Benefits No Longer Sell. But This Will.
By Jill Harrington, President, salesSHIFT.
Face facts. Benefits alone don’t sell. Standing out in today’s marketplace requires a laser focus on being the most relevant. And I mean relevant from the prospect’s point of view, not from the seller’s.
So what’s the answer?
Make the shift from the old-school ABC of always be closing to a new triad of selling ABCs that ensures your relevance in a cluttered business environment.
Always be contributing.
Many sellers have the same intent: Find a need and close the sale. Always be closing.
It’s this focus on closing that’s causing talented sales professionals to unconsciously lengthen sales cycles and deliver desirable business opportunities to their competitors’ doors.
Every prospecting message, every call, presentation, proposal, and meeting must contribute relevant value. Otherwise you are simply adding cost, wasting time, and making yourself indistinguishable. So who defines value? The receiver. Not the giver. In order to be relevant to me, you must contribute value by my definition — not yours. Which requires you to execute the second of the selling ABCs.
Always be curious.
Curiosity is not the simple act of asking questions to get information to make a sale. If you’ve been on the receiving end of one of these mind-numbing fact-finding interrogations, you’ll understand why buyers scurry for cover behind email and RFPs. Every seller is trained to ask questions to discover needs. This is important, but it’s not enough. And it’s not curiosity.
Curiosity in the context of selling is a genuine interest in deepening your understanding of the people, businesses, and markets you serve. The “always” in ABC means curiosity is executed before, during, and after any interaction with a client. Genuine curiosity uncovers insights that enable you to communicate with prospects in ways that are meaningful to them, and that are welcomed, not ignored.
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