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Boost Your Small-Business Sales
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Article 2: Rely On A Proven Formula
Effective selling, like good marketing, rests on AIDA – Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
Attention
Communicate in prospects’ own language to gain their attention. Use that language in your initial sales pitch, in person, ads, direct mail or however you choose to reach prospects.
Knowing your target market is vital in crafting attention-grabbing pitches. No matter how much you lower the price for ground beef, you can’t get a vegetarian’s attention. Interest
Once you’ve gotten prospects’ attention, capture their interest by stressing your product or service’s benefits, not its features.
A pencil’s features are that it is yellow and tipped with rubber. A pencil’s benefits are that it writes on many surfaces and can undo mistakes.
Don’t yammer about features. It is benefits that pluck responsive cords: “Our pencils have erasers, which means you can undo any mistake you make with them.” Desire
Now it’s time to stoke the furnace of desire by intimately linking your benefits to what prospects want. This is the problem-solving stage.
Not only do you sell what’s needed and desired, you also sell what uniquely meets those needs and desires. You’re selling the solution, not merely a handy gadget. Scratch buyers’ itches: “Never be embarrassed again with smudged eraser marks. Our erasers leave no hint of error.” Action
Finally, with your prospect attentive, interested and desirous, it’s time to act. Close the sale.
Incredibly, many sales are fumbled at this point, leaving the next move up to the prospect. Take the initiative. Ask for the sale. “Shall I wrap the pencil up for you now?”
One caveat: Many sales professionals advise a “trial closing.” This semi-final stage is an opportunity to address lingering uncertainty.
Prospects can say, yes, no or maybe. Maybe means unresolved doubt. Don’t give the maybes a chance to choose no, just to get the process over with. The trial closing can convert a maybe into a yes.
Use the trial closing this way: “Is there anything keeping you from buying today?” Or, if you’re already aware of uncertainty, say, “If we can resolve this issue, will you be ready to buy?”
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