Monday, April 10, 2006
Do You Have A Fire In The Belly?
I'm not talking about that feeling in the pit of your stomach after eating a Taco Bell Big Bean Burrito. Salespeople who WOW their prospects and customers believe in themselves, in their product and in their company. They have a desire to be the BEST and to exceed their sales goals. They love being a salesperson and can't imagine doing anything else.
Have you ever met a salesperson who didn't believe in their product? I have. Telltale signs include:
- Lack of enthusiasm
- Poor eye contact
- Agreeing and buying into objections
- Mentioning negative features before the prospect notices them
- Bad sales performance
- Price oriented sales pitch instead of value oriented
- Blaming the product and/or the competition for lack of sales
- No follow up effort
- Poor closing effort
Be honest. Is this you? If you've lost your fire in the belly for your product or service, then get out! Jeffrey Gitomer says it best in his book, The Patterson Principles of Selling, "Before you can sell anyone else, you must be sold on your company, you must be sold on your product, and you must be sold on yourself."
I think the number one reason why salespersons lose their enthusiasm is because they aren't objective about the product's value proposition. You sell based on your definition of value. In other words, you sell how you like to be sold to.
Take selling real estate. Some customers value price. Some customers value lifestyle. Some customers value investment opportunities and others value a name brand. Don't let your personal definition of what constitutes value cloud your view of the product. Just because it doesn't meet your value standards doesn't mean someone else won't love it! Remove your personal bias and look at the product objectively. Determine who is the target market and WHY they might love your product or service.
Step #1 -- Interview 10 of your most recent purchasers. Ask them very simply, "Why did you buy?" Ask them for a written testimonial and three referrals.
Step #2 -- Ask new prospects "What attracted you to learn more about XYZ Product or Service?"
Step #3 -- Ask your marketing department to sell you the product through their eyes.
Step #4 -- Conduct a competition shop and look for the "only's" that your product/service has compared to the competition.
Bottom line -- it doesn't matter if your personally would or would not buy your product or service. What matters is that you understand WHY others want your product/service and you sell it with ENTHUSIASM & GUSTO!
Check back periodically for new postings as I travel around the country meeting WOW and some not so WOW salespeople. Now get out there and WOW someone today!
Meredith Oliver MIRM, CSP
Chief WOW Officer of Meredith Communications
