170: Stand For Your Beliefs

<p>Proof, data, evidence, facts alone are not enough in selling.  The first thing a buyer buys is us.  We have to stand out amongst our competitor rabble.  We have to bring enormous energy and belief to what we sell to convince the buyer that they should buy from us. Today, we will delve into how we do that.</p> <p> </p> <p>Often in business, we will hear a sales presentation and receive a lot of information from the seller, but we are not really clear on what is their point of view on this purchase.  When we are selling, we don’t think we need to state our point of view when it is a product, because there will invariably be quite a lot of features which can be talked about.  The problem with that is features by themselves are not persuasive enough. None of us buy features, because we are all too busy buying the benefits of the features.  It also might be a service.  The client wants to know what difference our service will make for their business growth.  It is an intangible too, so the purchase decision really rides on the client buying an image of what success will look like.  This is where having a clear point of view kicks in.</p> <p> </p> <p>We have to tell the buyer how great our solution is.  We shouldn’t be thinking all I have to do is present the detail and the client will buy what I am selling. If only it was that easy.  Instead, we need to be telling them that this is the greatest thing on the planet. </p> <p> </p> <p>Technically oriented people are particularly prone to understatement.  They believe that the data sells itself.  This is because often they are very logical types.  They didn’t get the email which explained that we all buy on emotion and justify with logic.  They need to state their point of view on how great they think this piece of technology or intellectual property or whatever is.  If we want the client to get our message, we have to stand firmly behind what we are suggesting.  Don’t make the buyer do all the work – tell them this is the greatest whatever.</p> <p> </p> <p>If we belie