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Published
in the July 2002 SalesSense Inside View Newsletter. |
The other day, while coaching one of our
telephone sales people, I ran up against a question that I, and you,
aught to be able to answer without pause for thought. If, like me, you
find that a slick answer isn’t forthcoming, you may want to do some work
on it.
The question is one that I am perpetually surprised that customers and
prospects don’t ask more often. I know of no other question that is
almost certain to leave many sales people floundering. When you ask it,
the squirming is hard to watch, unless you have a grudge against the
person on the receiving end.
You already know what the question is. You will almost certainly have
asked it yourself, and you have probably been asked it at one time or
another. It is simply, “How are you different from your competitors?”
In reply, you could give some banal and feeble response such as, “we
have better technical support than they do”. If you say it with enough
confidence and conviction you may well get away with it. On the other
hand, if you are speaking to a savvy buyer, she will be thinking,
“everyone says that, so you must be just the same as all the others!”
In my business the equivalent might be, “our trainers are more inspiring
than the others”. Hear me say it in your head. It sounds a bit lame
doesn’t it. You might make such a statement work if you have the facts
to back it up, so you say, “We have better technical support than our
competitors. We are sure of this because we take more care about the
people we hire, and we invest more money in maintaining their training,
for instance . . .” If you have some verifiable facts to back up your
claim then it is much more likely to be believed.
Let me give you an example of what I would say to someone challenging me
to explain how SalesSense is different from several thousand other
training companies, both large and small.
First I would smile and say, “I am glad that you asked me that question,
there is nothing that I would rather talk about” I have some short
answers but if you have the time, I would like to explain each one in
detail.” At this point, I would seek the listeners permission to provide
the full explanation. If I am talking to a decisive type, I am likely to
be asked for the short version, which is just two sentences. “We try
harder to bring about improved sales results for our clients than anyone
else we have met. Because we have our sights set firmly on the long
term, we make choices that benefit our clients, rather than those that
result in short term gain.” Then I offer to give an example of what I
mean. My listener will normally give me permission to carry on so I say,
“I ‘m sure that you are aware that most people forget most of what they
learn on short training courses, within a few weeks. If you simply run a
sales training course without proper preparation and follow up, you are
wasting your money. The best you will get is a short-term increase in
motivation . . .” At this point you may be thinking, “why are you trying
to persuade them not to buy Clive?”
If you think it through, you will realise that this approach creates an
opportunity to demonstrate expertise, communicate differences, and help
a stranger feel that you are trustworthy. You can lengthen or shorten
the explanation according to the interest a listener shows. In our case,
and probably yours, a carefully crafted brochure is available to back up
the story.
Telling a prospect about something that is important to him or her but
against your best interests, allows your listener to think of you as
someone who cares about their outcome. People tend to trust those who
demonstrate that they are on their side. By explaining some inside
knowledge, you demonstrate your expertise, allowing a prospect to think,
“This person knows a lot about his subject.” If what you say also
explains or supports your short answer to the question about uniqueness,
you will have achieved three worthwhile sales objectives in one go -
creating trust, demonstrating expertise, and differentiating yourself
from competitors.
A little preparation and practice may be necessary for you to use this
idea and speak with confidence and conviction. Using a tape recorder is
the best method I have come across.
Article by Clive Miller
Questions and comments to
clive@salessense.co.uk
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Article by
Clive Miller
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