Create Thirst

Ever wonder why you don't land more sales? You have customers come in or call, only to have them glide right on out of your place of business or end the phone call without making a purchase. And this after you gave them your BEST PRESENTATION EVER!  What is wrong with those people? Did they not really need what you were offering? Were they just window shopping? Or was it you? Did you only show them features instead of relating those features to benefits? (I may explain more about this in a future post). Did they just not like you? What went wrong?

The answer is often to be found in an old adage that I think needs to be extended to a more profitable conclusion. We have all heard it said, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink", right?
Well, it is true - as far as it goes. But let's solve the problem by completing the process. Let's solve the "can't make him drink" dilemma.

The end of the adage really should go a little farther. You can't make that horse drink... UNLESS - what?
Unless you make him thirsty! If you find that your "horse" isn't buying in to your sales proposition, it often means that you haven't made him thirsty enough. He doesn't want what you are offering because he doesn't really feel the need.

Spend some time learning what it is that your customer really wants. Why are they visiting your store? Why are they calling you? Why did they agree to meet with you? What were they expecting when they heard what you had to say? Did you find out what their needs were or did you just direct them to the part of the shop where that category of product was? Did you take the time to do the research to determine what their needs were or did you just shoot for a general fit that works for most people? Did you show them any needs they had that they weren't even aware of?

If you sell advertising, do you first find out who your customer wants to reach, how visible or invisible they are to those customers, and then propose a sensible plan to remedy their invisibility? If you sell office equipment, did you listen to all their complaints about their current equipment and then match them to the best solution, or were you just trying to unload a particular item because you had a surplus inventory to get rid of? If you are an auto mechanic, did you find out from your potential customer what some of their beefs are with auto repair shops? Do you try to avoid those problems? Do you take steps to make your service better than the run of the mill shop? What about your advertising message? Do your ads address a specific need and also fulfill that need? Do they include a "call to action" to prompt a response, or do they just contain a laundry list of "this is what I do"?

One of the much-neglected ways to close a sale is to make sure you have first made the customer thirsty enough to buy from you by showing them that they really really need - can't go on without - what you are able to provide. Run that horse around the track a few times, have him lick a salt block, have him go without water for a while, and believe me, he will drink.

So take that concept and find the way to fit it to your product or service. Then watch the sales climb.