Episode #170: Stand For Your Beliefs

Proof, data, evidence, facts alone are not enough in selling. The first thing a buyer buys is us. We have to stand out amongst our competitor rabble. We have to bring enormous energy and belief to what we sell to convince the buyer that they should buy from us. Today, we will delve into how we do that.

Often in business, we will hear a sales presentation and receive a lot of information from the seller, but we are not really clear on what is their point of view on this purchase. When we are selling, we don’t think we need to state our point of view when it is a product, because there will invariably be quite a lot of features which can be talked about. The problem with that is features by themselves are not persuasive enough. None of us buy features, because we are all too busy buying the benefits of the features. It also might be a service. The client wants to know what difference our service will make for their business growth. It is an intangible too, so the purchase decision really rides on the client buying an image of what success will look like. This is where having a clear point of view kicks in.

We have to tell the buyer how great our solution is. We shouldn’t be thinking all I have to do is present the detail and the client will buy what I am selling. If only it was that easy. Instead, we need to be telling them that this is the greatest thing on the planet.

Technically oriented people are particularly prone to understatement. They believe that the data sells itself. This is because often they are very logical types. They didn’t get the email which explained that we all buy on emotion and justify with logic. They need to state their point of view on how great they think this piece of technology or intellectual property or whatever is. If we want the client to get our message, we have to stand firmly behind what we are suggesting. Don’t make the buyer do all the work – tell them this is the greatest whatever.

If we believe there is some imminent change approaching the current state of the market, we should mention that and predict what we think the likely ramifications will be. We may be proven completely incorrect but that doesn’t matter. At that point in time, the buyer will leave the meeeting knowing that you stand for something and there is an internal logic holding that construct together. It may eventually go in a different direction, but there are always so many mitigating factors, so it is hard to be held to your incorrect prediction. The key is you give the client the sense that you stand for something and are not just wishy washy and uncommitted. Better to be proven wrong, than immediately dismissed as someone who can’t commit to anything and just supplies raw data.

We want belief to be demonstrated by our salesperson and when they have a point of view backed up with a solid structure supporting their proposition, we see that as professional. We may or may not like or agree with what is being said, but we respect the intellect, facts, proof and the delivery. We should never rely on the slide deck or the slick video to do the selling for us. We need to use our voice and body language to show our enthusiasm for our point of view. This is critical because we are more likely to follow your line of reasoning, if you show your 100% commitment to it.

The structure is simple. First, we ask questions to understand what the buyer needs. We then suggest our solution and explain our point of view, spending time supplying data, examples, facts, testimonials, stories which are the evidence for this point of view. It is all beautifully connected together. We finish by restating our central proposition and call for the buyer to agree with this and support that point of view by making a purchase. We now go into the client questioning process and we marshal even more evidence to support what we are saying, this time in the face of buyers who put up alternative ideas or totally opposite opinions. In the final close, we again state our view and call for the buyer to make a commitment.

If we want to be remembered amongst a frothy sea of sellers, then we need to have a point of view. If we want clients to support our product or service we need to sell them our point of view on why they should buy it. We need to back all of this up with proof, passion, enthusiasm and belief. If we do this then we will be successful as a business partner with the buyer.