|
By Percy Chong, 15th August 2013
Is there really a quiet way to secure sales?
I guess it really depends on the manner at which the sale is done. Using the more elegant but ineffective ‘butter knife’ to slice beef, is certainly not the “QUIET” approach to accomplish the task.
The “QUIET” way – “Question until identifying emotional trigger”, take reference from an integral part of successful selling…it addresses the prospect’s emotion! It is a widely accepted fact that the sale is not ‘closed’, until the cheque is collected. And what stands between the prospect’s cheque and the sales person is the prospect’s emotion.
Indeed, the prospect need to feel that the benefits of the purchase, far exceeds the monetary “loss”, before he is willing to part with his cold hard cash. Practitioners recognize this impulse to buy as the “hot-button”, it is an emotional trigger that manifest from the prospect’s critical need.
For example, everyone has a critical need, and there is reason or story behind “why it is a critical need” that provides the emotional trigger for the prospect to purchase a solution. The more compelling the reasons, the greater is the desire to act. Imagine, a new father who believes that a university education at his alma mater is absolutely critical for his newborn son; because his father, and his father before him, have all gone through the same door. One can only imagine what the new father is willing to do to secure the same opportunity for his son…nevermind if the child may choose not to go there when he grows up. Financial products, investment in a property near the university, or even strict instructions in his will, will easily find its way to the eager father’s endowment plans.
What then is the influence of one’s emotional trigger?
It is essentially shaped by the prospect’s background - values, education, culture, age/life-stage, gender, preferences, experiences etc. In short, what the prospect deem as important and is willing to address at all costs, has very much to do with which “tinted eye glasses” he uses to make sense of the world or the situation around him. And it’s in identifying how the prospect sees the world and what is important to him (ie. Critical needs), that the sales person may use to successfully navigate across the minefields of dos and don’ts, to finally arrive at the “perfect” solution to bridging the prospect’s need.
It is also safe to say that no two people can claim to have shared identical life experiences. So, the prospect may end up purchasing a generic product, for a non identical reason. Nonetheless, with a well executed sells approach, the prospect often comes out feeling that he has bought a bespoke solution and not an off-the-shelf product.
Another common observation is that sales person often rushes into presenting their proposal or product, even without first identifying the prospect’s critical needs and emotional trigger. They allow their sales instinct to take over and set them up for a mis-opportunity. Without any impetus to act, the proposals usually end up sitting on the prospect’s desk collecting dust. And this also offers some savvy prospect, the perfect excuse to “shoo” away any persistent sales person. The prospect have been kind enough to offer the sales person a fair shot at promoting their wares…and at the end, the prospect simply don’t see a need (which they may, or may not share their opinions), but continue to sit of the proposal. And this bring to mind, that a good deal of sales person are still hopeful that their heaps of proposal submitted earlier will yield them some results. As a rule, if the prospect has been sitting on a proposal for more than a week or two, it’s likely the case is already lost. And for the sales person contemplating any attempt to retract and re-propose to the prospect, the very idea sounds both awkward and unprofessional. In most selling situations the sales person only have one shot, so use it wisely.
This observation serves to remind every sales person that the potential waste of resources can possibly be avoided, had the proposal been developed only after the emotional triggers and critical needs have been identified.
There is a saying in selling, “you cannot close a sell, unless it has been opened”. “Open” in this context refers to the prospect’s willingness to share his situations, desire and even problems. And unless sales person have manage to open up the prospect, it is pointless to present any proposal and even more delusional to expect a sale closed.
So, before you start proposing any solution to your prospect, please “Question until identifying emotional trigger”! Create a pleasant sale and consulting experience… the “QUIET” way for your prospect. Happy selling!
Article contributed by Percy Chong (through Asian Sales Guru) |