Selling Ghosts
I sell a product – yes we actually make something, put it in a box and ship it to someone else, who uses it in something they make, then they put that in a box, anyway you get the picture. So honestly, I am the first guy who “Touches” the customer. Hopefully, I am there near the inception of the idea to understand what it is they want.
Does the economy affect us? Sure, anyone making anything these days is affected. Here is the cool part, I see people continually asking for quotations and tell me they are working on projects 1 to 2 years out. So you see, they have a vision. I see other people sitting in a corner wringing their hands saying “Buy? What would you expect me to buy? Haven’t you been watching the news, don’t you know about the 2009 Depression?” I don’t suggest that they don’t have a vision, but I’ll bet their vision involves night sweats! I really don’t answerthe latter group, I just verbally “Pat them on their head and tell them I will stay in touch!”
Now, you ask what does that have to do with Selling Ghosts? In turn, I ask you what the difference is between these two people? It is their vision, what they believe or what they feel and that is what we sell. We sell a feeling or a “Ghost.”
I am fortunate; I am one of many people who sell “Something” I have a product to put in a box. Many of you do not. But that is where the difference ends. We still prospect, generate leads, qualify the customer and then set a meeting. At that meeting, we may still have some qualification to do, but hopefully by that time we are beginning some “Ghost” marketing.
We propose to the prospect that we have something they need; a piece of software, a tool, a box of something that will cost less, or work better than what they currently have.
STOP RIGHT THERE!
We just stopped selling the product and started marketing the “Ghost.” It is not the product, but what the product will do for you.
Wendy Wiess said on Twitter:
“People want quarter-inch holes, not quarter-inch drills.' Focus on the benefits, and talk about the benefits. “
While this may say different things to different people, I believe it underlines the approach successful sales people take out of their tool box as they approach their sales call. Preparation is the key. When you visit a customer to sell drills as Wendy suggests, does your customer want drills? Sure, he or she is either using them, or selling them. But what does the “Real” customer of the drill want? HOLES! That is why they are buying drills. I suggest, the “HOLE” is your “Ghost.” Develop your sales pitch, problem solving, even your “Trusted Advisor” position around selling the “Hole” not the drill. The distributor may want to buy a drill, and sell it to make a profit, but if there are any savvy salespeople at that distributor they are selling the service they provide, not the product sitting on their shelves. The end user wants a drill, but if they could buy the hole, wouldn’t they?
So, before you call, visit or e-mail yourcontact, find out what your “Hole” is and market your “Ghost” to your customer not your “Box of Drills.”
This Blog Inspired by: Do you React or Respond to Competition? $10 Haircuts Might Kill You – Geoff Wasserman
