In Sales, Words Matter!

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Words can have a negative or positive impact on your sales efforts. Guest author Gary Kurtis shares some examples….

The interrogation with the overhead light:

Sales people are rightfully taught to ask questions to uncover problems. Often this comes across to the customer as an interrogation. Before asking the questions, be sure you have created a comfort level with your customer, and then have the questions be “conversational”. The best questions are thought-provoking, meant to elicit a reply such as “What a great question! No one’s ever asked me that before!” With questions posed in this manner, prospects will be more likely to tell you about their problems.

The 50/50 dilemma:

How many times during the sales cycle do we ask a question or make a statement and not get the answer we are looking for? For example, we say “I am calling to follow up on our proposal”, only to be told “Well, nothing has changed”. (Why ask a question if there is at least a 50% chance you will not get your desired answer?)

Dealing with the competition:

Here are two scenarios we all want to avoid. a)You had a great call leading to an anticipated sale, but the customer goes with your competition. You never had the chance to address your advantages – because you didn’t ask if they were looking at other options!  b) Following another great call, you remember to ask the prospect if they are planning to look at the competition. They reply, “What a great idea! We hadn’t thought about doing that, but it now makes perfect sense.”  Neither scenario is good for you. Rather than suggesting there is competition, once the customer expresses a desire for your solution, simply ask them what next steps they plan to take to have your solution fully approved. (If they do plan on looking at the competition, that will be revealed in their answer.)

Getting the customer to state what they dislike about their current vendor:

Sales people are often taught to ask this question to determine how they can become a better source compared to the current vendor. The problem is most (particularly if they don’t know you), prospects will not automatically open up. In fact, they may become defensive, since it was their decision to select that vendor. Take the high road. Ask your customer what they like about their current vendor. Then ask them what they would improve or add. This technique essentially gives you permission to ask what they don’t like, doing it in a positive way.

Requesting a meeting:

Sales people are given numerous scripts to request a meeting. These are performed by cold calling, phone, email, letters etc. The basic request is to make it about you and your company and having an opportunity to introduce yourself to eventually “earn” your business. In this era of information overload and “pushy” sales people you become part of the noise. A better approach is to identify your differentiation from others, learn what’s most important to your targeted customer and request to have a conversation to share how you helped other similar customers to see if there is a fit.

In sales, the words you use and your choice of questions to ask – matter – a lot!

 

Today’s guest post was contributed by Gary Kurtis, Principal of Sales Tips101. For more information, call (301) 775-1318 or visit https://salestips101.com.

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Content Marketing Must Make Readers the Winners

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“Shark Tank likely would not be the household name it has come to embody had it not been for Clay Newbill, Daymond John admits. “it was Newbill who pitched the idea and his choice of ideal cast members to a team of writers and editors”. In his book Powershift, Daymond John recalls a key change to the seating arrangements on the set that Newbill had made in the show, putting the Sharks at eye level with the entrepreneurs instead of on a raised stage. John’s advice to entrepreneurs is to “hone a win-win negotiating style”, striking a deal that works to the benefit of both parties.

In order to bring about a successful result in negotiating any deal, John elaborates, you need to do your homework, set the tone for the discussion, make the first move, and play to win-win. Understanding that people are people, just like you, bring value to the table without expecting anything in return, he advises. Always consider the needs of the buyers, not only those of the sellers.

Think like a buyer in your blog, I tell content writers. As Keith Rand, my late friend and co-member of Circle Business Network put it, achieving success in business means understanding – and focusing the conversation on – not what you have to offer, but on what the other party is seeking. Keith would explain that in a business transfer, the focus needs to be not on why the seller has decided to sell, but on what on what’s going on inside the buyer’s head as he or she pictures owning and running that business going forward. 

In advising professional speakers on ways to drive revenue, Aussie consultant Peter Sheahan advocated being buyer-centric, doing everything with buyers’ needs in mind. Your content marketing, I tell business owners and professional practitioners, will succeed only if two things are apparent to readers: 

  1. You understand their concerns and needs.
  2. You and your staff have the experience, the information, the products, and the services to solve exactly those problems and meet precisely those needs. 

The content  marketing principle emphasized ten years ago in a piece by socialmediatoday.com remains true: “Content marketing should be beneficial to your customer, reflective of your brand, and optimized for Google, in that order.

Content marketing must make readers the winners!

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Best Content Marketing – Both Empathetic and Authoritative

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“To position yourself as the guide for your customer needs,” says Donald Miller in Marketing Made Simple, ” you need to express empathy and demonstrate authority. Together, empathy and authority make a powerful one-two punch, while, Miller cautions, “empathy without authority falls flat, as does authority without empathy.”

On a website, Miller suggests, there are three ways to communicate authority:

  1. testimonials
  2. logos of companies you’ve worked with
  3. statistics: years you’ve been in business, how many clients have worked with you

Meanwhile, to communicate empathy, he suggests, use “we know what it feels like to…” statements in the content.

