Internet Tip of the Week
by Bob Osgoodby
What's In It For MeWe've all heard the term "sell the sizzle, not the steak". Well,
if you're selling anything, you had better pay attention to the
"sizzle". In today's market, your potential prospects have one
thing in mind. "What's in it for me", and if you're into
sales, you must realize this. While the "nuts and bolts" of your
product or offer are important, that is not normally what gets
someone's initial interest and makes the sale.People don't buy products or services. They buy benefits. If you
are selling an opportunity, people want to know realistically how
much they can make. Promises of hundreds of thousands of dollars
a month will usually fall on deaf ears. Why, because it is not
realistic. You do have to point up the benefits someone will
receive however, but if you make outlandish claims, they will
simply "click away".Let me digress - years ago I was running a data processing center
and we were only running limited applications. We then had a job
added to our responsibilities, which resulted in about three
additional days of work, for three people once a month. Not
having the staff to do this job, in addition to our daily work,
we had to hire temporary help.A look back - we were dealing with "punched card technology"
then, you know - like the "hanging chad" problem in Florida
during the last presidential election. While we didn't have that
problem, we were dealing with the same technology. We were
having pressure put on us to add even more applications, and it
just wasn't possible with the constraints of our current hardware
and staff.We started to shop around for a computer, and a number of
companies were contacted. One salesman extolled the virtues of
his hardware, and we didn't have a clue as to what he was talking
about.Another salesperson didn't try to sell us on the hardware, and
the "bits and bytes" involved. He said simply "you can do the
job that is now taking three days without the "temp" help in
about an hour". And, he continued, "you can do your daily work
and the additional applications you want within your normal
working day".What was he doing? He was solving our problem. He didn't even
mention disk storage, or printer speed, he simply told us the
benefits of what a computer from his company could do
for us. That salesperson got the order, and we have been dealing
with them ever since.If you are doing business, or trying to, you must gear your
program to meet the needs of your prospects. If you're selling a
product, most people don't really care about how it's made, or
how it's designed. They want to know "what is in it for them".
Put a different way, what benefits will I get by dealing with
you, rather then someone else.If you are selling an "opportunity" or affiliate program, that
thousands of others are trying to "hawk" at the same time, why
should they buy from you? If you hope for a chance of
succeeding, this is a key issue that must be addressed. Face it,
most people don't, and then wonder why they fail.Stress the personal relationship and help you will give them.
Most people who are new to trying a program of this type, need a
lot of help and guidance. If you can promise, and deliver this
type of help, you have a much greater chance of getting them as
a customer than someone who doesn't.If you are in the market for a raincoat, what is the primary
thing you want? While the fact that it is double stitched and
made out of high grade material is great, want you really want is
to keep dry when it rains.If you are to succeed, you have to figure out what other people
are looking for. While they are really looking for a "steak", it
will be the "sizzle" that will sell them.-----
Bob has been publishing online since 1996. All the “tricks of the trade” are contained in his latest E-book. Learn how to avoid being shut down by your ISP for Spamming, and where to find “E-mail friendly ISP's. Learn which software packages are available to easily manage and distribute your email. For more information - http://www.adv-marketing.com/business/handbook.htm
We
Have Zero Tolerance for Spam