible concerns and
questions the prospect may ask and potential answers; and the commitment the
prospect will be asked to make. Style: Involve
the Buyer The second feature of your presentation is its style.
Try to aim for an interactive presentation that allows the buyer to
express his or her wants. This will help you to determine what the buyer values,
which is the most important ingredient of your presentation. A sales
presentation should be a dialogue, not a long-winded monologue.
People like to feel involved and to feel like they are contributing and
being listened to. This is far more
effective than just announcing the benefits of your product one after another. Unless your product or service can be easily sold over the
telephone, use the phone only to schedule appointments. Do you selling in
person. Group presentations are best followed-up with one-on-one contact. Use
Scale-Tipping, Attention-Getting Strategies It’s important to remember that the first thing you must
do is get and hold the buyer’s attention. Here are six strategies that work
well:
The buyer already knows price is on one side of the scale.
Your job is to create value units (features that deliver benefits) in the
client’s mind so that the total value of your product outweighs its price. The
carefully thought-through content and the open style of your presentation can
help you tip the scale in your favor. When the buyer starts displaying buying
signals, it’s time to summarize the buyer’s needs and benefits you offer
that address those needs, get the buyer to acknowledge that you are both in
agreement, and ask for the order. |
