Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 1, 2005 Marketing Today The three ingredients of every sale Anthony Hernandez Congratulations! Your marketing efforts have paid off in the form of a prospective customer. Now what? The bad news is that every prospect who departs sans purchase represents a failure to follow through on the interest built through your marketing. The good news is that there exists an extremely simple formula for qualifying your prospects and making more sales: want, need and affordability. Want: Does the prospect want what you sell? Want is an emotional response, and human beings are emotional creatures. In fact, my research indicates that logic mainly exists to validate and rationalize our emotions. Think about your own logical processes and delve into why you made certain decisions and how you justify them and I’ll bet that you’ll find emotional underpinnings almost every time. You have therefore overcome a huge barrier whenever your prospect wants what you have to offer. If that want is strong enough, the prospect will do most of the work of establishing a need and figuring out ways to pay for it that could even include cutting back in other areas. If they don’t want your wares, you are facing a steep uphill battle. Need: Does the prospect need what you sell? There are two types of need. The first exists to justify and rationalize wants by forming perceived needs. For example, you may need transportation and may decide that you “need” the model with heated seats, navigation system, high-performance V6, etc. In this example, the need for transportation is the actual need while the need for luxury is the perceived need. Combine want with perceived need and you are well on your way to sealing the deal. And when you think about most marketing, isn’t converting raw emotion into perceived need what it’s all about? On the flip side, it is entirely possible to need something without wanting it. Going to the dentist comes to mind (with absolutely no offense meant to any dentists who may be reading this). Many people would rather do just about anything other than going to the dentist. The alternative, however, is far worse. As an aside, I’m seeing more and more dentists going out of their way to establish want by emphasizing how pleasant the experience can be. Afford: Your prospect may be salivating at the idea of buying your product or service. She may even have built her perceived need into a matter of life and death. But can she afford it? The stronger the want and/or need, the more machinations prospects will contemplate in order to be able to make the transaction. Case in point: I very recently performed numerous calculations under multiple scenarios to determine if I can purchase my dream motorcycle (anyone out there have a low-mileage mint-condition Yamaha FJ1200 they’re willing to part with cheap?). Ultimately, if they can’t afford to make the purchase, they won’t. Period. Your job as a marketer is to establish each prospect’s level of want, need and affordability. A good series of questions to ask might be to establish what the prospect is looking for, the features they would like to have, and their budget. At that point, it’s up to you to do your utmost to make the closest possible match. If the customer says they can afford $500, showing the them the $2,000 model is a pointless waste of time. Showing them the $600 model that includes as many desirable features as possible is a much better approach. If the customer can’t spend the extra $100, show them how your assortment of lower-priced models combines various partial combinations of features to determine which is most acceptable. The lesson here is very simple: Establish exactly what your customer wants, needs and can afford, then base your entire presentation around satisfying as many of those criteria as possible. Do that and your odds of making the sale go way, way up. Notice the distinct absence of the word “close.” The moment you resort to “closing” the sale, your odds of success plummet. Follow the formula outlined above and your customers will sell themselves. Your role is to facilitate their mental processes in conformance their criteria. This makes you a friend and ally instead of a salesperson, which dramatically reduces both buyer’s remorse and refunds. Increased sales with more goodwill and fewer post-transaction problems. Does it get any better? You have the raw formula. How you actually use it is a topic I’ll begin addressing next week. I have received several requests for copies of back articles. You may subscribe to my weekly newsletter and receive all back issues starting with the very first one by visiting www.coachanthony.com and clicking the “subscribe” link. Need additional help with your marketing or any aspect of your business? If so, please e-mail me to set up a free 30-minute consultation with no obligation whatsoever. As always, I look forward to your questions and comments. You may e-mail me at [email protected]. Visit me on the Web at www.coachanthony.com. Anthony Hernandez is a local business consultant with over 19 years of business and marketing experience. He lives in Ashland with his wife Robyn, son Logan, and their three dogs. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams