Hardwood Floors June/July 2018

SALES SAVVY BUSINESS BEST PRACTICES

By Paul Reilly

PRESENTING YOUR VALUE-ADDED SOLUTION

“The heart has reasons that reason cannot understand.” - Blaise Pascal, Mathematician and Scientist

BigStockPhoto ©

In the quote above, Pascal is claiming that people do things for their own reasons, and those reasons don’t have to make sense. Humans are not purely rational; we’re emotional too. Think about it…if we were purely rational, nobody would engage in high-risk activity like speeding, texting and driving, or bungee jumping. Since people are rational and emotional, our decisions are logical and emotive. If robots made buying decisions, logic would be the only factor, but humans make these decisions. As sales professionals, the content of our presentations appeal to the rational, logical side of buying. The context appeals to the emotional side of buying. Value-added salespeople understand that buyers are rational and emotional. Therefore, a value-added presentation is rich in content and context. Here are some tips to appeal to the buyer’s logic and emotion in your next value-added sales presentation. USE ANALOGY In John Pollack’s book, Shortcut , he emphasizes how analogy helps us spark innovation and sell our great ideas. Pollack shares research suggesting that analogy may lie at the core of all decision making. Analogy is the comparison of two things based on similarity for the purposes of explanation.

Humans are lazy thinkers. We look for previous associations and parallels when making decisions. We do this to simplify decision making. We analyze previous situations and determine if they are similar to the current decision we are trying to make. If the previous situation is similar, we decide similarly. Analogy is an effective way to draw a parallel to another aspect of the buyer’s business. Find other examples where the buyer has made a decision based on value and not price, then show the linkage with your solution. Analogy simplifies the decision-making process. Use an analogy that is familiar to the buyer and draws a parallel to another aspect of their business. MAKE IT SOUND AND LOOK FAMILIAR Presentations are about the buyer, not the seller. Buyers are more likely to accept a solution if it’s familiar. When a presentation sounds familiar and looks familiar, buyers are more likely to buy. In a recent seminar, one salesperson explained that he likes to use buyer buzzwords in his presentation. Buzzwords make the presentation sound familiar. Every buyer uses certain buzzwords of value. Identify your buyer’s buzzwords of value and use them in your presentation.

24 hardwood floors www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com