Most conventional sales messages today are content rich on features, benefits and price, yet fall flat on delivery-- even before an eager audience.
Why? The prospect's dignity is unintentionally lost in the shuffle.
Marshall McLuhan was famous for coining the phrase "The medium is the message;" meaning, that the way a message is delivered, is more important than its actual content.
The total impact of our sales message is divided between body language 55%, tonality 38%, and content 7%.
We learn in sales school that scripts emphasizing features, benefits, price discounts and comparisons; will "seal the deal.
" Yet the content heavy information we are conveying only has a 7% impact on the buying decision.
The real impact on a buying decision comes from our demeanor and tone of the message (93%) that we're using throughout our sales process.
Lesson learned? Buyers have to move from feeling not-OK about their problem, to feeling OK about you and your offer, before they buy.
Thomas Harris, author of the book "I'm OK, You're OK," stated that everyone operates, predominately, from 1 of 4 attitudes in their transactions.
They are: • I'm OK, You're Not-OK.
• I'm Not-OK, You're Not-OK.
• I'm Not-OK, You're OK.
• I'm Ok, You're OK.
As sellers, we make a living by helping people who are in an "I'm not-OK, You're OK" state of mind (by marketing) and convert them to an "I'm OK, You're OK" attitude with the products and services they buy from us (our sales process).
At the beginning of a transaction, your customers are in a Not-OK state.
Your first job is to make sure that they perceive you as being "OK" (credible and likable) before moving any further into the discovery process.
In order to do that, you must exhibit I'm OK, You're OK leadership skills, or you'll probably lose the sale.
In the psychology of closing the sale, you must convince your prospect that you can cure your customers' not-OKness (pain) with the products and services that you offer (visions of pain relief).
Get your prospects quickly feeling OK about you by: • Being warm and supportive with attentive posture.
Listen to, and respond to their questions.
• Repeat and paraphrase what the prospects are saying (you are demonstrating that you speak their language).
• Personalize your own experiences by sympathizing with their problem (e.
g.
"I know how frustrated you're feeling right now.
The same thing happened to me last week and here's the mistake I made...
").
• Make 70% of your presentation about the benefits of your product that are directly linked to the prospects 'problem (pain): your solution is the vision of pain relief that they will experience once they buy your service.
• The remaining 30% of your presentation is the logical support of facts, comparisons, and guarantees that gives confidence to their buying decision.
Never get emotionally involved in justifying, defending or explaining your recommendations.
By remembering to preserve the prospect's dignity, you take the closing pressure off of both you and your prospect while increasing the potential for repeat business.
That's because they are really "sold" on you.