Messaging: Are they really listening, or looking to escape?

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Karl Goldfield.
Categories: Messaging, Sales Training.

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Messaging in entry statements How do you know what message works? It is not very often your first interaction with a potential client is face to face. When it is, you are usually competing with the clatter of a networking event or dinner party. Yeah, yeah, Karl we know, so what is your point? Everybody knows we have eight seconds, and if we are good we have eight more, tell us something new.

Here it is:

Tell them something that matters. Your name, unless it is Barack or Hilary, in 2008, who cares. Your company? Unless you employ Ed McMahon, again, ho hum. The client you just helped, frankly they have heard it all before. What gets people interested is how you can effect their day to day. How can you make their job easier? What will get their peers, superiors, and reports to appreciate the decision to bring you into the mix?

People usually are led my management and training to make the following mistake:

In sales training focused on products, we learn that a certain feature can do something of value, but we get specificatios and details instead of a core statement of effect.

In sales trainings focused on understanding our prospects, you learn what questions to ask and how to engage in conversation. This is good training, but even when we get someone to start talking, how do we know if they really care?

Where we must begin to take our sales opportunities beyond the norm is with a message that makes sense to the listener while simultaneously sparking interest. We should begin with:

1. Research

Only when we know that the message is tailored to the person we are talking to ca we be effective. If you are calling CEO’s, know the state of their company. If profits are soaring, they are not listening to how you can increase sales, but they may want to hear about how you can maintain employee loyalty. If you are calling HR managers, know how many open requisitions for employmet they have, or if they have turnover issues.

2. Clarity

K.I.S.S. Keep it simple st—-! No one cares about ROI and TCO! People are sick of these silly expressions, and if you have a new acronym, keep it to yourself! Look, if they engage in this banter, the by all means get out your Sililcon Valley abbreviation kit and have at it, but until then, speak ENGLISH (Or your native tongue). Say things that cut and get rid of the um’s, you know’s, and that cancerous passive voice. As my good friend Tim Rohrer says, “No good sales plan involves hope.” Nor does it include might’s, may have’s, and then there are those other sweet little scaredy cat statements that mean absolutely nothing.

3. Brevity

If you take more than five seconds to get to the point;YOU LOSE. Read that sentence again, 1,2,3,4 and done. Every few seconds you must make a point, and one that matters. Then make another one and another one until it is time to ask a questions. Between points, keep your mouth sealed shut. Brevity on your part should inspire long winded dialog on theirs. Get them talking by saying something compelling then shutting up.

4. Passion

If you have not felt it yet, then I suck! People rarely walk away from me without knowing how I feel. If you are engaged in a conversation with me, you know my passions, and most of all you know what I believe in. This is what gets me going in the morning, and it is what allows me to sell. If I cannot transfer my passion it is either because I am not concentrating on my true self, or you are not ready for the message. After all if I make it compelling, succinct, and you can feel that I mean it, why would you risk not giving me eight more seconds.

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6 comments.

Messaging during a coffee break: Self promotion – Let’s get the message out »« Messaging: Do you hear the words coming out of my mouth?

Trigger Event Selling

Comment on July 2nd, 2008.

Karl;

I completely agree with you.

I also agree with Seth Godin who says “If you can’t state your position in eight words or less then you don’t have a position.”

I teach what I call a ‘Seven Second Sale’. The template for this is “We help (market segment) (do something everyone in that market wants)”. Notice I said wants not needs. The want is the emotional component that helps hook the listener.

The intent is to have the other person say, at the end of your seven second sale, something like “How do you do that?”.

I know a lady who runs a womens fitness/wellness facility whose seven second sale is “We help women feel beautiful in anything”.

I know a lady who runs a center for high risk kids and her seven second sale is “We help kids reach their full potential.”

I sit on the advisory team for a company called VendorRate.com and their seven second sale to CIOs is “We reduce the risk of buying IT”.

My own seven second sale is “We help smaller companies outsell bigger companies”

The only intent is to pique someone’s interest enough to have them asking you to tell them more or how do I get myself some of that.

Craig Elias
Creator of Trigger Event Selling

Jan Simpson

Comment on July 2nd, 2008.

Karl,

Good article – I would like to add the following – never have I made a sale by talking about the product or service – why would I want to build a relationship based on a product, service, company – the more I talk about the customer – the more they want to talk about what I have to offer –

Also, I think sales training has always been about the stupid product or service which if it bores me – then it will bore my customer – and who decides who is the best to provide sales training. When I was at MCI, we had outside sales trainers – and one time – I went up to the sales trainer and gave him some advice on how to really get the class motivated to participate yada yada yada – he was such an ass – he made fun of me and my advice during the next day’s training class – big mistake –

So, unless you are skilled in the ROI, the research, the product – allow your technical people who know the details to sell – and get a financial guy to do the ROI – that is the biggest bunch of bs I have ever heard or seen over my years of selling –

Don’t waste your time – take them to play golf – you will get better ROI from that -

Brad Trnavsky

Comment on July 3rd, 2008.

Karl,
yet another great post. If a sales person tells me they are having a hard time the first question I ask is how do you feel about your products or company. Nine time out of ten it is not a positive response. From there we focus a little time on the product and figure out if it is REALLY that bad, or that they did not understand something properly, or were going after the wrong clients.
More often than not once the salesperson can find true passion for the product there is no longer an issue.

Craig, your advice was awesome… I am going to start teaching that model. It is so simple and effective. Much better than the 60 second elevator speech most people teach.

Thanks to both of you!

Brad Trnavsky
Sales Management 2.0

nesh thompson

Comment on July 5th, 2008.

Great article Karl, I particularly liked your point on brevity and clarity. It finaly clicked in place when I thought about all the politicians I have heard answering questions. Why can’t a politian answer a simple question in a yes or no? Because, if they take three or four minutes using ultra long sentences and using confusing terminology, then the audience won’t understand properly – which I think is the aim of being a politician.

The trouble is, that this form of communication does actually sound quite impressive. “I don’t understand what you are saying, but you are using some really long words, therefore you must know what you are talking about”. The problem is that this doesn’t work (at least not in the long run) in the sales world, because when you are asking for a client to commit to buying, the last thing they want is to be confused.

elmo033057

Comment on July 5th, 2008.

This is one of the reasons that sales presentations and even in ad copy the entire message must be repeated several times. Of course, you want to also qualify the prospect with a series of questions that will ultimately get him or her to say “yes”.

This should keep them alert and awake. If not just go back over the message again.

Karl Goldfield

Comment on July 11th, 2008.

All,

Your additions to this blog are fantastic! With so many great people giving feedback, we are really building something.

Karl