By Brian Tracy
The purpose of the selling process is to convince customers that they will be better off with the product or service than they would be with the money necessary to buy the product. When you make sales presentations, you are asking customers to engage in a trade.
You are telling customers that if they give you their money, you will give them a product or service in return that will be of greater value to them than the money they pay. In addition, it will be of greater value than anything else that they could buy with the same amount of money at the same time.
Satisfied Needs
The customer always acts to satisfy the greatest number of unmet needs, in the very best way, at the lowest possible price. A major part of your job is to demonstrate that customers will get more of what they want, faster, by purchasing your product or service than they would get if they bought something else.
Credibility
Proof that the other people similar to the customer have purchased the product builds credibility, lowers resistance, and increases sales. Every bit of information that you can present showing that other people, similar to the customer, have already wrestled with this buying decision, have decided to purchase, and have been happy as a result, moves you closer to making the sale.
One of the most powerful of all persuasion techniques in our society is called “social proof.” We are all influenced by what others have done or are doing. We are much more open to buying a product or service when we know that other people like us have already bought it and are happy with it.
Testimonials
Testimonials of any kind increase desirability and lower price resistance to a product or service. Testimonial letters or photographs of happy customers using and enjoying your product or service, or lists of satisfied customers, are powerful influence factors in persuading a person to buy. You should persistently solicit testimonials from your customers.
Acquire them from every source possible and every way you possibly can. Testimonials can make your sales work much easier. You will find that almost all top salespeople use testimonials that praise and support the product or services they are selling and that are relevant to the customer they are selling to.
Action Exercise
Gather testimonials of every kind from every satisfied customer you possibly can. Build your sales presentation and your sales materials around these testimonials. Continually prove to your prospects that other people, just like them, are happily using what you sell.
