When Did We Stop Selling?

When did we stop making price the only issue?

When did we stop listing out the ways our product or service saves time?

When did we stop listing out the ways our product or service saves money?

When did we stop researching our customer's needs to the point that we know their needs better than they do?

When did we stop researching our competitors to reveal their weaknesses and our strengths?

When did we stop "presenting our proposal" as opposed to "quoting our price?"

When did we stop taking time to package our proposal?

When did we stop making a point of leveraging our relationship and our customer's trust in us to help them understand the full value we provide?

…………..

What are you going to do about this?

What Are You Talking About?

What's the conversation at your board or conference room table?

A) Are you first talking about what's working before what's not?  Are you talking about customers, their needs, finding them, satisfying them, and holding onto them?  Are you talking about how to beat your competitors and what products your current and future customers need that you can make?

Or

B) Are you talking about widgets and manufacturing?  Product design initiatives and laborious process issues?

News is, both are equally important.  But make sure you spend equal time on both.  Our tendency is to fall in love with our products, plants, and processes.  But make sure you give your customers attention, as well as paying attention to your markets, the needs, the competitors, and all the stakeholders involved.

Seth Godin said it this way in a recent blog:

What (people) want

What do customers, friends, the socially networked, users, neighbors, classmates, servers, administrators, employees... maybe even brands... want?

notice me
like me
touch me
do what I say
miss me if I'm gone

Pay attention to what matters.

Forgetting To Put The "Sell" In Selling

If you're selling a product with highly technical attributes--well, yes--you'd better know them well and how to sell them. And how they benefit the buyer. But of course--the technical and performance attributes aren't the only reason that buyers buy.

This blog is about getting caught in a trap. The trap of a singular focus. The trap of forgetting why people buy.

Are you selling the practical benefits? And stopping there? Or are you reaching out to customers with a story about "why?"

Some auto experts claim the Honda CR-Z is the best value in automobiles in America today based on fuel efficiency, performance, and the low $20,000 base price. But of course--not everyone buys a car based only on value--or the "logical" reasons for the purchase. We buy for prestige, comfort, safety, resale--and a host of other "emotional" reasons.

Consumers can buy a $800 set of Cutco knives when a $300 set from Macy's might do. Consumers can buy a $800 replacement window when they're commonly sold for $300. And consumers can choose a BMW 128i Coupe for $32,000 when the Honda CR-Z at less than 2/3 the price is judged a better investment.

Long story short--buyers buy on more than just reason, payback, and tangible attributes. The more expensive products listed above might all in fact be much better. And that's where the "sell" in selling comes in.

Paint a picture. Ask questions. Find out what buyers truly value. And then create a compelling "why" that helps them satisfy their emotional as well as logical needs.

Park yourself for 18 minutes and watch this video of Simon Sinek giving a talk about the "why" in buying decisions--and not just "what" and "how."  My good friend Rick VanDermyden shared this with me after a conversation we had about the need for companies to have a "customer and market" focus--as opposed to only a "product and services" focus.

The "traps" are:

1.  Forgetting why companies make stuff.
2.  Forgetting how we sell stuff.
3.  And overlooking "why" people buy stuff.

Enjoy the video--and here’s to good selling!