problem solver vs product pusher

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Your Sales Motivation

Posted on by Jason Kanigan

Sales MotivationSales motivation is a key success factor that has several powerful advantages if you clarify it for yourself.

For many salespeople, their reason for bringing the product or service they offer in front of their customer is unclear. "We do this," they say to the prospect. "Would you like it?"

If you think this approach is simplistic and people are not really doing that, look at the questions in business forums. "How do I get more clients?" "I try to set appointments but nobody is interested." "How can I make them buy?"

Salespeople are trying to push their products or services.

They are trying to make sales so they can make money.

But money should not be your overt or primary motivator.

The Effective Approach to Your Sales Motivation

When you appear and try to push your product or service onto a prospect, negative things happen. You get resistance. The prospect sees you as a commodity. The conversation typically becomes all about price.

When all you are trying to do is make the sale so you can make money for yourself, prospects sense it and put up barriers. To be effective, your sales motivation has to be more of a matchmaker. When you approach a prospect, ask yourself:

"Is my product or service the best fit for this prospect? Can I help them better than anyone else?"

In the process of finding out the answers you will determine whether or not you and the prospect are a fit. Now positive things will happen. The prospect will see you as a problem solver instead of a product pusher. You will uncover reasons to buy that no other salesperson will, which will allow the prospect to view you as a trusted advisor. Price will fade as a major issue. And if it turns out not to be a fit--something you can discover in a few short minutes--you avoid a bad situation for both sides.

Amateur salespeople are trying to sell to everyone that moves. Professionals are more cautious. They've had the "Client From Hell" and are unwilling to repeat that experience. They also know that the best customers are the ones who have received the most benefit from buying, and they're now sorting for these specific prospects.

Be clear about your sales motivation. Make it about finding prospects who can truly benefit the most by working with you. Make sure your product or service solves the big problem they have. Then it will be easy for you to differentiate yourself, get into the right conversations and ask the right questions, be seen and treated as a trusted advisor, and make sales. As a custom homebuilder I used to work for many years ago would say, "Now we're cookin' with gas."

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How To Sell In the New Economy

Posted on by Jason Kanigan

how to sellThis is an era of cautiousness, and that has changed how to sell in the new economy.

Deals are bigger than before--buyers are packaging things together, sourcing different services they would previously have gotten separately now from one vendor to save money overall.

But that means the risk is greater for the buyers, too. Projects will be either a really huge success, or a massive failure.

So more people are involved in the buying decision.

That frequently makes the sales cycle take longer.

And you had better find out what all these people want. Individually. In writing good fiction, every character should have an urgent personal agenda. It's the same in real life. All those stakeholders have something they want out of buying from you, and it's probably different from the guy or gal sitting next to them at the boardroom table.

And they are coming at you better informed than ever before.

All this adds up to price no longer being the #1 factor in buying decisions.

TRUST is.

So you had better develop trust, quickly.

How to sell in the new economy?

How do you rapidly develop trust? Here are seven factors for effective selling today:

1. Show up prepared. (Know something about their business; have your materials ready.)

2. Be respectful of their time. (Goes hand-in-hand with being prepared. And be there on time. I hope you set up an up front contract on how long the meeting would last...and if you want to change it, make sure your prospect is willing to go along. Up front contracts are a key factor in how to sell.)

3. Don't make assumptions. (Key--incorrect--assumption: You must need what I offer.)

4. Identify their problems and needs. (Find out what's really going on in their world. Don't slap a one-size-fits-all band-aid on and run away with the money bag. Don't look like you're going to do that, either; it's one of the biggest fears business owners have.)

5. Keep track of details. (Write it down! Have it handy. Did they say it? Write it down!)

6. Do what you say you'll do. (You'll stand out hugely. Most people don't do this and yet it's so simple.)

7. Be a problem-solver, not a product-pusher. (Your prospect doesn't care about your software and its features and benefits. They want a problem fixed and a way out of a bad situation.)

Sound simple?

This is how to sell. Really look at what you've been doing. I'll bet you've been missing the mark on at least two of these things. The worst offender? Pushing your product or service instead of being a problem-solver. Your solution may NOT be the best for this prospect. Be willing to spend a few minutes to find out. That attitude comes across instantly and goes a long, long way with prospects and them giving you a little trust. You need that little bit of trust at the very start of your conversations, so that the prospect will begin to open up and share with you some of what's really going on in their world. When you accomplish this, you get farther in the sales process and faster than anyone else who tried pushing a product or service on the prospect right out of the gate.

The most effective and necessary way of how to sell now is to develop trust. You can do it quickly--and the prospect doesn't have to know you or like you yet half as much as you think--but you must do it or you won't have good conversations. And good conversations are what lead to sales.

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