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Which Sale First?

All too often businesses get caught up in the “product trap.” From advertising to sales presentation, the “product” takes center stage. Afterwards we wonder why we didn’t get the sale. Or if we did, why we didn’t retain future business from the client. The answer in both cases is simple: we made the wrong sale first. By selling the product first, we lost sight of the most important sale...ourselves and our company.

This article is excerpted and digested from Jack Burke’s Creating Customer Connections: How To Make Customer Service A Profit Center For Your Company. Originally published by Merritt Publishing in 1997, this popular book remains in print at Silver Lake Publishing. Ordering information can be found by clicking the book title above.

“Make yourself necessary to somebody.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The answer in both cases is simple...we made the wrong sale first. By selling the product first, we lost sight of the most important sale – ourselves and our company.

As a young teenager, I worked in a car dealership during high school. I was always amazed by the rapport that the dealership’s most successful salesman had with his clients. Most of his clients had bought a number of cars from him, many brought their friends in to buy from him, women greeted him with kisses–even the kids loved him. As a result, month after month, year after year, he always led the dealership in sales. Finally I asked him, “Why are you so successful at selling cars?” He quickly replied with an answer that has stayed with me ever since, “I don’t sell cars Jack, I sell myself.”

When you sell yourself and your company first, you create trust, confidence and rapport. When trust, confidence and rapport are high, pressure is low. And since every action has an equal reaction, the opposite is true: pressure is high, when trust, confidence and rapport are low.

Sell value first, the rest will follow.

Let’s say that you were interested in buying a “boingo.” Now, ABC Boingo and XYZ Boingo both offered the same boingo. However, ABC Boingo walked you back into their boingo service department and made a point of their investment into specialized equipment and trained personnel to assure that your boingo would keep on boingo-ing properly. Then, ABC Boingo introduced you to their management staff who were dedicated to making the world a better place through boingos. Finally, after you had learned all about ABC Boingo, they then extolled the features of their particular boingo and finally quoted the price at which you could become a boingo owner. XYZ Boingo, on the other hand, just said, “Here’s the boingo and we’ll give you a great deal!”

Which company created a greater sense of security? To which company would you give your boingo business? If you answered ABC Boingo, you’d probably even be willing to pay a premium to gain the service behind the product!

Keeping all this in mind, here are a few maxims that can serve you well in making the right sale first.

1. Create value before quoting price. Price alone is merely indicative of the product and doesn’t convey the entire picture to the client. By creating value, I’m not talking about the product. Take the time to sell the benefits
and values that are unique to you and your company. Others might have the identical product or service, maybe even a lower price. But you and your company can provide the unique difference.

2. Never quote price to an unsold buyer. If you haven’t made the first sale, you aren’t ready to proceed to the second.

3. A client sold on price will shop future business. If all you are offering is price, that is the only thing your client can compare. Loyalty in this case is only as good as the lowest price. Although you may retain the business, you will fight for every renewal.

4. Performance is the scorecard of your client’s expectations. Once you’ve made the first sale, it is essential to make good on what you’ve sold. In selling yourself, you create expectations that must be met and should be exceeded.

Jack Burke is the president of Sound Marketing, Inc., host/producer of Audio Insurance Outlook, editor of ProgramBusiness.com newsletter, and author of both Relationship Aspect Marketing and Creating Customer Connections. For more information, please visit http://www.soundmarketing.com, call 1-800-451-8273, or e-mail jack@soundmarketing.com.