“You” Sales And MarketingSales and marketing is about creating customers and the way to do that is to focus on them and not yourself. Your success depends on being able to engage, understand and serve your customers and the starting point of building a relationship is speaking their language. See also: Sales Process Management • Consulting Gone are the days of the authoritative marketing voice commanding receptive consumers to change their lifestyles and buy products. People do not like to be marketed to just like they do not like to be sold to. Yet people still buy more than ever and need expert guidance more than ever. What is the answer to this dilema?
The ”You”-Centric Sales ProcessHow you create interest – and whether or not this is even in your hands at all – is another question. You can gain prospects through a variety of sales and marketing methods: cold calling, e-mail campaigns, trade shows, articles, booths, flyers, direct mail, advertising and so forth. Here is the dialog to engage in the sales process at that point: 
(2) Did I show you what you are looking for? • Would that help you solve your problem? • Can you see how that would allow you to…? • Is that something useful in helping you to…? • Is there anything you are looking for I missed? • Are you satisfied that your investment will be justified? • What do we need to do to get you started? The Customer Comes First!Sales And Marketing For “You” emphasizes what most good sellers and marketers today will tell you: your success is based on helping your customer succeed. Not only that, you must speak their language while designing solutions and operating your business with them in mind. You exist to serve your customers!
Speak Their Language: Sales and marketing is about the customer and their needs and not you, your company or your solution. Any feature you talk about should be attached to a benefit for that specific customer Understand Their Need: Why is your customer talking to you? Unless they simply like to talk – which may be the case – it is because you have something they are interested in. Find out exactly what they want Cater To Them: Customers usually buy for 1 or 2 reasons in terms of a problem you can solve for them or a need or a want that you can fulfill for them. Beyond this your key differentiator and most important asset is your relationship The Final Piece Of The PuzzleAs you mature in your relationship with a customer you go from ”sales and marketing mode” to just being you - albeit a professional “you” - and back. Just think about your mode of behavior when you first engage a customer and years later, or when you talk about baseball versus a product feature.
What you should keep in mind is that being ”You”-centric is primarily how a conversation starts and as the customer gets more engaged they begin to ask questions. It is at that point that you begin to talk about yourself, your company and your solution without being too technical and always leading back to what the customer is looking for. Visit The Sales Lead Center for detail information and scripts pertaining to cold calling and engaging prospects to turn them into customers. See also: Sales Process Management • Consulting Feedback on Sales And Marketing For "You"?
|
