Research indicates customers’ first instinct reactions to new products or new ideas are not totally predictive of final behavior. I conducted a research study asking customers how likely they were to purchase various new products in the next 6 months. I then followed up to see if what they said they would do, was what they did. The results were surprising — of the 809 times customers said they would absolutely, definitely WOULD NOT PURCHASE, about 20% or one in five actually did make a purchase. Of the 246 who said they absolutely, positively, definitely WOULD PURCHASE, less than half the time or only 45% of the time did they actually buy. The bottom line — just because a customer says no – is no reason to give up trying to make the sale. If a customer says yes, close the sale quickly.
I know of a particular instance where an insurance agent was working with a couple to sell them long term care insurance. The couple later made a decision, got dressed up and came down to her office to tell her that they were not interested. During that time, she was able to close the deal, even though their plan was to say no. A few years later, both the husband and wife fell ill and were able to use the coverage. The husband called the agent during his recovery and thanked her for selling them the insurance, even though they had planned to not purchase it. It saved them tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, all because she sold through the “no.” Do you have a success story where you kept selling, even after a customer said no? Share with us in the comments.
Kleenex would definitely not be considered a sexy product. It’s a paper product, and one that you use most often when you don’t feel well. Honestly, Kleenex couldn’t be more of a commodity product. To break out, they are creating a program called Feelspace. Feelspace is Kleenex’s mall experience where they have a 20 x 20 booth that features Kleenex’s products. You’re able to touch a waterfall, get a hand massage or sample Kleenex tissues from dispensers. Feelspace even features a 42 inch touchscreen to have fun with images. Kleenex is bundling the experience with an iPhone app to boot. Having taken these initiatives, Kleenex is taking a commodity product, then using Feelspace to fulfill a customer’s need for a see, feel, touch experience – the single most powerful way for a consumer to understand your product benefit. Are you in a perceived commodity market? What are you doing to help customers see, feel and touch your product to help differentiate yourself?
We have so many opportunities to connect with people electronically, through email, phone, instant messaging, twitter, facebook, etc. The most powerful way to do so, though, is via face to face interactions. Whether you cross the hall to meet or cross the country, your clients, prospects, associates and employees will recognize the efforts that you make. Nothing beats face to face interactions. According to Doug Hall’s Jump Start Your Marketing Brain, a study of response rates from 497 independent research surveys found that in-person requests were successful 82% of the time, versus 47% conducted via mail. Face to face is powerful! Get out of your office and go meet with your front line, your customers and your family, while you’re at it! So, where are you spending your time?
Are you interested in selling more hamburgers, phones, music or (fill in the blank)? Have you thought about making your offering simple? In-N-Out Burger has become known for their ultra simple menu. Jitterbug has created cellphones with stripped down features and menus for the elderly. For those of you that have been living in a cave or have been cryogenically frozen, iPods have made scary mp3s easy enough that my dad uses one. Push the simplicity to the edges.
A store in California was selling jams. When customers had 24 flavors to taste test, 2% of the people purchased. When they reduced the taste test to 6 flavors, then number jumped 6x to 125%! Too many choices overwhelmed potential customers! - data from our friends at Eureka! Ranch.
Review your offering and see what things you can strip away to leave the really good stuff. Maybe you can be the genius that makes tough concepts easy.
Have you subscribed to our blog via RSS? Check out this simple (and awesome!) video below from Lee and Sachi LeFever of CommonCraft.com to understand why RSS is worth knowing about and why you should hit the subscribe button to the right of these blog posts to subscribe right now!
For day 10, we need to add a few last tips and cover the latest data. Today, you should be able to articulate the benefit you have in 10 seconds or less. You should be able to stand out by not selling salt and pepper. You should be able to offer a dramatic difference from your competitors that is easy for a 5th grade student to understand.
Try the following and eliminate any old way that has not worked extremely well. You should be surprised at the change. If you have a question, e-mail me at erik@salesby5.com, I will respond fast.
Tips:
#1 way people in business want to be communicated with today is e-mail.
#1 way people in business screw up a sale is THEY TALK TOO MUCH!
#1 way people lose a sale is letting a customer say “no” because the customer didn’t understand what benefit they were being offered.
Latest data shows that if you have exclusivity and/or scarcity in the offering of your product or service you will have an overt advantage.
The best of the best have a coach, who is yours? If you think you know it all, you are easy to beat!
Use the tips above and tell us how it changed your sales.
Yesterday was all about future focus being 10x more predictive of success.
Today: The ability to dominate your market!
You have it or you do not. The data proven number one reason people do not sell is they talk too much, and number two, they have no true value that they offer. It happens to us weekly and sometimes by people interviewing with us. The most (sadly) remarkable, are the ones you have two and three meetings with and you still have no idea what value they offer or what benefit they provide.
This reinforces the importance of your message clarity verbally and in writing. If you advertise, does it work? And how do you know? We have seen our clients, prior to us getting involved, spend $30,000 in one business journal without ever getting any response or business from the advertising. What you say and what you do must have a dramatic difference to make an impact. Just to be clear, you have a 370% greater chance of success and profitability if you have dramatic difference. What is dramatic difference? Let’s say you are selling a Honda Accord that gets 21 mpg in the city, meanwhile the Toyota Prius is getting 48 mpg in the city. Though both brands are great, Honda becomes low value and Toyota, high. You now have to find a way to make your offer twice as valuable as your competitor’s. Get serious about value. What can your customers not live without? What can you make available that hasn’t been done yet? That is your start and your finish to the dramatic difference!
Summary: Get serious about where you can dominate your market. What can you really offer? Focus on that for all of your customers. Do not try to be what you are not. Just focus on one or two things and maximize them by figuring out how to become the best in the world.
What customers will want, need, and desire in the future is 10 times more predictive of success! However, ideas that are weak, or bad are statistically the reason for failure. How do you know if your idea is answering a question no one asked?
1. Does it offer a new, unique, or overt benefit?
2. Does it also give a reason to believe you can deliver that benefit?
3. Does it have true difference or dramatic difference from other products or services?
The above is all data backed by our friends at Eureka! Ranch. Chances are, if you have heard this before, it is all due to Doug Hall and his Trained Brains at Eureka!
"What do you do?" Many people have asked me this question over the years and I’m sure they’ve asked you too.
If I answered "I own Salesby5" or "I am a teacher" or "I am a CIO of Blah Blah Company" you aren’t telling anyone what you do. That’s only your title! What you do is actually what you do, so if someone asks me what I do, my reply is "I dramatically increase sales for companies and organizations." My title is CEO – Chief Energy Officer because my role is to provide energy to my employees, vendors, customers and friends.
So, what do you do?
Remember, Let a customer say NO because what you offer doesn’t apply to them. Never let a customer say NO because they don’t understand what you are offering! – Doug Hall
photo via brandfreak.com
