If your prospect (or even customer) has no interest or sees no perceived value in your product, you’ve already lost the sale.
If your prospect (or even customer) has no interest or sees no perceived value in your product, you’ve already lost the sale.
How do you make a sales presentation?
No I don’t mean warm up, probe, present, overcome objections, close; I mean what’s the big picture of your sales presentation. What’s the content of your sales presentation? And most important, how are you certain that you engage your prospect in your presentation? What makes your sales presentation different and compelling?
In order to engage your prospect, or your probable purchaser, or even your customer, there must be some form of interest or perceived value on their part. If there’s no interest or perceived value, there’s no engagement.
There are many obvious customer-based values. For example, they need what you’re selling, you have it in stock, or no-one else has it in stock. But that’s too easy. And that situation hardly ever exists.
Consider this: If you had a customer-based value proposition every time you went into a sales call, and that value proposition had real meaning for the customer, it would give you a consistent approach, consistent engagement, and a consistent competitive advantage that takes price off the table as an issue.
Most companies have created the mythical term ‘added value’. It’s a term that I have never understood. It usually is a bunch of gibberish containing very little value, and if I asked you to describe what added value is, or define what added value is, you probably couldn’t.
What is a value proposition? Let me define each element. Once this value proposition is broken down, you will clearly see how your sales presentation needs to be restructured so that the customer will know what’s in it for him or her.
And oh, by the way, if you’re using a ‘system of selling’ or trying to ‘find the pain’ and you’re not comfortable with it, this may be an alternative to win the sale without any manipulation whatsoever.
The value proposition is broken into 5.5 strategic parts. Each part stands alone, but each part is critical to the other because together they build momentum, reduce perceived risk, and ultimately create a buying atmosphere.
Here are the components.
1. The value that your company provides
This is an opportunity for you to talk about your company in terms of what it stands for, how it partners, how it has produced for others, and how it serves others. It’s a chance to talk about capability and loyalty without mentioning the words integrity or ethics (in my opinion, if you have to say those words you probably are just the opposite).
2. The value your product or service provides
The best way to present product value is through the technique known as ‘similar situations’. This gives you the opportunity to talk about how your product or service has performed successfully in other environments. Be aware that it’s not yet time to use testimonials.
3. The value that you (the salesperson) provides
If you understand that the first sale that’s made is the salesperson, the first sale that’s made is you, then you can understand the impact that this piece of the value proposition can play. If you bring no value to the table, then your price will dominate the discussion and the outcome. Your value are things such as industry knowledge, product knowledge, customer knowledge, desire to serve, timeliness, and an overall understanding of how your customer can best utilise your product or service for their benefit. You have to go beyond salesman to consultant. You have to go beyond salesman to business friend. You have to go beyond salesman to being a resource. By combining those three elements you achieve the most coveted business position possible – you become a trusted adviser.
4. The value in a short-term incentive
Everyone wants to feel like they get a ‘deal’ when they buy something. Short-term incentives are designed to create a greater sense of buyer urgency. In your case it may be six months of free service, a starter kit of supplies, a factory rebate, an added piece of equipment at a reduced cost, or something that enhances your offer on a one time basis to get that customer to buy now. The danger in any short-term incentive is that the customer will want it again. Your job as master salesperson is to make certain that you have spent enough time communicating the fact that this is one-time-only arrangement.
The final pieces of the puzzle will be in next week’s column.
Jeffrey Gitomer is an American author, professional speaker and business trainer, who writes and lectures internationally on sales, customer loyalty and personal development.
© 2015 All rights reserved. Don’t reproduce this document without written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.
