Admit it! There are some subjects related to your product, service or
solution that you dread talking about. Perhaps your offering isn't the
most "leading edge." Maybe your pricing is much higher than
competitors. Or maybe you're a boutique firm without the full spectrum
of services of the bigger companies.
Whatever it is, you hope like crazy that your prospects won't bring
it up. Yet you know deep inside that the topic is unavoidable. No
matter how hard you try to dance around the elephant in the room and
pretend its not there, it's just a matter of time before someone asks
about it. Then you stumble through a lame response that makes you sound
like a total patsy and your credibility plummets.
So what's a seller to do?
When I was in college, I worked at the Ground Round Restaurant as a
waitress. On weekends, Leroy Larson played his banjo and sang the old
favorites. After months of working there, I developed quite a liking
for his rendition of songs by the Kingston Trio. (MTA & Tom Dooley)
Twenty years later, this group came to Minneapolis for a concert. I
persuaded my husband to go with me – even though he wasn't enamored
with their music. After the warm-up singers, a booming voice came over
the microphone announcing the main act: "Ladies & Gentlemen … (long
pause) … The Kingston Trio."
There was a roar of applause as we waited for this much beloved
group to appear. Instead, from the left side of the stage, three old
bald slightly overweight guys hobbled slowly to the center. One was
leaning so heavily on his cane, that we weren't sure if he'd make it.
The audience was in shock. We were in the midst of geriatric unit.
The once vibrant Kingston Trio looked like they belonged in the old
folks' home.
The lead singer limped up to the microphone. When he got there he
stopped. Slowly he scanned the audience, practically making eye contact
with each person. As he looked at us, his head started shaking back and
forth like he was in disbelief. He still was silent.
Finally he spoke. With a twinkle in his eye, he looked straight at us and said, "My goodness you've gotten old!"
The crowd erupted in laughter. That was the elephant in the room
that needed to be spoken. And once it was out on the table, it totally
lost its impact.
How does this apply to selling?
When I sold for Xerox, my most feared competitor had a switch that
automatically turned its copiers off after not being in use for 20
minutes. This was at a time when gas prices were high and people were
big into conservation.
I lost more sales over this stupid feature than I care to admit. My
competitor kept emphasizing its value. All my responses made me sound
like I was on the defensive.
The truth was that the annual cost savings were miniscule. Plus
waiting for the system to warm up again drove people nuts. But it
wasn't till I started bringing up the subject myself that I regained my
competitive edge. Early on in the sales process, I would say:
"As
you're evaluating systems you're likely to hear some vendors talk about
how great it is to have an automatic off/on switch. For your
information, when copiers are in the "wait mode" they're using about
the same amount of electricity as a standard light bulb – which is
minimal.
"What people don't realize when they get copiers with this switch is
that you have to wait 30 seconds for it to warm up again each time its
in use. I don't know about your employees, but find it unacceptable to
wait for 30 seconds for their copy. They want it immediately."
I
never lost to that competitor again. That's what can happen when you
face into those dreaded subjects, think about them ahead of time and
plan your response. You might even need to experiment with several
variations till you find a good way to say things.
What other elephants could be in the room?
If it's pricing, address the fact that you're not the low cost
provider head on and tell them why it's to their advantage. If you're a
small company without the breadth of coverage of a corporate giant,
point that fact early on in your discussions. Then follow up with
several statements about why that's good.
Recently I noticed a corporate giant using this strategy in their
television advertising campaign. SAP, a firm that offers a
comprehensive range of enterprise software applications, is perceived
by many smaller firms to be too complicated, sophisticated and pricey
for their business operations. In their ads, executives/owners of these
growing firms express surprise that they can get SAP's capabilities at
such an affordable rate. It's very effective.
So what elephants are you tiptoeing around? What areas do you dread
talking about? Once you name them, start working on how to proactively
bring them up when you meet with prospective customers. That's they
only way for them to lose their impact!
* * *
Need help addressing the elephants in your room? If so, you might want to check out the Getting Into Big Companies
self-study program. One 60-minute segment focuses exclusively on
Dealing with the Tough Stuff. Plus you'll find many other resources to
help you crack into corporate accounts.
Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers
get their foot in the door of large corporations, create demand and win
profitable contracts. For more articles like this, podcasts &
webinars, visit http://www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.
