There Is No Pitch

Lesson Five - Prospects Want an Advisor

The old phrase "used car salesperson" is likely the most overused label that I can think of in sales and service. Customers detest them, salespeople mock them, and I'm sure you've had your own opinions of the stereotype in years past as well.

The reality is that no one wants a buying experience typified by a hounding salesperson. Customers absolutely love to buy, but many actually hate being sold. If you can put yourself in a recent scenario where the salesperson has just rubbed you the wrong way, I am sure you can empathize. At the same time prospects making a purchase they haven't made before, or from a retailer they haven't done business with before, tend to feel a certain amount of apprehension. This is where the advisor role comes into play.

Any productive sales process should have various parts, of those two should consist of a basic needs analysis phase and a recommendation phase. Please don't confuse the needs analysis with a standard checklist of questions, it is not one. Needs analysis should be a structured conversation between the prospect and yourself. Please don't confuse the recommendation phase with a sales pitch, it is not one. Good recommendations keep one person in the forefront of any thinking, and that should be the Customer. Good recommendations should utilize evidence of the connection between the prospect and the product, and that information should have come from the prospect as a result of your earlier conversation.

Remember that if there is a clear link between a product and your prospect, your recommendation should attempt to convince the prospect that your product is the next best thing to sliced bread. Rather, focus your prospect on the inherent value that your product or service holds for them as a result of the connection between it and the prospects earlier words. When this is done it is clear that the process of sales isn't about being a used car salesperson.

It is about linking your prospect to your product.