Featured Article

So, how do we create credibility with someone we don't know, or don't have a history with? Here are some ideas.

1."It's not bragging if you've done it." If you've earned your stripes in your business or industry, don't hide that fact under a rock. Trumpet it to add to your credibility! Drop in statements such as,

"In my seven years in this business, I've learned that ...

," or,

"I've worked with over 550 retailers, and I always find that..."

2. If you're not on commission, it doesn't hurt if they know that. Hey, I know most of...
Read More >>

Increase Sales by Being Unique - Please!

Relationships - Relationships

Written by Shawn Doyle

Be you-nique.

Everyday in the mail, there are tons of junk that I get and throw away. But every now and then, a piece comes in that is so unique I am compelled to open it. Why? Because it is unique!

Now the real question How do you get your message across? Your uniqueness? The uniqueness of your company? Your products? And most importantly YOU?

Lets talk about each of these areas individually:

The uniqueness of your company - Now at this point, you're saying to yourself "what uniqueness?" That is the whole point - you might have never even thought about it! Not for one minute! It is essential that every sales professional think through the uniqueness of their company.

Let's say, for example, that you work for a printing company. Wow - that is really unique. There aren't many of those around. But bear with me - if you do work for a printing company, there are some unique qualities that may make a compelling story to tell your potential clients. Here are a few examples, but you are the one who has to look at your unique qualities and describe them effectively:

Location - "We are the only printing company on Maple Street - so we can give you faster service."

Equipment - "We have just purchased the Whoop-dee-doo printer collator that prints, folds and packages your letters in half a second. Because it's faster we can make our prices more competitive."

Materials - "We are the only distributors of Artic White card stock paper from Europe which makes our business cards the heaviest, whitest, and glossiest available."

Staff - "The owner of our company invented the printing press so we have the expertise to make your print work look its very best at any price point."

Talent - "Our company just hired Pablo Picasso as our art director and he is blowing the socks off people with the creative genius of his work."

Affiliation - "Microsoft just contracted with us to do all of their worldwide point of sale materials."

Combined services - "Do you currently work with a graphic arts company to do design? Then we do the printing and someone else mails it? Well we can design, print, warehouse and mail it all in one location and on one invoice."

Referrals - "Our company is part of a network of other business owners and we refer business to our customers all the time. In fact, last week an attorney who we do printing for landed a celebrity singer as a client - because we do all the printing for his former record company."

Technology - "We have the technology to store all your print jobs and master copies on our secure server in order to maintain all your files so you can order online in a second. There is no warehouse and everything is printed on demand."

Convenience - "Once you buy from us, we give all your employees a key to our copy center and they can make copies any anytime, 24 hours a day."

Analysis and research - "We have a Professor Snerdly Jones on staff and he can come by and do an analysis on your total company-wide printing cost and through his study, save you thousands of dollars. By the way, that's free for all our customers."

Discounts - "Once you reach the million dollar level, we'll break down the pricing and give you an end-of-year rebate for volume above that mark. Last year, Poorboy Tires got back $15,000. They changed their name to Rich Boy Tires."

So you get the idea? No matter what company you work for - you can sell the UNIQUENESS or even develop uniqueness that you can sell.

It can be better, faster, cheaper, smarter, first, oldest, only, or whatever. But you MUST know what your key unique features are! Time for another formula:

U(0)=AIA(0)

Zero uniqueness on the salesperson's part equals Attention, Interest, and Action of ZERO on the prospect's part.

Talk the talk

Once you've put your finger on what makes you a unique beast in the landscape of your prospect, you must be able to ARTICULATE that clearly and concisely and spell out why that matters to your prospect and what value they might derive from it.

That can be a real challenge for some folks. This is not the place to be modest! I had a participant in one of my seminars who just couldn't for the life of her say somthing positive about herself.

A distinction - I am not talking about BRAGGING - all of us have experienced braggarts who bored us to tears with their self-important droning. I am taking about speaking the truth about your unique characteristics.

It's obvious that people don't buy from companies - they buy from people. You don't go to XYZ Dental clinic because they are XYZ Dental - you go because you like Dr. Matt! You will go there the FIRST time because they are XYZ, but not the second and third time because you have a choice.

Your customers have a choice, too, and you want them to choose YOU.

Too many salespeople don't sell themselves in the sales relationship. So what is your uniqueness? Is it:

• Personality?
• Knowledge?
• Experience?
• Creativity?
• Follow through?
• Commitment?
• Empathy?
• Connection?
• Communication?
• Helpfulness?
• Thinking?
• Analysis?
• Networking?
• Humor?

By being able to identify your most unique qualities you can then MARKET that uniqueness. Then you can say, "you can buy from XYZ - but there is one thing you will not get and that is me. I know that my _____________ makes a difference with my clients." WOW!

Now you have a powerful message for the company, the products, and for you

Oh hang on, you haven't done the work yet, have you? Here's how to start.

There are the three vibes you must give off when interacting with a prospect or customer:
1.I'm glad to be here.
2.I know what I'm talking about.
3.I love what I'm doing.

For example, you could say, "One of the things I love about my job is to see customers get the outcomes they want from the products and services I sell. It's even more fun when I get a letter from a happy customer who was skeptical at first."

But whatever you say, it needs to be REAL and the words need to come from you; not from me; not from a sales seminar; and not out of some book of sales scripts or "selling words." That's like trying to use canned lines on a date - it just doesn't work. Plus it's energizing to focus on the good things about your job, and when you share your enthusiasm, you may find a whole different dynamic to your sales process.

After all, when you're glad to be there, your customer is much more likely to be glad you're there too.

Shawn Doyle -
	Shawn Doyle is the President and Founder of New Light Learning and Development a company specializing in Leadership Development, Sales, Motivation and Creativity. He is a sought after motivation speaker and trainer. Shawn has authored five books on leadership sales and motivation. His latest book The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Training has just been published by HRD Press. His book on motivation will be published in 2007 in Australia, Malaysia and new Zealand. Read More >>
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Websiteblog