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July 2011 | Volume 10 Number 7
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UPCOMING EVENTS: WEBINARS
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Qualifying Prospects:
A Formula for Success
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North America
July 8 , 2011
9:00 AM PST
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Australia
July 20, 2011
9:00 AM AEST
(Australian Eastern Time)
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GET A FREE BOOK
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Tell us your story!
Do you have a great story to tell about your success with the ValueSelling Framework®? Your story might be featured in our next book, published in early 2012; and whether or not we use your story, you will receive a free signed copy! Tell us your story here.
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New ValueSelling Book Published Early 2012
Julie Thomas
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GO MOBILE!
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If you've already completed your ValueSelling training, reinforce your understanding of the ValueSelling Framework® concepts with our flashcard app. Now available in iPhone, BlackBerry and Android.
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Why will people buy – how do you motivate your prospects?
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Has this ever happened to you? You have been working with a prospect and engaging them for the purpose of selling them your product or service. Everything seems to be moving along and on track for you to win the business. Every interaction you have had is positive and the person seems ready to buy. Then, suddenly– dead silence. No response. No conversation. No returned phone calls. What have you missed and how can you motivate the person to complete the deal and make the sale?
Michael M. Grant, a professor at the University at Memphis, defines motivation as the desire for something and the willingness to take action to achieve it. By this definition, how do sales professionals ultimately position the purchase of their product or service as the action your prospect will take?
Can you really motivate anyone – the answer is no! Sales professionals can’t get someone to do something that they don’t want to do. Pushing and persuading will not result in success when the prospect really has no perceived reason to act. Yet, everyone is motivated by something. Our job then is to understand what is the motivation belonging to our individual prospects. When we understand what they want and what they are willing to do to get it – we can leverage that knowledge and connect our sale to their own motivation.
Here are the steps to make sure that you understand what motivates your prospect and their willingness to take action and make the purchase.
- Ask: The key to sales is a shared understanding between the buyer and the seller. This understanding happens through the communication process and strategy of the sales professional. Selling isn’t telling. Confirmed understanding cannot take place between the sales professional and the prospective buyer if the sales person is doing all the talking. Asking pertinent and relevant questions is a key skill for sales professionals. What you ask and how you ask questions will determine your understanding of the motivation of the buyer.
- Listen: Asking good questions isn’t enough –effective communication is based on your ability to listen and understand what the buyer is telling you. The ability to hear is a physical attribute. Either you hear what is being said or you don’t. Listening is a skill which must be acquired and honed. It requires the sales professional to actively focus, eliminate bias, and ensure that the message being delivered is fully understood.
- Confirm: Key to ensuring there is a shared understanding is to actually confirm what you have heard and request the buyer to clarify and acknowledge that you have received their message correctly. Confirming your understanding will force better listening.
- Connect: Key to tapping into your prospect’s motivation is your ability to connect your sale to the prospect getting what he or she wants or is motivated to achieve. In the ValueSelling Framework – we label that motivation “personal value.” When you can be deliberate in connecting your sale to the goals and desires of your prospect you will achieve greater sales success in the long run.
- Create a Plan: Once the questions are asked, understood, confirmed, and your products and services are connected to the personal motivation of each buyer in the sales process, you can now create a plan with your prospect to make it happen. The plan, in this case, isn’t merely a plan to purchase, rather it is a plan for your prospect to realize what he or she desires through the means of making a purchase from you.
Effective selling is effective communicating. Persuasion is certainly a part of effective sales communication, but your ability to understand the personal motivations of each and every buyer coupled with your ability to connect your solution to that motivation is key to winning the business. Deliberate focus on the personal value and ultimate motivation of your prospect will enable you to sustain engagement, advance the sale and ultimately close the deal.
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ValueSelling Associates, based in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, is the creator of the Value Selling Framework®, the sales methodology preferred by sales executives around the globe. Since 1991, ValueSelling Associates has helped thousands of sales professionals increase their sales productivity. Offering customized training to FORTUNE 1000 companies, mid-sized businesses, to early stage startup organizations, ValueSelling Associates' proprietary sales training tools and consulting services deliver measurable results. Clients turn to the experts at ValueSelling Associates for classroom and online training and consulting services that yield immediate impact, repeatable strategies, and sustainable results. Visit www.valueselling.com.
Copyright ©2011 ValueSelling Associates, LLC, All rights reserved.
For more information, contact info@valueselling.com
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