Many years ago I was selling kitchen appliances door to door. I went to a pretty usual appointment and when I knocked on the door, the gentleman asked me straight in to have a look at something really important he wanted to show me.
He then proceeded to take me down into the basement.
Yes I was a little worried too!
To my amazement the basement had a large crate in the middle of it full of bibles. He started to tell me that he was involved with smuggling bibles into China. His whole face lit up with excitement and joy as he told me.
He then proceeded to take me upstairs and sat me down and opened a big book that had the appearance of a large visitor's book. He then proceeded to talk to me for the next 45 minutes about his theories of religion and the afterlife. The book was full of sketches and all hand written himself on his theories.
All this time I was trying real hard to be very attentive at what he was talking about which was very difficult at times.
I kept on thinking if I listened to his passionate story; he may allow me to talk about mine. So I kept listening.
After 45 minutes he turned to me and his wife and said, "How much was is it". He then told his wife to go and get the cheque book.
This was the easiest sale I have ever made. No presentation, no close. Wow.
Now it would have been wrong for me to just sign him up without identifying what exactly was his requirements.
So I went through a clear fact find and clearly identified their needs. I then presented to him and his wife the solution with of course some quality add-on products.
They were very happy and gave me some great referrals.
I really thought about that sale for some time and why it went so well.
The area was off course in the building of rapport. I gave him something that I think a lot of people would not have given him and that is quality time to hear his story, which of course built immediate rapport. Normally when I talked to potential buyers you try to gain some sort of connection with them to build that rapport. This call was rare as it was the buyer who instigated straight away the topic of his choice.
If I was not interested in hearing his story and just missed his desire to share with me, I may have made the sale but not as solid with all the add-ons and good referrals.
Now listen to me carefully now because I don't want you to take this story the wrong way. I am not saying you need to chat to every customer for hours on end. Please don't waste time on people that do not suit your product. The key information was that I had already qualified this potential buyer before I went sat down with him. He had already ticked all the boxes in regards to be ready to buy.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Get More Sales - Use Open Questions
It was a Sunday Afternoon of boredom in the north of England where we where living at the time after days and days of no sun. The temperature was less than 2 degrees Celsius and that is in the day time.
Now for an Aussie from a hot climate like Queensland that is a tough weekend. Especially when you are use to 300 days of sunshine a year and when most days in winter reach 21 degrees Celsius.
So you now know my state of mind. I was trying to read a book to get my mind off it when my 9 year old son asked me, "Dad can I have an ice cream".
Now as I was in a strange bored mood, I said, "No, because you asked me a closed question".
Now you may be thinking, "This guy needs to take up a hobby, or get out more", well it does get better.
He looked at me very strangely, so I explained to him that a closed question is one that gets an answer of yes or no. Now this is a wrong question because the person doesn't have to think and the majority of the time he will say no. On the other hand an open question is one that the person has to think about the answer and you have a better chance of a yes which would give him more of a chance to get the things he wants.
Simple!
So my son went away and while trying to get back into my book, I thought, "He won't bother me again". About 20 minutes later my son returned and said, "Dad when can I have an ice cream". I said without thinking, "You can have one now if you like".
It then hit me. Oh my goodness, my 9 year old son got the concept.
Well the story doesn't stop there . . .
He got in to trouble at school for fighting and so he had to sit outside the Head Master's office. When the Head Master came out, my son said, "When can I go Sir"?
And the Head Master said, "You can go now"!
On sports day he was very thirsty and other children had asked the Teacher if they could go to get a drink and she had refused all of them. So what does my son ask?
My son bounces up and says, "Miss when can I get a drink"?
And the Teacher says, "You can go now"!
So if this is such an easy concept that a child gets, Why do adults who are selling a product or service still ask closed questions when starting a conversation with a potential buyer?
Now you may have a great product or service to offer, however by framing it in a closed question, you will never get the response you are looking for when opening a prospecting call.
Now for an Aussie from a hot climate like Queensland that is a tough weekend. Especially when you are use to 300 days of sunshine a year and when most days in winter reach 21 degrees Celsius.
So you now know my state of mind. I was trying to read a book to get my mind off it when my 9 year old son asked me, "Dad can I have an ice cream".
Now as I was in a strange bored mood, I said, "No, because you asked me a closed question".
Now you may be thinking, "This guy needs to take up a hobby, or get out more", well it does get better.
He looked at me very strangely, so I explained to him that a closed question is one that gets an answer of yes or no. Now this is a wrong question because the person doesn't have to think and the majority of the time he will say no. On the other hand an open question is one that the person has to think about the answer and you have a better chance of a yes which would give him more of a chance to get the things he wants.
Simple!
So my son went away and while trying to get back into my book, I thought, "He won't bother me again". About 20 minutes later my son returned and said, "Dad when can I have an ice cream". I said without thinking, "You can have one now if you like".
It then hit me. Oh my goodness, my 9 year old son got the concept.
Well the story doesn't stop there . . .
He got in to trouble at school for fighting and so he had to sit outside the Head Master's office. When the Head Master came out, my son said, "When can I go Sir"?
