Leslie’s Articles
Understanding What Motivates the Client
It’s called The Canopy. In Mexico you strap yourself onto a steel cable attached to two trees . . . 600 feet above the jungle. Not once, but thirteen times you repeat this death defying act as you descend to the bottom. If you are like me, this is an example of getting WAY out of your comfort zone. The Canopy may happen only once in a lifetime. Powerful selling happens everyday, and it may require you to get out of your comfort zone on a daily basis.
Everyone has the opportunity to implement powerful selling. The CEO presenting to the Board requires powerful selling as does the attorney trying to retain a client. To succeed in this 21st century you have to change how you approach selling. I call it a mindtwist. You will need to twist your thinking to embrace the idea that powerful selling begins with a new set of beliefs. A belief that selling in today’s world is more than a department, a division, or a person: it’s a mindset.
Your journey to powerful selling may not seem as far as Mexico, but on some days it will seem much further. As on any journey you need three essentials to get you to your destination. You have to know:
- Where you are going
- The most effective route to get there
- What to pack
So let’s look first at where you are going. Your final destination is a place I call RESULT-VILLE. You are probably now living in PROCESS-VILLE. You and perhaps the people you work with talk in terms of process: how many hours you worked or how many years you have been at a company or how many years you have had the same client.
Your value—therefore your success— is related to the results you can provide for your client. You need to move to RESULT-VILLE where you learn how to talk in terms of the results you provide. The client wants to hear the results of those hours of work and the results of your years of experience.
You need to develop your Trip-tic for the journey. You will pass many
landmarks along your way. Let’s look at the landmarks you should pass on your way to RESULT-VILLE: the destination where you implement powerful selling to motivate the client to say yes.
Landmark #1
Be a peer not a vendor
Vendors talk and peers ask questions. Vendors sell at a client and peers sell to a client. Vendors sell the product they have and peers find out what the client needs.
The only way to become a peer is to ask questions so that you can fulfill needs.
Prepare your questions in advance. When you meet your defining moment you
will want to have your questions ready.
Landmark #2
Heat seek the decision maker
You can’t exhibit powerful selling if you are selling to the wrong person.
Vendors are satisfied selling to anyone, just so they can fill-in their process
reports to show activity. When you understand powerful selling, you know you have to find the person who can say YES. It’s not easy. If it was easy, all of your competititor’s would get in front of the correct person. In powerful selling you
ask if you are talking to the decision maker. It might sound like, “At the end of the day who will sign off on this project, from whose budget will the money come?”
Landmark #3
Keep moving forward
If you were traveling across the country by car, some days you might drive 500 miles a day and some days 50 miles a day. The important barometer is that you are moving forward. The daily mantra in the world of powerful selling is: did I move something forward today? Did I get a referral, a testimonial, a date for a decision?
I’ll even tell you what to pack on this journey!
The first item you need to pack is your list of questions.
Remember, the one answering the questions thinks they are in control.
The one asking the questions is in control.
You need to plan the questions you will ask, and use the answers to fulfill the client’s expectations. Observe reporters at a press conference. They always have a follow-up question. You will get the answer you need in the first or second follow-up question.
The second item to pack is your value proposition. One line that tells people
the benefit to them of what you do for a living. Your value is in how people are different after they have worked with you. Communicate this difference in your
value proposition.
The third item to pack is your signature key everytime you email. Design a signature key or file that you can click to sign all of your emails. This file should have your value proposition and all contact information. Remember, your client may be in Mexico when they read your email and will need to know how to respond to you.
There you have it, your first steps on the road to powerful selling.
Remember, your value-therefore your success-is decided by the buyer
not the seller. So keep an eye on your destination. Watch for those landmarks
along the way, and pack efficiently for this trip.
My Canopy experience came to a merciful end. Your journey out of your comfort zone may be just beginning. You may think it is closer than Mexico, but on some days it will seem much further. Your experience in Powerful Selling may not seem as dangerous as “The Canopy”. In many ways it may be even scarier. Remember, only when we get out of our comfort zone can we grow ourselves and our business.
