You’ve probably had in drummed into you about FAB – Features, Advantages and Benefits.
But don’t forget the motives too.

Let’s have a quick recap of what each means and then I’ll talk some more about using MOTIVES too.

Remember:

FEATURES – Are what your products and services have

ADVANTAGES - Are what your features do

BENEFITS – What the features mean to the buyer

That’s all pretty straighforward stuff but they are mainly LOGICIAL stuff to enable the sale.

And remember that sales are made mainly through emotion and are BACKED UP with logic.

So remember to also add MOTIVES to the mix.

MOTIVES - are what the features will satisfy with the buyer.

What feeling will it give them?

Importance?

Safety?

Significance?

What are the emotions associated with your prospects and clients having your products and services?

You need to include these in your selling

So let’s look at a quick example:

FEATURES
“Sean, this baby car seat has a dual locking system on each of the straps…”

ADVANTAGES
“The advantage of this system is that it will take you a double click to fasten it or ot release it instead of just one click on most models…”

BENEFITS
“That means that Holly be secure in her seat and if she manages to prize open one of the locks then there is still the back up of the other one…”

MOTIVES
“Sean, you’ll have the peace of mind of the safest car seat on the market and also the fact that Holly will not be able to open the straps and harness herself”

Ok, so I hope you get the picture?

Remember, FAB is awesome, but FABM is even better!

Happy Selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Blog

MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

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When it comes to selling, a lot of talk is always made about sales technique or fancy closes to use etc

But an area that is often overlooked is the attention span of our prospects.

Let’s face it, our prospects are being bombarded every single day with advertisements, promotions, marketing – you name it! They are overworked, time poor and have huge pressures heaped upon them from their superiors at work.

So if you sell B2B you need to realise that your prospects are just crying out to be led by an expert.

Frankly speaking they cannot afford to spend days, weeks or even months on selecting a short list of vendors for their products and services – they simply do not have the time.

Therefore, you need to appreciate that speed of response is a vital ingredient for success in modern day selling. If a prospect contacts your company you can really set yourself apart from the competition by getting to them first and being the first “expert” to start the relationship with them.

You could have had an initial telephone conversation, have sent some further information out to them and spoken to them twice before your rivals have even got back to them the first time!

This is critical.

You can have the best sales people in the world but if your contact systems are not greared up properly then you’ll always be in a heavy reactive mode.

So appreciate that today’s modern buyers are strapped for time. They have an attention deficit disorder and when prospects are in this mode they look for short cuts.

So if you can practically do things for them, educate them, cut the length of the process down for them and also demonstrate your expertise, then you’ll go a long towards to cementing that relationship that will really make the difference in your selling.

Surprise them and grab their attention from the outset and that positive first impression will pay big dividends.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Blog

MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Let’s assume that you’re meeting with a prospect for the first time…

Now do you know exactly what you’re going to say to open the conversation?

You see, what you say and how you say it will either make the prospect want to open up and tell all or they will feel that they need to keep things close to their chest.

Your prospect will want a non threatening environment and above all they want to know:

•Who are you?

•What do you want?

•Why are you here?

•Who do you represent?

•What’s in it for me?

•What can I expect from today’s meeting?

If you can open up your conversation by giving a brief overview to each of those questions then you will not go far wrong and you will condition the mind of your prospect and put them at ease.

It’s those meetings where your prospects do not know what’s coming next that makes them clam up because they are just “waiting for the time that you start to close”

So you could use something like this:

“Thanks for seeing me about your sales teams’ training requirements Jo. As I mentioned on the phone I’m the MD of MTD Sales Training and we specialise in the areas and topics that you covered in the briefing document that you sent me and we’ve helped hundreds of similar companies increase their sales by 30%+. What I’d like to do today, if it’s ok by you, is that I’d like to get to understand your requirements in greater depth so I can go away and put together a draft proposal of what the training programme could look like. Does that sound okay to you?”

From this initial statement the prospect knows what to expect from the meeting and knows there will be no “hard sell”.

