Attention into Action – part 1

Do you know the salesperson who’s the master of scaring up leads? Who could find a prospect during the dry season in the Gobi Desert?

How about the guy they call Golden Throat? Get him the sales call and he’ll make a good pitch to sell feathers to a goose.

And what about the salesman who just lives to close? He’s not long on getting leads or product knowledge, but boy can he hammer it when he smells a close!

Yes, I agree, that in some corporate selling environments, you don’t have to worry about cold calls, a smooth pitch, or infallible closing techniques. Still, most salesmen I know resemble one of the above more than the others. And that’s a shame, because they’re losing sales. For, each of these three archetypes represents one of the bridges that transport potential clients from one stage (island, if you will) of the sales process to the next. And finally to the close.

The problem we encounter is that the professional sales executive has to be proficient at building all of the bridges, not just one or two. Unless he or she can do that, the result will often be blown sales.

It is the rare pro who has the whole package. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible — or even difficult — to achieve. In fact, in most cases, simply gaining an awareness of the components and their workings is all that’s required.

So, let’s examine them one at a time and then see how they fit together in accomplishing our objectives.

THE TERRAIN
If you examine the process as a whole, you will recognize the discrete stages of a successful sale.

a)  Unnoticed Product Existence — No market or potential leads yet.

b)  Awareness of Product — Your potential client or markets are aware of your product.

c) Thorough Knowledge of Product — Your prospect is fully-informed as to the advantages, benefits, potential profits connected with your product.

d) The Close — The prospect signs on the deal. He has graduated to become a client.

Each exists as a sort of resting place where the prospect can potentially become stalled and discard pursuit of the sale. It’s your job to create the bridges that bring him along to his final resting place: as another positive statistic on your sales ledger.

More important than the stages themselves, however, are the bridges between them. As we continue, we’ll explore exactly how to make and cross those bridges for the prospect so you can lock in the sale.

So you start out with your product or service and no prospects to sell it to.

How do you get out of that lonesome state of non-existence?

THE GRABBER
We’re all very familar with the obvious grabbers like: “INSIDER SECRETS REVEALED!” or “FINALLY, THERE’S A BETTER WAY TO . . .”  There are more subtle grabbers but they are all used for one simple purpose: to attract your attention, that’s all.

For in order to have sales at all, you must somehow first attract the attention of the prospect to you and your product.

Possibly the least understood aspect of selling, not to mention of marketing in general, is attention. Yet, it is of critical importance as the first bridge you build in the sales process.

So, let’s see if we can break it down to its simple basics as a starting point of agreement.

The dictionary describes the word “attention” as an observation with a view to action and the act of bringing something into clear awareness.

Awareness, then, is the operative word here.

The goal is to simply create an awareness of your product or service. If the public is unaware of your products or services, by definition, you simply don’t exist for them, whatever the real value of your product or service.

This first broad target then, is only one of “awareness creation.” How you accomplish this is up to you, but it must occur.

First, get something out there. Then work to upgrade your promotion, and produce the highest quality message possible within your resources and marketing environment. However you accomplish this, you must get them see that you exist and are able to attract their attention in some way.

Note that in our paradigm, no actual selling has yet transpired. Simply, an awareness has been created and you will not have gone unnoticed.

“Intel Inside” is a perfect example for business. This slogan is placed where potential customers can see. The prospects now know about Intel; they know their product is viable (it’s already working inside this box). With their pithy, bold grabber, they have already bridged the first gap to attention.

This crucial step provides the foundation for future efforts, and must be firmly established by whatever effective means. The good news is that gaining attention is often the easiest bridge to construct.

You have now delivered the customer to a state of awareness of your product. But that’s still a far cry from selling or finally closing him or her. There is another bridge ahead in Part 2.

daniel w. jacobs
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