If you are an honest person, you cannot
convince a prospect that your product or service has value
unless you believe in it yourself. Even if you try, people
seem to have an uncanny knack for spotting a phony.
There are two things that most frequently cause lots of
salespeople to doubt the value of what they are selling:
First, you cannot believe in what you are selling if you
or your organization makes false claims for its products,
services, or business practices.
Let's face it, the old saying is true: "You
can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!"
No amount of glossing over or looking the other way will
convince you that a product has value if you know it will
fall apart as soon as it's delivered. Likewise,
you cannot believe in your product or service if it consistently
fails to deliver what it tells you to promise. If there
ever was a time when you could "promise them whatever
it takes to close the sale," that time has gone
forever.
Your personal reputation with your customers is one of
your most valuable assets as a salesperson. You owe it
to yourself and your own career to be able to assure your
clients of a quality product or service.
How do I deal with the problem of a value promised but
not delivered? First, I never make any claim I know I
can't back up; then I simply refuse to work for
any organization that consistently fails to deliver what
I was told to promise my customers. I usually confront
them with my findings and give them an opportunity to
either; (1) prove me wrong, (2) correct the abuses, or
(3) get themselves another salesperson.
You don't have to work for anybody who knowingly
misleads customers. There are far too many honest and
upright businesses looking for good salespeople for you
to squander your reputation on the few who operate unethically.
Second, it is most helpful to realize
that all of us perceive values differently.
A young person who is crazy over sports cars loaded with
every conceivable gadget might find it difficult to understand
why a conservative older person would be willing to invest
good money in a stripped-down sedan, and vice versa. This
simple observation has strong implications for connecting
with your prospect's perception of value later.
It's important to see that because a product or
service has little value to you personally it doesn't
mean it has no value to anyone else.
Here's a principle
that can help you keep in mind that few things have universal
value:
Remember: The seller usually determines the cost
of a product or service,
but only the buyer can determine its true value.
If you are healthy, you
might consider an artificial heart a very poor bargain
at $3.98, but if your heart were failing rapidly, you
would probably trade everything you had for it. Just because
you personally would not pay the asking price for a house
is no sign that someone else would not be delighted to
get it for that price - even if they knew everything
you know about it.
So, if you have difficulty understanding the value of
what you are selling, keep in mind that ultimately it
is always the buyer who decides how much it is worth to
him or her. Remember, "Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder."
"If You Ain't Sold, You Can't
Sell!"
You can only convince others of the value of what you
are selling when you are convinced of its value. As salespeople,
our task is not to impart value to products that have
none, or even to determine the value of a product to the
end user. Your task is to convince your prospects that
what you are selling has more value than the money they
would pay for it or for anything else they could ever
buy with that money.
You can only do that when you are thoroughly convinced
of the value of what it is you are selling. You've
got to believe in what you are selling to make your customers
believe in what they are buying. It's as simple
and straightforward as that.
