Welcome back to week 3.  The week I would like to call the breakthrough week.   If you are like most sales people, you are talking with people and presenting your offers on a regular basis, but you wonder why your conversions are down and you are getting no where.  

One of the reasons could be lack of pain, or lack of emotional attachment by your customer.   This is what we will focus on this week.   

 There needs to be several things present for a sale to be made.  It is the old acronym

A ttention                   

I nterest

D ecision

A ction

 The step we are focused on this week is the decision step.   Once you have their attention and they have generated interest, then what?   Most sales people ask the same questions as everyone else:

How many do you want? , Why Are You Buying?  , Will You Buy Today? , Ect.

 These questions are an ok place to start, but that is where most people leave off.  They accept the answers to the questions as the REAL reasons that someone will not make a decision or buy from them.   Remember from last week REASONS = EMOTIONS!  

 The reality is that nobody walks on the lot lest they want to buy.   I train a lot of sales people  and believe me, if a customer has you on the phone or are in front of you, THEY ARE INTERESTED IN BUYING NOW!   This applies to ALL sales.   So why aren't they buying from you?   

 You have to get to the TRUE emotional reason behind why they need your product or service.   This is not to save money, or put a deck on the house, or drive a new car, or to own your new medical equipment for their practice.   The TRUE reasons are ALWAYS emotion based, plain and simple..  

 Here is an example played out in Q&A:

Your customer tells you they want to save money,

There is the Rookie sales person's answer:  Ok I can save you $500 per month.   (No Sale, if you can do it that easy then so must everyone else, right?) 

Then There is the Experienced Closer's Answer:

Q: How much were you hoping to save?

A: At least $500

Q: Why is it important for you to save $500?

A: It would be nice

Q: What would it do for you?

A :give us some breathing room

 Q: Are things tight?

A: Yes  

Q: HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL? 

A: frustrated, panicked, sad, and depressed

Q: Would $500 make this sadness go away?

A : Yes, it would give us room

Q: If I could give you $500 or more per month, would we be working together?

A : Yes

 This is a simple example of getting to the pain and solving the emotional problem. If you are selling anything, the most important question to ask is some version of "How Does That Make You Feel?"     There is an emotional connection between the buyer and the product.   If YOU get to that emotion and are able to provide a clear path to the solution (make sure YOU are the path), then you will start closing more deals. 

 Stay tuned, next week we will cover the Traits of a Successful Sales Person.  

 Have a great week and Happy Selling.  

© 2008 Tom Elder, Tom Elder is available, on a limited basis for one on one and group sales training.   To contact Tom directly, email him at telder@tomelder.com.  More information is available at TomElder.com