Nobody needs your offerings!

Nobody needs your offerings! I often start trainings with this statement. Most people in the training sessions have responded by saying something to the effect “Of course they do, my product is great, it does X, Y and Z. of course people need it.” Why, because most people in sales believe they have fantastic offerings and believe those offerings bring real value to their customers. The statement “Nobody needs your offerings” is still true no matter how good those offerings may be.

Thinking people need what you offer often translates into a sales pitch about the product itself, its features and how it operates, maybe what awards it has won. The pitch may also speak about why this offering is better than the competition, but again in terms of features. If you do speak about benefits, it’s the perceived benefits of your offering not what the prospective buyer perceives.

If nobody needs your offering, what then is it they do need?

In general terms they have an issue that needs to be resolved.

·         They need more visitors to their website.

·         They need to increase production to meet demand.

·         They have a toothache.

·         They need to replace an old machine.

·         etc

Buyers also have many alternatives in most cases, either direct competitors or alternative solutions. There are multiple brands of aspirin on the market as well as Tylenol and ibuprofen for example. There are also alternatives such as acupuncture and message therapy or possibly an antihistamine.

What do they need from you for you to secure a sale?

They need a solution to the issue and proof you offer the best solution for them. For example, if they need more traffic to their website you need to be able to show why your solution will bring them that traffic and that the visitors you do bring will match the profile that will best benefit them. That is why I did not just address the need for more traffic but the implicit need for the right visitors.

When creating your messaging and or sales pitch you need to be sure you focus on what is really important to your Prospect not what you feel is great about your offering. I always suggest reverse engineering as the key to proper messaging. Start with how using your offering solves a problem for the prospective buyer and what is benefit that will result. Then you can link that to the specific product you have and the feature.

An example would be the company that needs more visitors to their website. That actually is the symptom they need to treat not the actual problem. The real issue is that they need more traffic to the website in order to generate more business and increase profits.

You could explain everything your service does, SEO, Branding, analytics but if you do not relate the offering to their issue you will probably not get the sale. SEO will help them draw not only more visits but visits from the people they really want to attract. Better branding will help the Prospects remember you and come back. Analytics will show you where you are having a drop off from you site which can lead to lost opportunity. Each of these will also benefit the company by an increase in sales, which is why they want visitors in the first place.

I have found that including these three key points in your message brings you the greatest return. They are, what does your product do, what does it solve and what is the advantage to the buyer of solving that problem which will make them want to purchase from you. Buyers don’t always connect the dots, what you think should be obvious is not always as obvious to the Buyer so make sure you end with the benefit to the buyer.

The other aspect of learning this process is that you learn to think from the Prospective buyers point of view. I ask myself “If I were in their shoes what would make me interested in learning more about this offering.” I have always been amazed when coaching my sales teams if I ask someone if they think the message is good, they almost always say yes. When I follow up with the question “Would you respond positively to that message?” the answer is most often “No”. If it would not be effective in reaching you, it almost certainly will not be affective in reaching your Prospect.

You probably already include all or most of the right information in your current messaging, you just need to put it into an effective format that will get the Buyers attention and convey the benefits of your offerings and your business. Laying out your message properly will lead to better sales conversations and higher close rates.