Each day thousands of sales reps drink deep from their company’s rich well of corporate Kool Aid. I won’t lie to you, I too have emerged from many a company “rah rah” complete with a Kool Aid mustache.
Worse yet, many of us have this false sense that our clients will willingly drink from our Kool Aid cup buying what we perceive to be a selling point.
Today’s post is all about avoiding some lethal yet typical mistakes.
Numero Uno: I almost want to put this first piece of advice face down on your desk and ask you to give me to the count of 5 to run out of your office. It’s so “sales 101” that you’re gonna shake your head in disbelief. Stupid, basic sales advice coming at you in 3, 2, 1. . .
Make sure whatever you say passes the “So what?” test. The problem with many of us is that we have discussed a selling point internally with other people sipping the Kool Aid. In our moment(s) of almost hypnotic, repetitious chanting of the “selling point”, a simple “so what?” would have brought us out of our Kool Aid induced stupor. Sometimes things just sound really good when we’re caught up in the moment but really don’t cut the mustard from a prospect’s perspective.
Example: I knew of a local security company and their main selling point was talking about their fleet of cars. To this day, I have no clue how that kept their clients safe, what problem those stupid cars solved, opportunities it helped clients embraced etc. Maybe the cars were like some kind of transformers that could vaporize the piss out of someone trying to rob a facility? To this day, I ponder that very thought but I digress!
Oh, and that reminds me. In addition to “So what?” ask yourself:
What problems does this solve?
What opportunities does it help embrace?
Why are we saying what we are saying?
Could it be, that we all have just gotten comfortable with what we are saying and its time to say something else?
Is there something better or stronger we should be discussing?
And for the gold star . . . Have we asked our customers why THEY choose to buy from us?
Numero Two: Failure to connect the dots for the prospect. Failure to connect the dots is when you make a statement and fail to explain why that’s important to the prospect. The problem occurs because we are so used to discussing the selling point internally (and gaining immediate acceptance) that we, in essence become lazy. Actually, lazy is the wrong word and I’m too lazy to delete it. What I meant to say is that we give our prospect an intellectual promotion and expect them to immediately find meaning and benefit.
And this is way beyond the old “features and benefits” thing. I’m talking about creating a dialogue where a client or prospect completely owns what you are saying.
Three’s A Charm: The only thing worse than consuming that Kool Aid is when someone laces it with clichés!
You know: We’re a “full service” widget company. What the heck is “full service” ? Does that mean uniformed service men check my oil, wash my windshield and check the air in my tires?
“Robust “. . . I think of something stinky.
“Comprehensive”: I think of nothing because my eyes are glazing over.
“A-Z” . . . What if my budget and or needs only call for an “A to M” ? Am I screwed?
“We are the premier widget manufacturer” Seriously . . . who talks like that? And I’m Paul Castain, the premiere sales blogger.
And that brings us to the last test your messaging needs to pass . . .
The “Kitchen Table” Test . . .
Take a serious look at your messaging from what you say on the phone, the emails you write to your Elevator Speech to a full blown presentation and then ask yourself . . .
Would I actually talk this way if I were sitting at the kitchen table, having a cup of coffee and a conversation with my prospect?
If the answer is “NO” . . . tell marketing to shut up and let you speak to people like humans!
Your Turn . . .
Please share your thoughts!
Today is the day folks!
If you plan on joining us for our online sales program, registration ends today!
We’re going to be talking about how you can stand out and position yourself apart from those pesky competitors of your’s during our upcoming online sales program starting March 4th!
And we’re also going to help you update mucho plays in your playbook that might be a tad on the tired side!
Click HERE for details and to take the first step in taking your sales skills up a notch or three!
For special pricing (and extras) on 2 or more participants, email me paul@yoursalesplaybook.com
Either way, NOW is a particularly good time to sign up because registration ends this TODAY, March 3rd!
I like the smell test of the kitchen table. I sell at the kitchen table. It’s really perfect. Thanks Paul.
Thank you Bruce! I think we need to have a “cigar test” 🙂
What great stuff! Thanks, Paul. Two of my all time favorite reality checks: 1) So what. 2) Prove it. Connecting the dots is so important. Sometimes I get so involved paring down the message, I forget to do that.
I’ve done the same thing Tom!
Thanks for stopping by!
Good observations, Paul. I had a nice chuckle from a couple of your illustrations. We sales folk have really got to be careful about generic unsubstantiated claims…especially when they are full of cliches.
Question for ya…How do you talk about time and cost savings without going too deep into the how and why? The benefits are real, but need to be differentiated from everyone else that says they can save my prospect time and money.