It's All About Them
44 Construction Equipment Distribution www.cedmag.com December 2009 Sales Think about the way you sell, and the way you present your product or service. How many times do you think you use the word we ? My bet is hundreds. How many times you use should the word we ? My answer is . zero Everything you do or say is in we format especially if you have a marketing department. Does the customer care about you or themselves? Obvious answer. So why do you we-we all over them? They don't care about you you can help them. unless The key to mastering any kind of sales is switching statements about you, how great you are, and what you do, to statements about them, and how great they are, and how will produce more and profit more from ownership of your product or service. Here's the secret: Take the word we and delete it. Delete it from your slides, your literature, and especially from your sales presentation. You can use I but you can't use we. Here's the power: When you stop using we, you have to substitute it for the word you or they and say things in terms of the customer. How they win, how they benefit, how they produce, how they profit, how they will be served, and how they will have peace of mind. We is for selling. You is for buying. Mandate for Understanding: Go through your entire presentation and record it. Listen to it actively which means take notes. Count the number of times you use the word we. Take out the we, and begin to make value statements instead of selling statements. Here's the reality in plain English: (1.) The buyer, the prospect, and the customer expect you to have knowledge of stuff, not their just your stuff. To transfer that knowledge, the prospect needs to understand and agree with your ideas, feel your passion, feel your belief, and feel your sincerity beyond the hype of your sales pitch. (2.) You have to know their industry, not just your product. (3.) You have to know their business, not just your product. (4.) You have to know what's new and what's next, not just your product. (5.) You have to know the current trends, not just your product. (6.) You have to know their marketing, not just your product. (7.) You have to know their productivity, not just your product. (8.) You have to know their profit, not just your product. Are you getting it yet? Here are some classic examples of we-we thinking: n We have to educate the customer. Do you really think any customer on the planet your wants education? I can just picture your top 25 prospects sitting around doing nothing and saying, Boy, I sure hope those people over at Acme come over here and educate us, 'cause we're pretty stupid. n You feel like you have to tell the prospect all about you, your company, and your product. Three things that are guaranteed to put any prospect to sleep. n We offer solutions. Hey Albert Einstein, do you think I'm just sitting here all day doing everything wrong, hoping that you will come along By Jeffrey GiTomer you may be surprised to find how often you talk about we, and how little you actually focus on your customer but changing the words you use can clear barriers on the path to purchasing. It's not about me It's not about we It's All About Them.