Finding the Right Buttons to Push

People buy products or services to solve a problem or fill a need.  When people buy something, they consider several factors and place differing importance on each of those factors.  These factors are sometimes called “hot buttons”.  Finding your prospect’s hot button (or hot buttons) can make the difference between making the sale and losing the sale to a competitor.

Over the years I have read and heard sales gurus outline numerous ways to find a prospect’s hot button.  And I have tried many of those ideas with mixed results.  So, most of the time I find myself resorting to something the experts might consider archaic or silly; I simply ask the prospect.  That’s right.  Rather than concoct some elaborate scheme or execute some covert spy operation to find out what my prospect may want, I just ask them.  And they are usually glad to tell me.

When I say I ask them, I don’t just get in front of them and say, “What are your hot buttons?”, or “What do you really want out of this?”  I usually put my question to them in a way that makes it easy for them to tell me what will help them respond to my proposal.

For instance, I once had my company positioned to interview with a prospect for the contract to build their new assembly space.  I had had several contacts with the prospect and developed a decent rapport with them.  When the invitation to the interview came, I thanked them, let them know I was looking forward to the meeting and then nonchalantly asked, “As you move forward with this project, is there one thing that you are really hoping to do right with this building?”  The answer I got was a little surprising.  Typical concerns are things such as cost (cost is always a hot button, whether it’s stated or not) or time-frame or quality or esthetics, etc.  But in this case, the prospect told me they really wanted to make sure the sound and video quality would be excellent.

Ah ha!  Nothing about Audio/Visual had been discussed at any point prior to now.  In all the questionnaires sent out by the prospect, nothing pertaining to A/V had been included.  They had not issued any official communication to me or any vendors asking about A/V.  Everything up to now had touched on the typical concerns.  While my firm was not going to be the only one to interview for the job, my firm was likely to be the only one that knew about this hot button.  And I was going to make sure we pushed it at the interview.

The day of the interview, I took my usual team of operations people into the meeting.  But I added one player to the team – very knowledgeable representative from an outside Audio/ Visual firm, who I introduced as our A/V Coordinator.  He was a hit.  Our interview lasted well beyond the scheduled time because of all the questions they had for our A/V Coordinator.  I was later told we were the only team that included an A/V Coordinator and that was an important factor to awarding us the job.

For everything, there is a season.  And so, I don’t rule out using the ideas the gurus have offered for identifying hot buttons.  But most of the time, I just ask.  Try it sometime.  Since ach selling situation is different, you will need to find the right time and the right way to ask.  But you may be surprised how anxious buyers are to tell you what their hot button is.

The Devil is in the Data

Recently, while flipping TV channels, I stumbled upon a show called, “Hoarders”.  A few minutes of the program was all I could take, but it seems someone has made a career out of featuring people who develop a peculiar attachment to some sort of item that prevents them from throwing it away.  I presume each episode focuses on a person or couple who hoard something and lets the viewer see how they live, the problems their hoarding causes and, perhaps helps them in some way.  It seems strange to me that someone would pile up something around their house to the point that it causes them embarrassment or some sort of logistical problem.  As I surfed away from the program, I shook my head that enough of these people exist to warrant a television series…and then I realized I tend to hang onto something myself – data.

In fairness, I don’t pile data around and clutter up my house to the point that my family cannot walk around.  I keep it in data bases and files stored in my computer.  It won’t ever be noticeable to visitors.  But because I rarely delete anything, I have take up a lot of hard drive space with all the information I have accumulated.  And it has come in handy more than once.

The data I keep amounts to a journal of my work life.  I keep contact information, sales opportunity records, meeting records, email records, proposals, qualification statements, interview questions/responses, etc.  I try my best to hold onto every communication I have had that concerns work.

Over the years, my colleagues have chided me for information being an information pack rat.  But being the butt of jokes is worth it because I have had opportunities to use that data to make work easier and more successful.

For instance, because I have kept records on all my sales opportunities, I was able to see that I have enjoyed great success against one particular competitor when the opportunity value is over $5 million. Conversely, I realized they regularly beat me when the opportunity was under that amount.  So, going forward, I will know whether to invest time and resources in the chase or move on.

My hoarding has also helped my success in responding to Requests for Qualification.  Most RFQs are largely similar, with some variations in the wording of questions. Because I have warehoused past RFQs, I have been able to reuse the responses from successful submissions.

My means of storing data has evolved over time because I have needed more sophisticated retrieval methods to study results and analyze trends.  At first, I merely created folders with Microsoft Word files.  Then I moved on to creating spreadsheets in Excel.  Eventually, I started creating full-fledged databases using software such as FileMaker Pro and others.  I also have created my own CRMs and customized commercially available CRMs.

There are plenty of ways and plenty of reasons you may want to keep and use your own data.    Who knows, if enough of us do it, perhaps someone will produce a TV show about us.

What’s In It for Me?

If you are in sales, you likely offer your prospect a list
of features of your product or service.
It’s difficult to imagine selling anything without mentioning the reasons
why your offering is great.   Over the years I have sold several different
products and services.  At first, it used
to be my habit to tout the features or qualities of what I was selling; and
that is still something I do today.  However,
these days I don’t just list features; I go further and explain the benefits of
those features.

