By Keith Rosen
Here’s the visual. You’re in prospecting mode. Whether you’re about to walk into a place of business looking for new clients or pick up the phone to make a cold call or even a follow up call to a potentially ‘warm’ prospect, you are focused on making each effort count.
You know you have a great product and service. After several attempts (and no call backs from prior voice mails or emails that you left days ago) you’re getting frustrated. “I don’t get it.” You begin to question your product and then yourself. “I have a great product. Why don’t they just call me back? This product is tough to sell. What am I doing wrong?”
Here’s the answer. You are selling the wrong product. That’s right! When prospecting, there’s a strong chance that you may be leading with wrong product.
If you think you are selling your actual product or service at this early stage in your selling efforts, consider this. At this point in your selling process, chances are the potential customer has not experienced your product or service yet. More specifically, you have not even had an opportunity to speak with the prospect. The only communication you’ve had with them has been the attempts you’ve made to connect with them through your emails and voice mails.
At this point, you haven’t spoken with them yet. If this is so, when calling on them, do they know:
• Who you are
• Your product
• Your service
• Your company
• Pricing
• Benefits
• Expected results
• The problems you solve
Tip from the Sales Coach: Master Your Language of Selling. Your voice is your product. Your voice mail or approach is your product. The language or verbiage you use when networking, the compelling words you use to describe the end result that your customers realize is your product.
Until your prospect has the opportunity to experience what your product or service can do for them first hand, the only thing they have been exposed to is you! Imagine if you put the same amount of time, research, attention to detail, care, and value into your voice mail as you do with your product.
If your voice mail is your prospect's first exposure to what you have to offer, realize the impression they get from your voice mail equates to the value they can expect from your product. If you stumble through your voice mail and come across unprepared, ineffective and disorganized, imagine the perception that your prospect has formulated about your final deliverable.
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About Keith Rosen, MCC - The Executive Sales Coach
Keith Rosen is the executive sales coach that top managers, sales professionals and executives in many of the world's leading companies call first. As a prominent, engaging speaker, Master Coach and well-known author of many books and articles, Keith is one of the foremost authorities on assisting people in achieving positive, measurable change in their attitude, in their behavior and in their results.
For his work as a pioneer and a leader in the coaching profession, Inc. magazine and Fast Company named Keith one of the five most respected and influential executive coaches in the country.
Software Sales Journal recently named Keith's coaching firm, Profit Builders, one of the Top Nine Best Training Firms in the country.
His next book, "Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions," is for anyone who's looking to better hire, retain, develop and coach a team of top producers (December, 2007).
Keith's articles can be found in Selling Power Magazine and has appeared in feature stories in The New York Times, The Washington Times, Inc. Magazine, Sales and Marketing Management's Ultimate Motivation Guide with Stephen Covey, The Wall Street Journal, TheStreet.com and Entrepreneur radio. Keith is also a frequent contributor on the Selling Power Live monthly audio collection and is currently the Sales Coach and Expert Advisor for AllBusiness.com.
If you're ready for better results quickly, contact Keith about personalized, one to one or team coaching and training at 1-888-262-2450 or e-mail info(at)profitbuilders.com. Visit Keith Rosen online at www.ProfitBuilders.com for more Podcasts and videos and be sure to sign up for his free newsletter The Winners Path at http://www.profitbuilders.com/winnerspath.htm.
Are You Selling The Wrong Product?