The most important sentence in sales

As we have been discussing in the past few weeks, no matter how good our product is, if the prospect is confused with regards with our sales presentation, chances are they won't buy.

There is uncertainty and uncertainty to humans is dangerous and risky. And as humans, we avoid dangerous and risky things. As a result, they would rather walk away and not buy.

So here is the question: how do we explain things clearly? How do we present in such a way that people can understand clearly what we want to say?

There are actually many ways we can do that and last week we have answered that question which is through simplifying the sales presentation: If the prospect is a fifth grader, how would you explain the product to him/her?

There is another way to avoid confusion in sales presentations. And that is to focus on the core message.

What is the theme of your sales presentation? What is the one key takeaway point that we want our prospect to remember? If the prospect forgets everything about what we presented, what is the one thing we want them to remember? And the answer to those questions is our “core message.”

The core message is the main theme of our sales presentation. Every information in our sales presentation flows from the core message itself. Everything we say goes back to the core message.

We cannot have several core messages in our sales presentation. That will ruin our sales presentation. It will confuse our prospect.

It is a lot like a pastor or priest preaching. At one point he says that we should love one another, then another point he says we should not lie, then another point he says we should always pray. Then lastly he also says we should work hard for us to succeed.

Not only are we juggling lots of information at once with him telling us a lot of different things (which results in us being confused), his message will not make an impact in us. Not only that but after the sermon, we will pretty much forget what the pastor or priest has said. The same case can be said for our prospect.

Having no theme or core message in our presentation is pretty much the same. We have a lot of topics we are sharing that none of it actually sticks with our prospect.

We are telling the prospect that the economy of the country is good. And then we tell them our company is trustworthy. Then we tell them this is a good investment. And so on and so forth.

Then somewhere along the way, we also talk about geopolitics, maybe even our pet dogs or cats for the sake of building rapport.

Yes, we know why a good economy is relevant to why the prospect should buy our product. Yes, we know how geopolitics plays a role in why they should buy our product.

But here is the thing: we know but they don’t. And so to them, what they hear are many different topics all at once just like us hearing the pastor or priest preach five different things.

Are we saying that we should not discuss all of those topics? The answer is: we should discuss it especially if it is relevant.

For a salesperson selling health insurance, topics like the health crisis around the world should be talked about.

For a salesperson selling real estate to investors, the macro and micro economy should also be discussed.

For a salesperson selling automobiles, the traffic situation might also be a topic worth discussing.

These are topics that are needed to be discussed. But here is the things: we should discuss all those topics as it relates to our core message or theme of our presentation.

That brings us to….the core message. And in sales, there is one core message that outperforms any other messages, and it is summarized in five simple word that we should put into heart:

What’s in it for them?

Again…..what’s in it for them?

You see: people, including us and the prospect, are naturally selfish. We are only motivated to do things only if we are going to benefit.

Here is the truth in sales: the prospects, the buyers, the customers, the clients; they only care for what’s in it for them when they buy. They do not care about our product nor do they care about our career or business; they only care about what’s in it for them if they choose to buy this product from us.

Companies hire people because they know they can get something from them.

Employees work for a certain company for what they can get from that company.

A salesperson will entertain a prospect because they know they can get something from that prospect.

The prospect will only entertain salespeople when they need something from them.

Even those businesses who are selling wholesale at a lower price just to get the client are also doing it because they assume if they do, this client will be buying from them again and again and again.

Harsh? Yes. But that is business. In short….in business, most people only care about what’s in it for them.

And so the topic that most prospects care about most of the time is this: What’s in it for them. In short, what do they gain from buying the product we are offering? What benefits are they getting from buying from you this certain product made by this certain company? What will they get?

And if you are able to answer that, you would already have formulated your core message in which you center your sales presentation around.

We can discuss the economy of the country with our prospect but it needs to be related to how that topic, the economy of the country, can benefit him as it relates to our product.

We can discuss geopolitics with our prospect but it needs to be related to how the prospect can benefit from it as it relates to what we are selling.

For real estate, the rise of the middle class could mean that the prospect who is an investor will have plenty of tenants in the property we are selling them.

For life insurance, health issues around the world could mean that the prospect is in danger of these health issues and could one day get affected by it.

It goes back to feature and benefits. If we are going to discuss the feature, like macroeconomy or your product specs, we should also discuss the benefits or how they can benefit from the feature. All these topics relate to the core message: what’s in it for them.

Most importantly, we need to make clear to them what’s in it for them if they buy our product. What do they get when they buy our product? How can they benefit from buying what we are selling?

We need to tell them again and again and again what’s in it for them if they buy our product. That means magmumukha tayong sirang plaka.

And that’s alright. Because when we keep repeating the same thing again and again and again, two things happen: People will perceive that message as important (that is why inuulit mo ilang beses) and second, people will remember that message (kasi parati nilang naririnig).

Thus the core message which is what’s in it for them when they buy your product will be highlighted in their mind. They might forget everything you said but they will not forget what they will get from buying what we are selling; which will motivate them to buy.

What’s in it for them?

And here is another important point to remember: when we say what’s in it for them, there is an emphasis on “them”. There might be million reasons or even ten reasons to buy our product. But for this certain prospect, for them; why should they buy?

And this goes back to how much we know our prospect and what we know is the most important thing to them.

Telling the prospect all the reasons to buy is in contrast to having one core message. That will make people forget everything since andami nateng core message.

But for them personally, for this particular prospect; what’s most important to them? They have a problem they want to solve or a desire they want to have. What is that and how can we help them solve that? That is our core message.

We can tell them all the reasons to buy but we should only repeat again and again the most important to their situation.

We have to keep telling the prospect what’s in it for them kahit na sirang plaka na tayo. Di na baleng sirang plaka, may benta naman. Forget about ABC or always be closing and remember WIIFT or what’s in it for them. (Okay wag naman forget pero put WIIFT in your heart.)

What’s in it for them?

What will they get from buying your product? What benefits will he be getting from buying your product? Repeat that again and again and again. Have one core message so you do not confuse people. And in sales, one core message will get you sales: What’s in it for them. Next week, we will be discussing the other two.

What’s in it for them?

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