"Why should I buy from you?" (By: Art Sobczak)

By: Art Sobczak

Greetings!

A prospect called me. She identified herself as a corporate VP of a large organization.

She spoke very matter-of-factly and sounded intense, serious, and in a hurry.

Kind of intimidating at first--and I don’t get intimidated easily.

She very quickly said,

“We’re looking for inside sales and prospecting training. Why should I use you?”

I paused, took a breath, then calmly replied in a tone you’d use with a good friend,

“I don’t know yet. Let’s talk about what you’re looking for.”

She spent about the next 20 minutes talking.

Of course I encouraged her with responses and questions like,

• “Hmm, tell me more..
• “Why is that?”
• “What is that costing you?”
• “What will happen if you don’t hit those numbers?”

The person who seemingly was cold, guarded, and rushed, now was warm, open, and comfortable.

She gave me great information.

That I then used to tell her why she should use my training.

She agreed.

Of course she did—I pretty much repeated what she had just told me.

She wrote the recommendation for me.

How could she argue with that?

You probably hear a variation of that question:

"Why are you better than the competition?”

“Why should I buy from you?”

“What sets you apart?”

The key to success is in being prepared for that question.

An unprepared rep is blindsided. The default then is to talk. A lot.

Sometimes reps stumble and bumble their way through a rambling laundry list of features that might be of no value or interest to the listener.

And in fact, an unprepared answer to that question often provides the prospect with something to object to.

Instead, disarm them, and get them talking.

Use what I did.

Or come up with something more appropriate for your situation.

• “Good question. Let’s find out…”
• “Well, I’m not sure yet. Let me find out more about…”
• “There could be lots of reasons. Let’s find out what they are."

This is a great roleplay activity. Practice placing a call with partner. Have them throw the question at you very quickly:

“So why should I buy from you?”

Be prepared to respond, and then go into questions.

When you are totally ready for this question, you’ll turn a potentially-disastrous sales situation into a positive one for you both.

Continue making it your best week ever!