Selling : Getting Your Prospect’s Attention
Today's customers are more demanding than ever. They do not
have time for casual visits, idle chat and random
suggestions. Today's customers are sophisticated and
well-educated, thanks in great part to the internet. Shared
applications and solutions, problem solving and product
information flow freely, easily accessible to everyone.
Most prospects and customers do their research up front.
Our prospects often wear many hats, work longer hours and
have greater expectations that at any time in the past. It
is up to us as professional salespersons to offer
significant value, providing both substantive and
compelling reasons to allow us access to them and their
precious time. When we get that open window of opportunity,
we must be fully prepared to promptly get their attention
and fulfill their needs if we are to count them among our
customers. If we do not arrive prepared and tuned-in to
their needs, offering great value, we are simply wasting
our time and theirs. We may not get a second chance.
So what does this mean for the professional salesperson? We
must do our homework. We must learn a significant amount of
practical and factual information relative to our prospect
and her company. What is her job, position and
decision-making ability? What is their purpose? What is
their position in the marketplace? Who are their
competitors and how are they positioned? Are they
successful and profitable? What is their business model?
What is their marketing approach? What is restraining them
from achieving additional growth? What market variables are
currently affecting them? This kind of information is
relatively easy to obtain from public companies, but
smaller companies may provide an extended challenge. Small
companies must be researched through their web site, their
advertising, marketing, industry publications, customer
base, their vendors, their employees and other avenues.
If I am seriously attempting to get that precious initial
meeting with my prospect, I must successfully convince her
gatekeeper or the prospect herself, that I am uniquely
qualified to bring specific value to her and her company. I
must get her attention. She must have strong, compelling
evidence to warrant the surrender of a block of time from
her day to answer questions and listen to my presentation.
To successfully do that, I must become an expert on all
aspects of her company and learn as much as possible about
her positioning in particular.
Assuming that my prior work has paid off, I now have my
appointment with my prospect. I have only mere seconds to
make my positive extended-first impression upon her,
otherwise everything I say will fall on deaf ears, if I
have the opportunity to further speak at all. My initial
statement must again get her attention! My initial
statement must create an environment of great interest in
every word that follows. In so stating it in this manner,
she will know for certain that I have done my homework, I
know her company well, I am familiar with their strategies
and I have solid new ideas for their expanded profitability
through my product or service offering. She would be
foolish not to listen, and the foolish seldom rise to key
positions in any organization.
Getting her attention is critical; otherwise, my visit will
easily be lost in the mundane part of her day. I simply
cannot afford to allow that to happen. The ideas I
presented must stand-out. The old saying, "You only have
one chance to make a good first impression" rings so true.
Getting her attention is the first step in converting that
prospect in a long-term, satisfied customer.
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Daniel Sitter, author of both the popular book, Learning
For Profit, and the highly anticipated book, Superior
Selling Skills Mastery, has extensive experience in sales,
training, marketing and personal development spanning a
successful 25 year career. http://www.learningforprofit.com
Experience his blog at http://ideaseller.typepad.com
.