And the Head Master said, "You can go now"!
On sports day he was very thirsty and other children had asked the Teacher if they could go to get a drink and she had refused all of them. So what does my son ask?
My son bounces up and says, "Miss when can I get a drink"?
And the Teacher says, "You can go now"!
So if this is such an easy concept that a child gets, Why do adults who are selling a product or service still ask closed questions when starting a conversation with a potential buyer?
Now you may have a great product or service to offer, however by framing it in a closed question, you will never get the response you are looking for when opening a prospecting call.
Seeing What Sticks - The Problem With Features and Benefits
There's an old wives' tale that suggests you can tell when dinner is ready by throwing a piece of spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks. If it sticks, it's done. If not, keep cooking. Whenever I think of 'features and benefits' selling, I think of someone throwing a whole pot of spaghetti noodles against the wall and trying to see what sticks. Stupid, right? I think so.
Dale Carnegie would say that you have features and benefits, listing all the features and benefits of your product or service in the hopes that if you say enough you'll finally hit on something of importance to your prospect and they'll scream out, "Ooh! I want that one!"
Features and benefits is the quickest way to expose yourself as an old-fashioned sales person. Does it work? About as well as throwing a whole bunch of pasta against the wall. And as an added bonus, it makes you seem smarmy and outdated.
It brings to mind the character of Gil Gunderson on 'The Simpson's' who is a hapless and nervous salesman who uses old-fashioned techniques to no avail. He sweats, he begs, he lists all the reasons why you should buy the product he's selling or the house he has listed or any number of things (he's had dozens of jobs), and he always ends up failing because it's all about Gil. It's never about his prospect or their needs.
Features and benefits doesn't work, first and foremost, because it focuses on you. You are not the one you're trying to sell. Secondly, features and benefits puts you in the perspective of continuing to ask the wrong questions.
What's the antidote to features and benefits? One word: criteria. In whatever you're doing, whether it be sales, whether it be real estate, whether you're working this in terms of relationships, or whatever you're doing, if you throw enough stuff on the wall, the old theory goes, some of it will stick. Maybe. But using by using criteria, you're laser focusing on exactly what the prospect wants and thereby significantly improving your odds and the predictability of sales.
So my new theory says, if you throw enough stuff on the wall, you've got dirty walls. Features and benefits, for the most part, are baloney, they're not effective, and they simply mark you as someone who is unskilled and unprofessional.
The exception to the rule is when the prospect knows absolutely nothing about what it is that they're there to buy from you. They've hardly ever seen or heard of the service or product, and they've come to you to ask you about buying it. Under those conditions, you might use some features and benefits, to help them to learn about the product, but even then, I'll tell you, that would be the second step, not the first step.
The first step is giving yourself the ability to target straight into their heart. Straight into their emotions, into their deepest desires. If I can speak directly to you about what it is you want, if I can talk about persuasion, and about the benefit to you of being able to master it, all of the sudden I might start having a little bit more of your attention.
Dale Carnegie would say that you have features and benefits, listing all the features and benefits of your product or service in the hopes that if you say enough you'll finally hit on something of importance to your prospect and they'll scream out, "Ooh! I want that one!"
Features and benefits is the quickest way to expose yourself as an old-fashioned sales person. Does it work? About as well as throwing a whole bunch of pasta against the wall. And as an added bonus, it makes you seem smarmy and outdated.
It brings to mind the character of Gil Gunderson on 'The Simpson's' who is a hapless and nervous salesman who uses old-fashioned techniques to no avail. He sweats, he begs, he lists all the reasons why you should buy the product he's selling or the house he has listed or any number of things (he's had dozens of jobs), and he always ends up failing because it's all about Gil. It's never about his prospect or their needs.
Features and benefits doesn't work, first and foremost, because it focuses on you. You are not the one you're trying to sell. Secondly, features and benefits puts you in the perspective of continuing to ask the wrong questions.
What's the antidote to features and benefits? One word: criteria. In whatever you're doing, whether it be sales, whether it be real estate, whether you're working this in terms of relationships, or whatever you're doing, if you throw enough stuff on the wall, the old theory goes, some of it will stick. Maybe. But using by using criteria, you're laser focusing on exactly what the prospect wants and thereby significantly improving your odds and the predictability of sales.
So my new theory says, if you throw enough stuff on the wall, you've got dirty walls. Features and benefits, for the most part, are baloney, they're not effective, and they simply mark you as someone who is unskilled and unprofessional.
The exception to the rule is when the prospect knows absolutely nothing about what it is that they're there to buy from you. They've hardly ever seen or heard of the service or product, and they've come to you to ask you about buying it. Under those conditions, you might use some features and benefits, to help them to learn about the product, but even then, I'll tell you, that would be the second step, not the first step.
The first step is giving yourself the ability to target straight into their heart. Straight into their emotions, into their deepest desires. If I can speak directly to you about what it is you want, if I can talk about persuasion, and about the benefit to you of being able to master it, all of the sudden I might start having a little bit more of your attention.
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