Adapt it to your selling situation and watch how much more productive your sessions are.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The Sales Jedi
MTD Sales Blog

MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

If you want to be really successful at selling then you need to learn how to pull out the problems and the hurt from your clients rather than just pushing your products and services down their throat.

Unfortunately a lot of salespeople just “show and throw up” all over their clients.

“Our products does this….”

“We specialise in that…”

And all of this is done BEFORE they ask any questions or before they pull out any problems or hurt that the prospect if encountering.

Remember, one of your jobs as a salesperson is to solve problems. So there needs to be a problem there before you talk about your solutions.

So focus on pulling out the problems and then once the problems and hurt are there you can then use this to start to solve their problems with of course your products and services!

But make sure the problem is there first and explore this before you do anything.

A doctor does a thorough examination before prescribing any medication. So make sure that you do the same with your selling.

Happy Selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
The Sales Jedi
MTD Sales Blog

MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

“Sean, what should I say to close a sale?”

“Can you give me 10 of the most effective closing lines to use at the end of the sale?”

“Should I use the assumptive close?”

If I had a pound for everytime someone has emailed me with one of those questions then I’d be on my yacht writing this blog post!

Sales people get hung up about using “closing statements“. They assume that no matter what has gone on before that by asking for the business in the write way that it will compensate for it!

Now that’s just ridiculous!

I’ve even been asked to run workshops that include all of the closing lines under the sun! And they were not even interested in anything else! (I declined!)

The key to getting sales is to make your prospect and client interactions so effective that closing is just a natural progression of your discussion as opposed to a seperate “I’m now in my closing phase!”
approach.

The quality of your opening, the questions you ask, how you listen, how you uncover issues and pain, how you present your solutions and how you build up a relationship with this person are all far more important than learning a fancy closing line.

If you get the basics right then your prospects actually close themselves and it all it takes is a:

“Does this make sense to you?”

or

“In your opinion, is this something that you’d like to go with?”

If you’ve done your job properly upfront then asking these type of questions are just a natural next step in your already non-threatening two way discussion rather than entering into “the close”

Happy Selling

Sean

Sean McPheat
The Sales Jedi
MTD Sales Blog

MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Are you using Twitter yet?

In the UK, Twitter is still in it’s infancy but I’ve been using it for quite some time now and I’ve managed to get some clients from it so you should check it out.

Twitter is basically a social networking tool similar to the instant message programs we have been so used to for years. The only difference is that you’re limited by what you can say in 140 characters or less.

The concept is known as microblogging, though it seems as though quite a few people are taking advantage of the concept and instead of limiting themselves simply make numerous posts one after the other. But I digress.

There are a number of ways you can use Twitter during your sales and marketing campaigns.

Today I’d like to share 5.

Twitter provides sales people with a way to build up a “fan base.”

Not everyone who is interested in what you do or sell will make a purchase upfront but they may in the future and they’re likely to recommend you to their friends.

Using Twitter is a great way to build a buzz surrounding a new product or service you plan to launch. You can leak small bits of interesting information to the public before the actual release date and your niche target group will have the information they need in advance.

Twitter gives you another tool you can use to build your company’s brand.

If your company already has a formal blog Twitter will give you the tools you need to further extend its reach. You can post links to your blog updates on Twitter as well.

Twitter followers may appreciate special deals or discounts. You can use the fan base you’ve created to offer loyalty discounts not found elsewhere – thus increasing your sales while keeping your fans happy.

These are, of course, only a sampling of the things you can do with Twitter. They key is to ensure you are networking with people who are really interested in what you have to offer – not just people who want to build up their own “friend lists” for their own benefit.

More on how to do that later!

Happy Tweeting!

Sean

If you’d like to follow me at Twitter then please click below:
http://www.twitter.com/seanmcpheat

Sean McPheat
The Sales Jedi
MTD Sales Blog

MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

During the past 2 weeks my wife and I have had about 6 different conservatory companies around our house giving us quotes.

The standards of salesmanship have been appalling to be honest.

The two biggest problems that they had was: (and please avoid these yourself!)

1. Not qualifying me up front

One guy had DVD’s, a slick presentation, “salesmans patter” etc etc He went on and on and I let him until after 1 hour he “revealed” the price which was over twice the amount I had in my mind.

