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My Thoughts Exactly, March 2011
“Stop Telling and Start Selling”
Article Written By Mr. Gary Tilkin
Founder and CEO of Gary Tilkin Consultants, Inc.
Author of the “Professional For Life Sales and Management Development Series”
Overview
For over 25 years I have committed my life to develop those I come in contact with in these areas: Sales, Management, Facilitation and Strategic Planning Techniques. During the same time it has been my joy to be a student of these topics and to study some of the best in the field to see what skills, techniques, examples and best practices I could learn as well as internalize the ones that relate. The challenge for me in working with retail associates is assisting an associate who has done the same things for years, often with success, to be willing to open up and be flexible to improvement approaches as well as change in general. Sometimes our biggest challenge is habits that are hard to break or egos unwilling to accept change to old standard practices.
As l listen to many associates doing their: Presentation, Demonstrations, Communication, and Negotiation, the obvious hits even a casual observer right in the face. We ALL need to “Stop Telling and Start Selling”. We tend to like the way we sound and tend to be to be opinionated before we know what our client wants, needs, and what motives them. It almost seems as if we communicate with clients to stroke our own egos, and to demonstrate our superior knowledge of the product, rather than to reach the end game of a sale. To add to this, we do the same thing when we manage or coach our associates. Funny how the two situations are so similar, isn’t it? It is time to re-define “What Selling Means”.
Emotional and Psychological Affect On Your Customer
Customers love to OWN but hate to BUY. Owning refers to the enjoyment we gain from material things and how they enhance our quality of life. Buying refers to a very stressful decision-making process that includes making often times a long-term financial commitment. When the PLEASURE of OWNING overcomes the STRESS of BUYING, the customer will make the commitment decision. The key is the sales consultant’s ability to clearly communicate how the customer’s life will improve by having that product. The customer must feel and visualize their lifestyle getting better, easier, more efficient, etc. The most important part is the customer’s realization that the communication given is ALL ABOUT THEM. The sales consultant custom designs this communication to directly tie to the customer’s wants, needs and motives. How do we as sales consultant do this? By learning about the client, and using that information to tell honest, pointed, and entertaining STORIES that directly relate to the customer’s Emotional and Psychological triggers.
The Anatomy of Telling An Effective Story
The greatest training manual of all time is the Bible. No mater what religious ties you have, all of our holy books teach with the use of a parable: a story that leads to a message or lesson. The stories are usually short verses, and always seem to have the ability to grab the reader’s attention by relating to something specific in their life, and finally the moral, lesson or point is crystal clear to all who read it. This is simply BRILLIANT as an effective communication technique. It is so well suited to how we all think. The brilliance is all about our ability with little effort to remember the story, and the point made; whereas if someone made the point bluntly, without the story, we would soon forget it.
Selling Is Nothing More Then GREAT Story Telling
For a moment, put yourself in the customer’s shoes. They hate to buy, but love to own. What if we told a great story that related to their wants, needs, motives and vision of lifestyle improvement? To do this we first have to ask them what those items are, and have to be really interested in fully understanding them. Ok, yes, that is called “Professional Counseling”, which seems to be a lost and forgotten art form. Let’s assume we did get the information, we could take just one element of it and apply it to a great custom-designed story. If the customer’s experience was a negative, show them in a story form how your product will give them a positive experience. If the customer’s experience was positive, show them how much more positive it will be with your product. The method is to tell a story that connects to the customer’s descriptive words used (Example: “I want AIRBAGS”), experiences they told you (Example: “My wife’s life was saved because of the AIRBAGS”), and/or specific needs they have educated you on (Example: “I used to drive 5 miles to work, and now it is 100 miles round trip”).
Steps to A Great Story
1. Customers Sequence: Present or demonstrate what the customer brought up first. If AIRBAGS came up in the conversation first, before gas economy, present about AIRBAGS first.
2. Customers Language: Use the customer’s own verbiage always. If the customer said “AIRBAGS”, don’t call it “safety features” until you cover the AIRBAGS as a topic unto itself. Make the emotional connection.
3. Customers Emphasis: Refer to the customer’s story and explanation before you present or demonstrate the feature. Also, make sure you let them know how the feature will affect them in the future on a personal level not just that the new product has the feature. The ProTrack™ might sound like: “As we discussed earlier, you had mentioned the accident your wife had and that the airbags saved her life. This vehicle has airbags and how that relates to you, your wife and your family in the future is….”
4. Sell The Story: Really develop your story to the customer’s situation, rather than make a short, blunt statement. What I have heard in the past was: “This vehicle has AIRBAGS, and can help prevent injuries in the event of an accident.”. That is NOT a story. That was blunt and boring. You need to elaborate and paint a clear picture with your words. Not a novel, just a Reader’s Digest version. By the way, we who have mastered the “Professional For Life Series”, call this story or parable a “Justification”.
5. Gain Customer Confirmation: Get paid for you story. Therefore, after you tell the story, ask in your own words if the customer sees value, benefit, logic, and/or a connection with the story. Example: “Does this support your interest in AIRBAGS?” OR “Now this is the type of feature you want in your next vehicle, isn’t it?”
6. Repeat Steps: Tell another story and continue to do so until the customer is at a “10” on the “Enthusiasm Ladder”.
Conclusion
“Telling” is your opinion, and “Selling” is telling a story that supports the emotional and psychological position of the customer. The more stories you tell, they easier it is for the customer to fight the stress of making the decision to buy, so they can enjoy making the ownership decision. Take this lesson seriously, and contact me if you have any questions. Remember; always be a “Professional For Life.”