Smart Thinking: Nobody cares about your products or services

by Cathy Atkins

October 31,2008

Nobody cares about your products or services…and neither should you.  Sure, your company’s advertising focuses on your products and services-their unique advantages and benefits. And your marketing department has gone to great lengths and expense to produce extensive brochures and spec sheets that further elaborate on the unique aspects of your products and services.

Nobody cares.

Prospects aren’t interested in-nor are they buying-products and services for their unique aspects, features, benefits or advantages.  They are buying products and services for what those products and services can do for them-for what it helps or enables them to accomplish.  They are not buying the product or service; they are buying the intended outcome of using the product or service.

Does a prospect care about the pounds of pressure in the hydraulic cylinders of your scissor lifts?  No.  What they care about is whether the lift will raise three pallets of parts 12 feet in the air to reach the top shelf of the storage bins.  Does a prospect care about the process by which your diamond tipped concrete-cutting saw blades are made or that the 38 State road construction departments use your blades?  No.  What they care about is how many feet of four-inch concrete pad they can cut before needing to replace the blade.  They care about the end results of using your products or services.

There’s a story about a man who walked into a hardware store.  He walked up and down the aisles and finally stopped in the section where different brands, shapes and sizes of cordless drills were on display.  Carefully looking at each drill and reading the descriptions on the boxes, he continued to compare each one to another.  After a few minutes, a salesman walked up beside him and proceeded to talk about the wide range of cordless drills on display…their brand reputation, battery life, warranty, etc.  Noticing a lack of response from the man, the salesman finally asked, “So, you want a cordless drill, right?”  The man’s response, “Nope…I want a hole.”

(Groan)  Okay, so maybe the story was a little lame.  Bear with me-what’s the point?

All too often, traditional salespeople suffer from “Premature Presentation Syndrome.”  They become so caught up in, even fall in love with, the “unique selling points” of their product or service-code words for features, benefits and advantages that they pay scant attention to the outcomes the products or services are designed to achieve.  Prospects care about outcomes before they care about or consider “unique selling points.”

Find out what the prospect really needs-and not just superficially.  Then, ask for permission to make a correlation between that and the components of your products or services that fit those particular needs.  By not doing so, you’re guilty of malpractice.  The very same thing doctors avoid for fear of litigation, a salesperson does readily and considers normal behavior.  Remember, ask questions first, thereby earning the right to make a presentation.

It’s OK to “love” your product or service and speak passionately, emotionally, and convincingly about it…after you’ve determined that it provides the outcome your prospect is trying to achieve.  Make no mistake, when you are intent on solving a prospective client’s problems, they’ll care.

© 2008  Sandler Systems, Inc.   Sandler Training is the global leader in sales & management training and consulting.  To bring world class salesmanship to your organization or for your free copy of “Why Salespeople Fail” whitepaper, call Catherine Atkins @ 573-445-7694 or email her at atkins@awarenessmanagement.com.