Sales guru and Wizard of Ads©, Roy H. Williams, posted in today’s MondayMorningMemo©:
People don’t really change their minds. They simply make new decisions based on new information. In the absence of new information, there will be no new decision.
Give a person the same information you’ve given them in the past and they’ll make the same decision they’ve made in the past.
Want a new decision? Provide new information.
People trust what they already know. Present your customer’s own suspicions, beliefs and prejudices as “evidence” and they’ll judge your assertions to be completely credible.
I definitely agree with his concept of ‘speaking indirectly to your customer’s hidden suspicions, beliefs and prejudices’ in order to attach a new idea/concept onto one they have bought into (or already believe).
How do I know what they already believe?
The more I know about a prospect’s current and past buying patterns, their likes and dislikes, and personal information I can glean about them, the easier it will be for me to isolate a particular belief and then attach something new I want them to receive from me. I learn these things from my research – via their web site and the top social media sites. I also have to do a methodical introductory meeting where I carefully diagnose their history, current situation and identify points of need.
I need to craft my sales presentation so that I begin with their ‘truisms’, and then attach my new idea to something where they’ve already demonstrated ascent.
What might this whole process look like?
You expect that your target decision maker most likely holds the position of Director of Purchasing at the prospective company you’re researching. Through your searches on the web, Facebook, LinkedIn and their Twitter posts you’ve discovered the prospect’s name, email address, office extension, birthday, anniversary, spouse’s name, and even to whom they report. You know they have 3 kids, coach soccer, they’re a huge Packer’s fan and just returned from a family reunion in Colorado. You also know the last 3 companies they worked for and the names of 7 executives you both know in common – 2 are current clients. Unlikely, you say? I found exactly that information on one of my target prospects just last week.
Armed with this information you easily secure an appointment and have little difficulty creating several points of trust during your investigative meeting. Your only decision now is to determine which of your prospect’s many existing belief points match most closely with your product or service. Lead with a preconceived notion/idea that they already believe to be true, tie it to your new information, and your prospect’s own subconscious will perceive it to be true.
Getting to know our client’s proclivities better will allow us to more clearly identify which of our deliverables we will want to present – and then crafting the language in our proposals so that both the established and the new ideas blend together will result in more closes.
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