The REAL Reasons Prospects Will Buy From You…

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post.

If you want my help in growing your sales, let’s connect.

How did your selling week go this week? I hope it was positive, and that you carry that energy over into next week. If it wasn’t, are you spending your time feeling bad about it? I hope not, because keeping positive is so important for your ongoing success.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE

I’ve spoken in the past how honest self-reflection and self-assessment are vital tools that the best salespeople use. However, there’s a massive difference between analysing where something went wrong objectively and carefully, and dwelling on negative feelings and disappointments. The very best salespeople will see the positive value in learning from mistakes and turn that to their advantage. So keep positive, and see setbacks as learning opportunities, rather than failures.

Once again this week I had the privilege to speak with a room of public servants who are thinking of making the change away from the depleted public sector and starting their own business. They are all customers of Shifts to Success and I am honoured to be the Sales Mentor for this program.

Seeing this group (who work so hard for our well being as members of the public) aim to become business owners through learning and self-development what motivates me to do what I do!

I also signed up to an educational program this week and booked in to attend a Sales conference as, without learning, I go backward. More to follow on this soon but one quick question for you.

What investment in learning have you made this week?

I had a great conversation with a client this week. She’d read my Saturday Sales email from a few weeks ago that gave reasons why people won’t (or don’t) buy from you. (Don’t forget, if you’d like to receive these weekly, sign up below).

She, wisely, asked me if there was a flip side to that – why people will (or do) buy! I thought that would make an excellent subject for the Saturday Sales email and so went into more detail this weekend, but here’s a summary for the blog…

To be fair, there’s any number of reasons why someone might say “yes”, but in my experience, we can boil these down into four key areas. If you can identify one or more of these, then you’re removing excuses to “say no”.

By using effective questioning and active listening, you should be able to pick up on your prospect’s main “buying reasons”. This lets you tap into what will help them to sign on the dotted line and become a client. Check out this video about how to learn to listen more (and more effectively) and talk less –

JUST SAY YES

So, let’s have a look at some of the core reasons your prospects could have for buying from you.

Some People Buy Selfishly.

By this, I mean that the primary reason for buying something is to help them personally. They have identified that buying this product or service will bring them recognition, status, achievement. In other words, they want to use your product or service to further their own ends.

Now, said in the cold light of day, that sounds a bit harsh! But, really, why do we all do what we do, if not to help move us towards our own goals or dreams? If you can identify your prospect as someone who’s motivated in this way, then this can be powerful knowledge in shaping your presentation towards benefits that are more personal, and less general. In this way, you are tapping directly into their own motivation. Strong stuff!

Some People Buy Because They Believe and Can Picture Your Product Working.

This type of prospect is usually quite a visual person, imaginative and forward-thinking. They will buy your product because they can see your offering will do what they need it to. More than this, they can imagine a scenario in which they are using your services and getting results.

These prospects will benefit from an approach that helps them see this picture. We talked about some example questions you could use in the Saturday Sales email.

They Like You and How You Operate.

This is such a big one. I know I’ve covered this before in several Saturday Sales emails, and in videos like this one:

But the reason I’ve devoted so much time and energy to building trust and rapport is that every successful salesperson has mastered this art. The art of getting clients to warm to them and how they conduct themselves.

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve known prospects to buy a more expensive product than a competitor because they felt a connection to that particular salesperson and they trusted them.

Belief in you as an individual and in your product or service will trump a lower price in most cases. Only the most cash-strapped clients or those who are purchasing commodity items will tend to buy the cheapest no matter who sells it.

By building trust and confidence throughout the entire sales cycle – from prospecting to first meeting, follow-ups and closing meeting – and handling yourself appropriately, you are allowing the client to trust you and put themselves in your hands.

They See the Return as Being Worth the Cost.

Now having said all of the above, you can’t just rock up with a product or service that’s 100% more expensive than everyone else and win them over with charm! But, if the reason your service is 100% more expensive than the others is that they get 200% more out of it… well, that’s a different matter.

This is one of the reasons that I advise salespeople never to drop your price to win a sale – you instantly devalue your product. You should be able to justify your price by the return it will give the prospect. If you can’t do that, then you may need to move on to a different prospect, or if this continues to happen, review your entire pricing structure.

But a return on investment doesn’t just have to be financial. For some prospects, this might be the way you and your service makes them feel. Perhaps it gives them reassurance or protection. Or possibly signing up with you will simply make them feel good because they are going to enjoy working with you.

Your job with this kind of prospect is to make sure that you have given them enough “stuff” on the plus side that when they do the cost/benefit calculation, you come out on top.

ONE WEEK

Have you come across these reasons why clients bought from you? Do you have examples of times when you ended up on the right or wrong side of some of them? Which of these reasons to buy do you come across most often in your sales? As always, it would be great to hear your stories and experiences.

To let me know about them, or to ask about this or any other aspect of sales or prospect conversion (including other topics you’d like covered here or in my videos) you can contact me by email via hello@jameswhite.business or through any of the social networks: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube – just search for ‘jameswhitesales’. Don’t forget to sign up for my weekly sales emails with more details on how you can improve your sales and prospecting success.

I hope your upcoming week is a great one, and that you’re able to deliver plenty of reasons to buy for your prospects. Next weekend we’re going to be looking at something some salespeople find very difficult – when to stop talking in a sales meeting! Until then, enjoy your weekend and a fruitful week ahead.

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