Last weekend I was mowing the lawn…in Florida, which is kind of like mowing the lawn on the 7th layer of hell. It is hot. Real hot. What made things worse was that my lawnmower decided to develop a screeching sound anytime I rolled that puppy forward. Think whiny two-year-old combined with dying mouse. It was super annoying. However, it was only annoying for about five minutes, and then I just tuned it out. My brain said, "yeah, we are going to ignore that sound now.” Thank you, brain.
Each week your prospects receive tons of prospecting emails, voicemails, and LinkedIn messages saying things like:
“Hi, I would love to get some time on your calendar to share a little bit about our company and how we can be a great partner.”
“How is business?! Wanted to set an appointment with you to share some info on our unique service offerings.”
“We are an established company with an extensive network of professionals across the US. Let’s connect soon.”
Do you think those customers care about any of those messages? Nope. None of those directly address your customer’s actual needs or problems. To them, all of that is noise, and they have been conditioned to simply tune out that noise by deleting all of it.
Now, let’s go back to my lawnmower. Five minutes into this sweaty mowing adventure and I could no longer hear that screeching whine emanating from my lawnmower, but what if suddenly that sound morphed into the song “It’s Not Unusual” by Tom Jones. One of my favorite songs and an absolute go-to for Karaoke.
Do you think I would have paid attention to that? You betcha, and I would have sung right along with it. See, my lawnmower was tired of being ignored and made an adjustment to its communication style and shared something I actually care about.
Mmm… what if you, as a salesperson, did that too?
You see, anytime your customer receives a prospecting message from you, they quickly evaluate if the message is important. They do this by asking one simple question:
“What’s in it for me?” At Butler Street, we call this WIIFM, and there are two possible responses to this question. Those are:
Hit the delete button (Not important) OR
“Ok. I see the value in this message, and I am curious to learn more." (Important)
Your job is to keep them from hitting the delete button. Here are three things to consider when crafting messages for your prospecting efforts:
Truly understand your customer’s operating reality. See the world from their perspective and strive to understand their specific needs and wants.
Learn more about the financial targets they are tasked with hitting as well as the operational outcomes that define success in their role.
Find the pain! What keeps them up at night? What causes them to have to work late each day? What stresses them out?
Once you uncover that information, weave it into your prospecting efforts and help your prospects understand that you are just as concerned about those things as they are. Look to answer the question - “What’s in it for me?”
If your prospect opens your message and reads something that taps into their operating reality, financial targets & operational outcomes or addresses their pain and offers solutions, you have a winner.
Do your research, be diligent in figuring out what your prospects care about, and I guarantee you will stop being just “noise” and will begin to emerge as a valuable partner in the eyes of your prospect.
Need help? Our Sales Effectiveness program is a nine-part series designed to position you to Become the Only Choice in the eyes of your prospects. Contact us for more info.
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