Interestingly, the three “soundbites” Miller suggests looking for when collecting testimonials are element that, at Say It For You, we suggest are “soundbites” on which to base blog posts:

  • Overcoming objections: “I worried that the course was going to be a waste of time. I was wrong…”
    In creating content for marketing blogs, we need to keep in mind that people are online searching for for solutions for dilemmas they’re facing. But, since searchers haven’t always formulated their questions, what I suggest is that we do that for them, anticipating blog readers’ negative assumption questions.
  • Solving problems: “I’m on my feet all day, and my lower back used to ache. Now, with my new XYZ shoes….
    As you’re describing how your product or service solved clients’ problems, the reaction you’d like to elicit in blog readers is sighs of relief that they’ve found you.
  • Adding value: “I was skeptical of the price, but I’m so glad I used…”
    A small business owner in a retail or services field cannot hope to compete in purchasing ads and needs to rely on organic search to attract eyeballs. With blog marketing, using consistency and commitment, they have a chance a winning the customer acquisition game.

One way content writers can project empathy is with history-of-our-company background stories.  Those personal anecdotes can have a humanizing effect, engaging readers and creating feelings of empathy and admiration for the business owners or professional practitioners who overcame adversity.

At the same time, “authority” is an important term in marketing blog writing. For one, Google’s algorithms are sensitive to authority when selecting which content to match with a reader’s query. Perhaps even more important, readers visit your blog for answers and for information they can trust. The success of your blog marketing efforts will be very closely aligned with your being perceived as a SME (subject matter expert) in your field.

Content marketing needs to be both – empathetic and authoritative!

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Retelling Your Marketing Story

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Of course they’ve heard it before, and reusing ideas is certainly nothing new, Toni Fitzgerald explains in the Writer magazine. “From Biblical stories to Homer’s Odyssey, conceptsget adopted and tweaked for the audience.” And just why do writers retell stories?

  • to honor a work that made a big impact on them
  • to amplify an important message
  • to explore a theme from a new direction
  • to add diversity and additional context
  • to force readers to rethink things they may have taken for granted

“Stop us if you’ve heard this one,” Fitzgerald tells readers: Headstrong young woman bucks the expectations of society and of her family. She meets a young man who seems immune to her charms, falls in love with him, learning that things are not always what they seem and that being vulnerable is the only way to move forward… Sure, that’s the story of classic novel Pride and Prejudice, but that plot also fits Bridget Jones’ Diary. The big advantage of recasting a novel is that, since people are already familiar with the story, you spend less time setting up the plot, earning automatic “buy-in” from the readers.

Storytelling is a strong business skill, SCORE explains, with the power to boost business in a number of ways, creating product awareness, improving customer loyalty, and increasing profit. Business stories today, the authors add, are created around eight topics:

  1. Who we are
  2. Why us
  3. Our vision
  4. Good business
  5. What we have learned
  6. How we design it
  7. How we do it
  8. Meet our customers

“Transferring values and beliefs is done through your story’s character having an epiphany because your audience will also experience this,” the SCORE authors explain  As Fitzgerald sees it, “We all want to be the heroes of the story.” But, because different segments of your audience will experience your story in different ways, audiences must be attracted with different “digital honeypots”, on24.com explains. To create a compelling story, you need to understand your readers and who will respond and take action, defining your “buyer persona(s)”, Hubspot advises.

“As marketing strategists, we stress the importance of repetition. Retelling your story – through traditional and digital media, advertising and face-to-face sales – is the only way to ensure your value points are heard, understood and remembered,” says Robin Miller of publicity.com. “If you’re going to be in the marketing or advertising business, if you’re going to be in sales, you’ve got to tell your story over and over, and over and over, and over and over again. Then you’ve got to tell it one more time,” he advises.

Of course they’ve heard it before, we explain to our Say It For You clients. The very secret of success lies in the retelling of your marketing story!

 

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Blogging to Pitch, Query, and Propose

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Reading Amy Jones’ fascinating article “Pitch vs. Query vs. Proposal” in Writer’s Digest reminded me of the sales function of blog marketing. Just as writers need to capture the attention of editors, we aim to convert our clients’ website visitors into buyers. Not to strain a synonym or wax overly philosophical, book writers need to first capture the attention and interest of the editors, with the ultimate goal to reach readers. To capture the attention of potential buyers, business owners and professional practitioners need to capture the attention of an appropriate segment of web surfers, going through the “filter” of a search engine. ….

But, do blog posts lead to purchases? Pamela Bump of Hubspot cites the firm’s 2021 executive Marketing Leadership Survey: Asked “Have you ever purchased something from a company after reading a blog post from them?”, 56% sais “Yes”; 20% of marketing leaders described blogs as “one of their most important channels for hitting goals.

the Pitch
In the pitch, Jones advises writers, tell the editor or publisher why you are the best person to write about a particular topic for of that publication. In other words, show at you and that publication would be a good match. The parallel in blog marketing? Make it easy for search engines to understand what you do, and where you fit. No, Pat Ahern of inter-growth.co, says, people searching the web aren’t ready to pull out their wallets, but answering a question of our target audience can be the first step in them checking out our blog.

the Query
A query, Jones goes on to tell writers, say, takes the form of a letter to an agent or editor accompanied by a sample or excerpt from the novel or article. “If you’re a plumber, remind readers when and how to winterize,” Marc Prosser of SCORE advises business owners. In other words, establish your authority in your field. By sharing your expertise, you’re building customer loyalty and demonstrating a “match” with common search terms.

the Proposal
Having stimulated some show of initial interest in your article or book, Jones now tells writers, you are ready to create an actual proposal, detailing the “product”, showing evidence of need for need for a new approach to the topic, and some actual “specs” of your manuscript. Blog content writers can share valuable information about both the features and benefits of their products and services, adding testimonials from former and existing clients.

Blog to pitch, query, and propose!

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