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Want to sell? First tune into WIIFM. (What’s In It For Me, dummy.)

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Great sales people know how to make themselves heard and how to get people to act. Want to know how it’s done?

First, learn a few things about your prospective client.

  • Is he or she outgoing, shy, conservative or any other?
  • What they like and don’t like about your business?
  • What problems they want to solve in their line of business?
  • What they have considered doing about those problems?

Before you even start talking and boring people, learn this. The radio station every person listens to: WIIFM

WIIFM stands for What’s In It For Me. It is the radio station that everybody listens to. What does this mean for your conversation?

You need to frame things in a way that makes your prospective client want to listen to you. Also, make sure your pitch gives you – and what you are saying –  credibility.

How do you tune into WIIFM?

Connect your solution – what you do and how you do it – with the prospective clients’ problems. In doing that, be sure to use what you have found out about them and the types of solutions they might consider.

Where’s the value?

You can achieve this by focussing on what your potential customer thinks has value. People will buy things that they think will solve their problems and things that have inherent value to them. They will then be prepared to trade something else of value – cold hard cash.

One of the first questions I get from non-sales people is: How do we understand value?

I call this getting “crunchy.” If you can show concrete ways that you can help people, they will want to buy from you – right? But it has to be “crunchy” – no motherhood statements.

Do some research and find out the real impact on your prospective clients of using your product. For example, if it cuts cost by 14%, say it loud and clear. You need to tell your customer the return he can expect on his investment. This can be in the form of cost savings, increases in revenue or reducing risks (or a combination of these).

At the end of the day, you also must think that what you are providing is going to add real value to your client. Only then you can sound honest and sincere – really the greatest selling tool you can get – and convince them to buy from you.

You will be credible because you believe in what you are doing – that what you are doing will deliver genuine value to your client. Then it’s a fair trade for the price that you are charging them.

If you still don’t know where to find value, go and talk to your current customers. Ask them why they buy from you, what value they get from using your product or service and what they think is the key difference in using your product versus that of your competitors. Discover true value before you start selling.

Frances Pratt  founded KISS To Sell to help demystify sales for people who hate selling. Write to her here.