Being Magnetic Means Selling What the Customer Wants, not What You Want.
So, you walk into the Apple Store.
You’re excited (and a little nervous) because you’ve heard all about the iPhone, and you know it costs a few hundred dollars, but if it delivers what you want, you are happy to make the exchange, value for value.
When the sales person approaches you and offers to assist you, you tell him you’ve been thinking about an iPhone.
Twenty minutes later, you find yourself trying to figure out how to extricate yourself from the situation and get the hell outta there, as the sales person is excitedly telling you it has voice control AND a compass; didya know it’s super-fast (“web sites render in a fraction of the time”) and you can shoot video and edit it and share it on YouTube, Mobile me or whatever you want and for backups in allows you to sync to your PC and didya know it has a camera with autofocus and you can even type in landscape if you need more room and oh I almost forgot about the search function and how you can send messages with video, photos, plain ol’ text, locations, and so much more, yaddayaddayaddayadda, up the hill down the hill, blah, blah, blah…..
What happened? Isn’t that what customers buy? features and benefits?
“Absolutely not,” says Peak Performance Coach and Integrative Psychology Expert, Paul Anderson of ProLango Consulting, based in Redmond, Washington. “Benefits alone don’t sell”, even though sales trainers will tell you all day long that they do.”
“No, it’s the benefits the customer cares about that sell.”
Not what YOU care about, Dear Zealous Sales Professional.
Unfortunately, sales people often get so excited about the features and benefits THEY (the sales person) love, they think everyone else has the same values as they do and will be as excited as they are.
They forget to be curious, and to really find out what’s important to the prospective customer.
Want to be super-magnetic and irresistibly attract your perfect customers who ask YOU if they can buy what you’re selling?
Be interested, not interesting.
You’re not buying from yourself, so don’t sell to others as if they were you. Sell them what they want/
Relate to them on their terms.
And the rest is gravy.
Once we finally understand it’s all about THEM, life will never be the same again.
Great article.
Paul Anderson´s last blog ..Resume Writing Seminar
[Reply]
I am all for focusing on the customer’s needs and wants and not being self focused in the way you describe. And, I think people often make the opposite mistake when deciding what kind of business to go into or what target market or niche to focus on. In that case, I say focus on what YOU love, not on what you think will SELL or what others want you to sell. I find that people confuse both of these lessons and end up interchanging them erroneously. Start with what YOU love and then, within that realm, focus on them and what they need and want.
[Reply]
tshombe Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:54 am
@Karrie Kohlhaas, Well said, my friend.
[Reply]
Well said! It’s about listening much more and selling (as the word is traditionally used) less.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom Tshombe.
Paul
Paul Zelizer´s last blog ..Sugar Water, Money and Spirituality
[Reply]
tshombe Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 8:00 am
@Paul Zelizer, Thanks for the comment! Selling really is about connecting, and you can only connect if you are listening to the needs, wants, and desires of the client.
[Reply]
[...] Well, there can be many reasons why the magnetic poles between you and your ideal clients are all askew, but a foundational piece may be a focus solely on what YOU want, rather than what your (potential) clients want. [...]