What Sells?
Is it personality? Technical skill? Cost? Persistence? Solving a migraine problem?
I am a little jaded since I come from the tech sector and typically make decisions based on the technical specifications of a product or service. It the item or service meets “x†requirements and is at “y†cost point that equals buy. (x+y = BUY)
What if you’re dealing with like items or services, and the price point and the specification are approximately the same, and neither of those factors affects the buying decision? (x+y = 0)
In my experience, if you like the person selling, you’ll buy or adversely some people can annoy you into buying an item or service. (LIKE = BUY) or (PERSISTENCE = BUY) or (EXPOSURE = BUY)
But how do you give yourself an advantage over all of those other people competing for the dollars being spent in your product or service? (X = BUY)
If you want to make your business stand out among the competition here are three tips to do that:
1. Give it your all
If you want to make your company stand out among all of the others out there then you need to go above and beyond and that means adding value and doing more.
Don’t be ordinary. Be mediocre and you’ll get mediocre sales.
2. Separate from the pack
If you want staying power in a competitive market, you need to create a winning brand. Stand out. So you are what your buyer is thinking about when they make that buy decision. That’s the goal of creating a winning brand.
3. Expertise
If you want people to buy from you, make yourself an expert in your field. Younger me believed that this piece was the most important. However, as an offering, whether it be a product or a service gets more common, this piece becomes less critical, and “X" factor delineators come even more in to play.
You want people to see the value in the products and services that you have, and that goes back to solving a problem for them. If your offering solves a big persistent issue or "migraine problem," you are that much closer to making a sale.
Cristina, spot on article.?Agree with all of your points.?Adds: 1. Buying is ALWAYS personal.?When doing pre-work and live Discovery with prospects, it is critical to go beyond the ‘problem to be solved’ and dig underneath the ‘personal why’ someone will buy.? 2.?ALWAYS have empathy for the buyer(s). 3. ALWAYS understand the different buyer types...and the obvious and hidden roles and decision and influence rights they have.?Primary buyer roles: economic buyer - the 1 person who can say YES and write the check; user buyer; technical buyer; influencer buyer. Listen, probe and observe 24/7 everyone in the organization.? 4. ALWAYS show that you care more about your buyers than anyone else and add value before it is expected.?ALWAYS over-deliver.?The goal is to become your client’s?‘strategic advisor’ on things that deal directly with what you sell...and everything else in their business that they believe you could provide trusted advice on. 5. Become a genuine friend with your client. This is how you win and retain long-term clients from my experience.?These things make it very difficult for a competitor to win away the business you’ve worked hard to win.