Over time, I learned people were not interested in why my
offering was good or different, but they were really interested in how my
offering could help them.  People want to
know, “What’s in it for me?”  So, I
always try to illustrate that for them.

I have never had anyone buy from me because my company
has been in business for more than 80 years.
But I have had prospects respond to the idea that 80 years of experience
has provided us with tons of lessons that could save them time or money.

No one ever bought the market data I was selling simply because
it was the most recent available.  But
people did buy my information because the freshness of it enabled them to make
reliable forecasts for their business.

Currently, my office is situated so that I can hear
vendors make their pitches to the decision-makers at my company.  Nearly every day some sales rep will come in
and rattle off a list of features, firsts, mosts, biggests, bests, or whatever
of their product or service.  None of
that impresses the person they are pitching.
The vendors who make sales are the ones who point out their offering
will benefit us.

Whatever you are selling, try listing at least one
benefit for every feature you mention.
If your copier is faster than your competition’s, point out the time
spent at the copier will be reduced so the extra time can be spent on more
important things.  If your moving company
has completed more corporate moves than anyone else in town, let your prospect
know that all those moves have given you special insights into how to relocate
them with minimal interruptions of their operations.

Benefits are amazing things and pointing them out will
enhance your offering exponentially.
Just remember to think about what’s in it for the person you are talking
to.  If you get into the habit of selling
the benefits of your offering rather than the superlatives of your offering,
you will see results; and ultimately you will see what’s in it for YOU.

Persistent or Pest?

A client of mine once told my Vice President that I,
“applied gentle pressure, like a velvet vice.”
As he uttered those words – he said this in my presence – I
shuddered.  But he went on to explain
that I had been persistent without ever becoming a pest.  It was a huge compliment.

In sales, it’s easy to periodically call a prospect during
the sales cycle to see where they are in their decision-making.  It’s easy; but it’s a turn-off for the
prospect.  I avoid it like the
plague.  Does that mean I avoid
contacting them?  No.  It means I avoid contacting them just to see
if they are ready to buy.  My goal is to remain
close, but not push them away.

I contact my prospects frequently.  But I make sure I do it in such a way that
they get something out of it.  In fact,
my contacts to prospects don’t often include an “ask”, but they are done in a
way that my prospects think of me and my offering.

For instance, one of my chases was within the aviation
industry.  After an initial call and a
meeting, I suggested to my prospect that we stay in touch.  He was likely thinking I would call every few
weeks to see if he was ready to buy.  But
what I did was send an occasional email that contained something I thought
would interest him.  A polite, but short,
“thank you” email reply was all I received to each message.

The fourth email I sent was a link to an article about a Hollywood
actress who had just gotten her pilot’s license.  But it generated a very different
response.  He called, thanking me for the
article.  I had hoped the article would
be an interesting diversion for him for a few minutes.  But I had no idea it would elicit the type of
reaction it did.   He told me that article gave him the idea to explore
the possibility of enlisting a celebrity with aviation ties to get involved
with his project; to build public relations and help raise funds.  Before I knew it, he was calling me
periodically to update me on the progress he was making courting celebrities.

The sales cycle in my business is often long; sometimes
years.  It is very necessary for me to
stay in front of my prospects, but not drive them off by annoying them.  Calling or visiting or emailing as the form
of communication varies by the individual; I use what is most convenient for
them (often combinations of the above).  If
you would like to maintain contact without becoming an annoyance, there are
lots of ways.  For instance:

• send a news article (they don’t have to be
  exactly pertinent, as I found out)
• offer an idea that might help them in their
  business
• let them know about an event that would interest
  them
• offer information on a product or service they
  might find useful (besides yours)
• introduce them to people who may be able to help
  them in their business

There are no limits to how one can stay in touch.  Go ahead and keep an open line of
communication, but do not contact them just to ask them to buy.

…take it from the Velvet Vice.

Updating an Old Saying

When I was completing my education and preparing to enter the professional world, I recall being told, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.”  This was very comforting because I was a spectacularly mediocre student.  But I was also a person who made a conscious effort to get to know as many people as possible.  After school and early in my career, I was reminded of this adage several times by various people I regarded as mentors.  Since I secured my first and second positions through who I knew more than what I knew, I accepted the saying as true and have found success, particularly in sales and business development, in knowing more people than stuff.

Over the years, I have come to realize that knowing people is great, but is not sufficient in today’s business world.  It’s not what you know; it’s who you know AND it’s who knows you.  Think about it.  As much time and energy as you may devote to getting to know people, you can’t know everyone and there are people out there who could do business with you if they knew you or knew of you. 

There have been several instances when I have been approached by people that I did not know but who had heard about me and many of these occurrences have turned into sales or other business relationships.  While some of these have been referrals, others have been inquiries from people I had never met but who had seen or heard my name somewhere in the marketplace.  I once received a call from someone who had read an article I had written as a favor to a friend who needed to fill space in his monthly newsletter.

I’ve come to realize that there is almost no limit to the number of ways to let people know about me.    And there are tons of ways to let people know of you: advertise, find speaking engagements, write articles, blog, tweet,  ask people you know to refer others to you, give interviews, conduct seminars and more. 

These days, I still conduct the fundamentals of business development so that I continue to increase the number of people I know; I network, I make calls, I maintain relationships.  But I also make time for those activities that make it possible for people to know me.