For the past 5 weeks we’ve been discussing easy-to-implement techniques designed to improve your sales approach…and results.
I promised 5 tips, and those have been delivered. If you missed them you’ll find them here.
But then I stumbled on something I felt you should know. So here is a bonus tip, if you will.
I found this question on Kurt Mortensen’s blog posts, and you’ll love this tiny quiz.
How do you know the moment when you’ve overpersuaded/oversold your audience?
- They suddenly have to go
- You have lost eye contact
- They ask you to send them more info
- They say your product/service is too expensive
- All of the above
One of the major complaints about small business owners, when they are in sales mode, is they tend to “vomit” information on their prospect. Perhaps you’ve fallen in love with your product and can list 37 reasons why it’s perfect…just perfect…for the individual. Information overload, however, rarely excites your prospect.
The answer to Mortensen’s Persuasion IQ question: B.
Bonus Tip #6: End Info Overload
Even though all of the answers above will happen at some point when you overload, the first sign you’ve lost them happens when you lose eye contact.
Remember: prospects don’t really care why you like the service. They buy for their reasons, not yours. They don’t care how much you know about the service. The more you spout about features, the more your prospects hit the mental “off” button.
Instead, uncover the benefits your prospect seeks. What outcome are they looking for? How do they want their life, business, person, health, finances, bike ride, sleep or whatever area you operate in, to improve?
Stop giving them reasons not to buy. End the overselling. Eliminate cluttering or distracting stuff in favor of valuable insights they want to know.
And just how do you find out what they want to know?
Ask.
Go forth and do great things,
Martha and Chris