At Sandler Training, we believe in not solely talking about features and benefits during your sales call, but rather focusing on the prospect’s needs. However, there is a time for presenting, once you have qualified the opportunity. By qualification, I mean the buyer has a compelling, personal reason to take action, they are willing and able to make any all appropriate investments, and you have a complete and accurate understanding of the client’s decision-making process. Once a prospect is fully qualified in Pain, Budget, and Decision, then it is time for you to make the presentation, and you want to make that presentation as persuasive as possible.
There are three ways to take your features and benefits and make them more persuasive:
1. The first way is by using analogies. For instance, at Sandler Training, we assess salespeople. We take a look at their strength and skills, skill gaps and weaknesses. An analogy would be likening that to an X-Ray. We can take a look inside of your people to really understand what is going on, make the appropriate diagnosis, and prescribe the right training. An analogy connects at an emotional level, because it connects a previous experience, in this case, the doctor’s office.
2. The second way to make your benefit more persuasive is by citing an authoritative source. For instance, according to one of the leading assessment companies, one of the things we find when we assess salespeople, is that over 85% of salespeople have too high of a need for approval. That means, they have such a strong need to be liked or loved, it outweighs asking the hard questions or closing for commitments. The authoritative source takes the pitch out of your hands and places it in the hands of an independent authority, thus bringing greater credibility.
3. One final way to make your point more persuasive is through a third-party story. A third-party story would be telling a story about a similar organization who had similar problems and how they solved them. Here’s an example: “We had a similar sized company that invested a lot of money in training and did not see the results. One of the things they haven’t considered is how some key weaknesses in their salespeople prevented them from executing on that training.” The third-party story is more persuasive because the story connects with the human emotional experience, and it demonstrates your reliability, since you have done this before.
So an analogy connects on an emotional level. The authoritative source lets them buy intellectually. Finally, the third-party story, reduces the risk and makes it more comfortable. Using these presentation tips will make your fulfillment step come alive, connect on an emotional level, and be more persuasive.
For more information about the Sandler Selling System, download our free e-book, Why Salespeople Fail...and what you can do about it!
