“Which theme do you want for your new website?” the techie asks his client. He responds: “Why do you ask?” The techie says: “Well besides personal preference, themes can also determine attraction to a site. For example, here let me show you…” After the demonstration the client’s eyes light up with revelation. “Ahh, I see…” he says. Now he is eager to choose. Now flip this. Don’t wait for him to ask; he likely won’t. Just address the why in your engagement. But why is addressing why important in selling? Because, just as with “So, what?” , why is what the customer is silently asking himself. So to close faster, answer each of the 4 whys in sales.
Create urgency. Why now?
Whereas the buyer wants to make the purchase, he is still hesitant to commit. He is human and purchase represents change. And the first reaction to change is resistance. So, to address this, besides the seller’s need to instigate the close, there’s also the need to respond to the question on his mind: “Why should I buy now?”
And so cognizant of the need to assuage this concern, the seller expertly weaves it into his presentation. “We only handcrafted a limited number of these because it’s intended for exclusive clientele as you. Once they have run out we shan’t be making more.” “When you buy off-plan it’s 3.93M but complete units are 6.5M.” When Netflix informs you thus: ‘Last day to view (name of movie) is (date)’ they are creating urgency too. They are responding to your silent question, ‘Why should I watch this movie now? After all I’ve saved it to watch later.’ Why act and now si the first of 4 whys in sales that you should answer.
Get prospect’s attention- the second of 4 whys in sales
From what I’ve heard the impatience of investors is legendary. For example, the founder of now wildly successful Canva says as a start-up she pitched to an investor who was on phone throughout and gave her 6 minutes (or something that limited) to pitch for multimillion dollar funding! She delivered. Luckily your buyers aren’t that impatient; still they are not idle individuals waiting for you to excite their day; no; they have things to do and are asking themselves, ‘
Why should I listen to him (you)?’ So you address that why, in your presentation. Like these two sellers who stood out from the crowd while the competition stood in line. One was selling fuel with additives and the other moving services. Knowing that product superiority is not sales superiority, the former opened with insight thus: “I’m here to cut down our fuel costs by 16%, and factory downtime by up to 27%.” He had the executives’ rapt attention. The latter, selling to a bank started thus: “Moving is not just moving. The wrong mover will expose you to reputational and financial risk. For instance, I read that when you….” For both, the issue of price didn’t feature at all. Meanwhile their competition started with 67 PowerPoint slides the first 7 which were ‘About Us’.
Assuage doubt; why should your customer trust you?
The buyer, like the girl you are wooing is asking herself, “Can I trust him?” So being the progressive services seller you are, you weave testimonials early into your pitch: “When we worked with (name of company comparable to theirs) we were able to resolve this challenge (similar to theirs) for them in this manner, and this is what their Head of Sales had to say (you tell them)” Of course the testimonial has to be public information otherwise you run the risk of losing credibility and confidentiality. At that point the client is asking himself another why. ‘Why should I trust him if he’ll go gossip to them about us as his just done us, them?’ If it’s a product you are selling, nothing beats a demo. Like the Hustler Fund launch where the telcos’ CEOs and President registered live on national television.
Why you? Sell yourself first–the final of 4 whys in sales
The 4th of the 4 whys to answer in sales is, ‘Why you?’ You, the salesperson; not what you are selling, nor the company you represent. Why you? And that is addressed here
Addressing these 4 whys builds a strong case for your sale, lets customer see value for himself and with these two aligned, you can only close faster.
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