Television is boring and I do not watch much of it but I was viewing the news the other day when a commercial appeared for a dietary product. A celebrity spokesperson was pitching a product and stated there are 10 vital reasons why consumers should purchase. For the remaining 26 seconds she discussed 10 benefits to her, who cares! Viewing in disbelief I thought of the selling profession and the relevance of a great play.

For those of you that every watched the play or movie “Phantom of the Opera” there is a beautiful scene when Christine Daae looks in the mirror located in her dressing room and is introduced to the Phantom. During this scene the Phantom sings the words, “Look at your face in the mirror I am there inside…” Christine sees the Phantom- not herself. The metaphor between the Phantom and the ridiculous commercial is this, how often do selling professionals make presentations where focus is on the sales person. Who cares?

There is only one item that a selling professional must focus-the customer. One does not do so by allowing focus on them. Too many professionals spend too much time worried about their compensation, and their territory, they lose focus on the most important asset- the client. It is disheartening that professionals have become egocentric. Selling professionals must direct conversation to the client. Sales professionals can create better music with few alterations.

Preparation
One of the most daunting items I experience when coaching sales managers are the numbers of selling professionals unfit to speak to clients. Some, not all, have little knowledge of the client, the industry, the competition and the issues. Selling professionals simply cannot engage in meaningful value driven dialogue if there is no understanding of the client’s issues. It is imperative to read the press, conduct some research, view the website, anything possible to better understand whom you are speaking with.

Stop Feature Selling
Prospective customers are only concerned about what the product or service will do for them. Focus on value not on features. No one buys features.

Emotion makes the sale
Customers make a purchase because of the emotion evoked with the use of the product. Marketers are masters at creating sensory awareness and this is a useful tool for selling professionals. Consumers never make rational decisions. In fact logic makes people think, however if you want them to purchase then you want them to act. Enlighten emotion by engaging the five senses with benefits and value.

Conversation
The best selling professionals understand how to engage in conversation. Yet all questions and comments focus on the value to the prospective client. Good selling professionals provoke questions that engage the customers pride, passion, purpose and painlessness. In fact, the better the questions the more engaged the customer creating more listening for the selling professional.

Focus
Some selling professionals are anxious to make a sale. In doing so, they are focused on the future and not the present. Professionals must avoid distractions such as cellular phones, email etc and live in the moment to maintain energy, direction and speed on the client issues.

Stop Closing
Too many selling professionals spend more time attempting to close business rather than create relationships. People buy from those they know and those they trust. Closing techniques only annoy and frustrate, if you want business, make friends first.

The best plays like Phantom harmonize perfectly because of the outward focus of both actors and musicians. All the comprehensive pieces perform melodically to engage and entertain the participant. Selling requires a similar methodology. The core of selling harmoniously requires professionals to be outwardly focused and intently maintaining the moment. Orchestrate your next appointment with proper questions, enough homework and the desire to create relationships.

©2009. Drew J. Stevens Ph.D. All rights reserved.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Customer Relationship Management, Drew Stevens PhD, Leadership, Referrals, Sales Training, account management, asking questions, business development, closing techniques, cold calling, communication, customer loyalty, customer relationships, exceeding customer expectations, lead generation, leadership development, marketing, marketing techniques, negotiating techniques, negotiation, networking, pipeline management, presentation skills, price objections, prospecting, qualifying, recession, recruiting, relationships, sales and marketing, sales as a career, sales coaching, sales effectiveness, sales help, sales management, sales manager, sales process, sales prospect, sales resources, sales skills, sales strategy, sales techniques, sales tips, sales trends, selling skills, selling techniques, selling tips, selling to c-level, tip of the week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.