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Second, people have gotten overwhelmed with the marketing messages that they receive. Think about the last time that you received a telemarketing call.
Did you:
- Listen thoughtfully and evaluate the offering to see if it would enhance your quality of life?
- Wait for the solicitor to take a breath and quickly and politely disengage?
- Listen to the sound of the voice fade as you gently returned the handset to the cradle?
What do you think your firm’s clients and prospects are doing when the Regional Consultants and Internals on your team call?
The world of selling has changed too. When it comes to selling to new prospects today, many sales people say the hardest part is getting in front of someone who is interested. Most wholesalers, "If I get someone interested, qualified, with an open mind in front of me...I will close my share of the business". The bigger problem is, “What can I do to open the door and cause them to want to engage?”
If you think about the average sales training, it begins at the point that you sit down with a qualified prospect and teaches you the things to say or ask and how to approach the meeting (maybe this is why most sales people say that they are pretty good at that part of the process).
The question then is:
- What are you saying or asking to cause them to want to engage?
- Does the first 30 seconds of your sales presentation cause to stop and consider how you might help them, or begin to wonder how they can politely excuse themselves?
I would suggest that if the client or prospect isn't the least bit interested in who you are, or what you can do for them, it really doesn't matter how good your story is. I ask salesmen and sales managers, "What are you doing to capture and lead the client's imagination or their interest?" Frequently, the response I hear is, “Huh?” The problem is nobody talks about it...UNTIL NOW.
Outcome Centered Selling (OCS) is based on the concept that if we bond with the client on their outcome, not our solution, we can significantly increase the probability that the client will open their mind and choose to engage. Once they begin to understand that we can help them achieve their outcome, they will begin to help us to help them.
OCS also recognizes that there is a big difference in what you need to do to earn the trust and confidence of a prospect when you are selling products and services that people can't hold, try on or test drive. We are, in many cases, legally prohibited from talking about how they will perform.
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