Kickstart The Sales Process

So how do you motivate people to buy from you?  As I mentioned in my last post, if your product is unique, and you're the only one selling it, and it's something that is needed and wanted, you'd be laughing your way to the bank, and you don't even need to be nice or build relationships.  However, that's not very likely.  What should you be looking at to improve your odds of selling then?  We should look at the reasons why people buy.  As far as I know, there are 3 reasons why people buy:

• There's a need and/or want that has to be satisfied; and/or
• There's a dissatisfaction from a product/service that has to be alleviated; and/or
• There's a problem that has to be solved.

Knowing the reasons why we buy, what then motivates us to buy?  What hastens the decision-making process to make us part with our hard-earned money and overcome the fear of failure (failure of making the wrong choice/decision)?  According to the venerable Brian Tracy, there are 7 motivators to the buying behavior, provided any or all of the 3 reasons to buy exist:

• Money - the offer will make more money for the buyer
• Lower Cost - the offer will save money for the buyer
• Convenience - the offer is more convenient or bring more convenience
• Speed - the offer saves time or does not waste time
• Beauty - the offer satisfies the aesthetic taste of the buyer or makes the buyer feel beautiful
• Ego - the offer gives the buyer the impression of being first in line or top of the line or state of the art or the object of envy; boosts the buyer's pride and self-image
• Position (business sales) - the offer improves the buyer's position in the company and/or in the eyes of his/her immediate superior

Okay, long story short, the objective is to show people that buying your product will improve their lives dramatically in ways that are important to them.  Let's now move to the questions that you have to be ready for when you offer your product or service.  Keep in mind that even if your product or service answers a need and/or want, solves a problem they have and alleviates dissatisfaction, you have to be able to prove this to them.  The questions that you have to be able to answer are:

• "Why should I listen to you?" and "So what?" - You should be able to hurdle these two questions when you first approach a prospect.  Imagine your prospect asking you why they should listen to you, and for whatever answer you have to that, the next question is "so what?"  The purpose of keeping these two questions in mind is for you to focus on how you can help the prospect better than anybody else.  This will help you think of ways to position yourself and your product/service that will make it hard for your prospect to ignore you and the solution you have for whatever problem they have.
• "Who else has done it?" or "Who else has bought this product/service?" - This is all about social proof.  We all want to know who else owns it or who else has had the same challenge we have that the product/service has helped.  We don't want to waste time, we don't want to unnecessarily take a risk and buy something that nobody else has bought.  The best social proof is somebody who's relatively famous or well known.  If you can bring out signed testimonials of people who own and enjoy your product/service even if they're not famous, that will still be better than nothing at all.
• "Who says so other than you?" - This is a subset of the previous question.  When you claim something about your product/service, remember that your word doesn't mean much because you stand to gain from the sale of it.  Hence, the buyer will always remain skeptical of your claims.  We are all aware of how unscrupulous salespeople have played up the features and benefits of whatever they're selling, so that only brings up a defensive barrier.  A testimonial that specifically backs up your claim will come in handy here.
• "What do I get?" and "What's in it for me?" - You prepare for this question by making sure you know what gets delivered to your buyer if and when he makes the purchase.  Make sure to equate features with benefits that are important to your prospect.  Just like in real estate, when you present, you have to know what comes with the house and what doesn't.  You can't say "I'm not sure..." because that will definitely cast doubt on your competence, even if it's not your fault that you don't have the information because the seller/developer withheld it from you.  In other words, it's your job to find out everything you can about the product/service that you're selling so you can inform your prospect what's included and what benefits he will enjoy that will satisfy a need/want, and/or alleviate his dissatisfaction, and/or solve his problem.

More Sales!!!
Jon