When someone takes out their money and buys something, what is it that causes that action? I used to think a person only buys when they need to, that is, if you can establish a need for your product/service, you can sell it, I was wrong. How many times have you been met with a no that came, quite surprisingly, after your prospect acknowledged the need for what you are selling? The truth is, though people may know when they need your product/service, the emotion is rarely given enough importance to actually be acted upon.
I’m going to let you in on a secret that could increase your commissions tenfold: people do not buy what they need, they buy what they want. If you need further proof of this statement, consider the following, people worry about their needs and spend money on their wants. Consider your own behaviors, how often have you known you need to take care of a project which requires your buying some product and put it off until the absolute last minute? Conversely, how often have you brought something because of how much you wanted it and then, after the purchase, come up with a bunch of reasons why you also needed it?
Take the following example: Jason is a sales rep for a large copier distributor. He has sold a few service contracts to a medium sized copy and print company with a great need for his products and services. The company’s biggest and most expensive copier is becoming quite old and decrepit. Jason has tried on numerous occasions to sell them a new copier thinking this sale should be easy because the owner of the company is always complaining to him about the poor quality of the machine’s output. Nonetheless, despite his client having acknowledged a need for a new copier, Jason’s pitches are always met with a sharp no.
Several weeks after his last appointment at the copy center, Jason gets a frantic phone call at his desk. The company is about to get a huge contract to duplicate quarterly information packages for a very successful investment firm whose regular quarterly invoices would equal the company’s current annual revenue. The contract will hinge upon how well he performs their first job of duplicating (3,000) 150 page information booklets. The job is due in a week and he cannot create a decent copy with his current machine. His need to get a better copier has just turned into a desire to get this contract. He has moved from knowing that he needs to invest in a new machine to wanting to secure this huge client.
This is all very well and good, but you cannot wait until some third party, or unforeseen circumstances move your prospects from needing what you are selling to wanting it. In your sales presentations, you must seek to convert people’s needs to wants by changing the urgency and usefulness that they attribute to what you are selling.
Action step: Ensure that when you speak about your product/service, your presentation always speaks to people’s wants and not their needs.
There are two easy ways to distinguish between wants and needs. Needs are fact based issues that have future consequences whereas wants are emotionally based and bring with them present appeal. Position yourself, your product and your service as a want and you wield great influence over your prospects’ decisions.
Alvin Day is a Sales Training and Personal Empowerment coach who has helped many sales professionals reach and exceed their goals. For more on Alvin Day’s Sales Training tools and resources visit www.theultimatesalesmanual.com.
Changing the Urgency