He’d just wasted an hour of his valuable prospecting time and more importantly my wife had missed Eastenders! (drat!)

Lesson: Qualifiy up front!

Sure, I could have gone a little higher if I’d have seen the value in it. But over twice my budget is a different ballpark altogether!

2. Talking features not benefits

SALESMAN:
“I’d recommend that because you’ve got a south facing garden that you have an electric ridgeflow as well…”

Keh?

Me no understand!

So what!

What does it mean to me!

The salesman probably fell into one of the most common faults a lot of salespeople have. They are so close to the product and service that they expect me to know what an “electric ridgeflow” actually is!

Well, I didn’t have a scooby doo!

Now when covering features make sure that you actually tell the prospect what it means to them.

Never assume that they’ll be able to work it out for themselves. Instead you need to tell them!

So when you’ve covered a feature follow it up with something like:

“What this means to you is that when the temperature reaches 90 degrees at the top of the conservatory that the hot air gets sucked out which keeps it cool whether you are in there or not. You mentioned that you want the room as a playroom for Holly? Well, with a south facing garden you’re going to get the sun all day and that means that Holly can play in there and you don’t need to worry that she’s too hot…”

Lesson: Tell your prospects what things mean!

So there you have two, fundamentally basic but very valuable lessons. Two lessons that you think are just plain old common sense.

But when was ever common sense, common practice!

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The Sales Jedi
MTD Sales Blog

MTD Sales Training

Telephone: 0800 849 6732

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

How many of your appointments cry off at the last minute?

Maybe it’s down to the fact that you are not confirming them in the right way.

Here’s a way to make the appointment stick!

Just remember the word cement. C-E-M-E-N-T

C – Confirm
Confirm or re-confirm addresses, telephone numbers, and the dates and times

E – Explain
Briefly re-explain what you are going to do. Basically you want to tell them what you just told them

M – Many Thanks or Much Obliged
Thank the prospect for their time and for the upcoming appointment time

E – Exonerate
Absolve the prospect for this decision and reassure them that it is the right thing to do
(Ammunition for buyer’s remorse)

N – Numbers
The logic that helps the prospect keep the appointment set. Mention some brief numbers that seal the decision with logic.

T – Terminate with Tact
Get off the telephone SLOWLY! Always let prospect hang up first

This may sound like a lot, but it is actually very simple and quick:

Prospect:
“Yes, ok. 9:15 in the morning will be fine.”

Sales Person:
“Thanks, Mark. I appreciate your time. Now let me just double check. You are in the Midas Building on Swinton Avenue, is that right near Town Hall Road?

Prospect:
“Yes, actually, it is on the corner of Town Hall Road”

Sales Person:
“And exactly where is your office, Mark?”

Prospect:
“When you come in the main entrance, just turn left, and you will see the glass doors that say Halsbert Maintenance.”

Sales Person:
“Great. And are going to meet me there this coming Friday, that is the 8th, at 9:15 am, is that right?”

Prospect:
“Ok.”

Sales Person:
“Once again, thanks for your time next week, and I’m sure you’ll find the information I will leave with you is really useful. As I mentioned, we will just sit down for a half an hour or so and I will show you how our new technology can save you lots of man hours—as much as 55%. Oh, also, Mark do you have a pen handy—let me give you my number in case anything comes up.”

Prospect:
“Go ahead.”

Sales Person:
“That’s Linda Johnson…….with New Day Maintenance Supplies. And my office is 0843 849 6900. My mobile is 0743 844 8181. Please give me a call should anything come up.”

Prospect:
“OK”

Sales Person:
“Mark, again, thank you for your time and I look forward to meeting with you on Friday.”

It was not a long drawn out speech, but she did not rush off of the telephone. That is a solid appointment!

Happy CEMENTING!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The Sales Jedi
MTD Sales Blog

MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report yet? “The Sales Person’s Crisis” has been downloaded by over 10,000 sales pros and entrepreneurs. Don’t miss this unique report that lifts the lid on modern day selling!

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Telephone: 0800 849 6732