What can you do different to set yourself and your product or service apart from the competition? Are you showing up with a polished presentation full of facts, figures, and data aka – show up and throw up? If you replaced your logo with your competitors, would the pitch be identical? Studies have shown, people buy based on emotion and then will justify the decision with data and logic.
We will explore a different way to approach prospects and bring more of a human touch to the process. To create an emotional connection upfront try using “See, Try, Buy”. This assumes you have done you preparation and the potential buyer could benefit from what you are offering. Think of when you test drive a car, your mind is made up before you return to the showroom if you are interested or not. The only part left is negotiating terms or a quick exit. More details on the three areas:
1) See – Generally a demo or other visual will support this area. If representing a product, possibly performing a live demonstration on the ease of use or other areas that differentiate you from competitors. Remember to keep it crisp and focused. Your goal is to get to the “try” step. For services perhaps a short video of what a typical experience would be for a similar type of customer.
2) Try – With restaurants, think of a food court and the sampling used to entice a person to come in and buy. With products, especially software, offer a limited trial and upfront define the success criteria that would lead to a purchase. For services, offer a small or reduced cost trial, again, with clear expectations of the success criteria.
3) Buy – Since you have already established a need, they have tested or sampled the product or service and you have already established the success criteria, ask for the order! I have also seen at times, a contingent purchase order placed in the “try” step to help accelerate the process. The question the prospect needs to answer is – if we meet the success criteria, and agree to terms, would you be able to issue an order and who else needs to sign off.
Think through
How can you leverage these three steps in your business today? What can you do to create an emotional connection and then supply the data needed to help justify it? Just like a car test drive, the mind is made up quickly on the emotional side. The rest is getting the data and terms to seal the deal. Always be sure you also engage early on the with the person that ultimately has signature authority to create the same feeling. Otherwise, be prepared to lose with a last-minute rejection by a financial analyst.
I always appreciated feedback and comments on this blog. Feel free to post comments or email them to me. Small Business, Big Lessons ® How will you improves sales outcomes?
Small Business
About the Author:
Gregory Woloszczuk is an entrepreneur and experienced tech executive that helps small business owners grow their top and bottom line. Gregory believes in straight talk and helping others see things they need to see but may not want to with a focus on taking responsibly for one’s own business. He and his wife, Maureen, started GMW Carolina in 2006.
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