THE SALES CYCLE: part six
Purposes in selling
To begin, let’s distinguish our discussion on purposes in selling from the sea of information that already exists on this subject.
The dictionary defines purpose as: “the goal or intended outcome of something; the desire or the resolve necessary to accomplish a goal.” The key words that jump out are “intention and desire,” monitored by the most powerful element of all; the individual him/herself.
So, lets look at this thing called a purpose and see how we can use it to our advantage.
A common-sense definition of a purpose:
A purpose is simply something that sets a direction and dictates action toward the accomplishment of something we want to acquire or have, do, or become.
Now in selling, if you set up a purpose that involves only your well-being and not that of the other person, you’ll have problems. This would be like convincing someone that that they should give you money only because you need it. Perhaps that worked on our parents when we were kids to further our ends, but in the adult world, others are not often so generous. In fact, they expect and demand to be given something of value in return for their money and in fact become upset when they feel they are shortchanged. They have their own purposes to be satisfied. Clearly unless your purpose in selling includes the other person in the equation, at some point you will begin to have difficulties.
The prospect or customer will begin to resent that his needs and wants are being neglected, if you are only focusing on your own. It shouldn’t take too much effort to consider what the customer would conceive of as an ideal selling cycle. The customer would imagine that he would get something that satisfies what he needs and wants, at a price consistent with it’s perceived value, and a not-unpleasant interaction with the salesman. Doesn’t seem that difficult does it?
But there is two pitfalls you must watch out for:
a) If you set up a wrong purpose, you can only achieve a wrong result.
b) Unless you recognize that you have achieved your intended purpose and bring it to a close, you can create problems that didn’t exist.
Beware of setting up a purpose like, “to see a lot of people,” or, “make a good presentation, or “to convince them that they should do business with you only because you need the money,” as that is rarely going to be in alignment with their purposes. _Your purpose should be to help them achieve their purposes, and then as a consequence of doing this successfully, you are rewarded.
Your purpose must, of necessity, include a benefit for the customer and for you, in its statement. It must be something that will mutually benefit both parties in a willing exchange. Perception of value is subjective but it must be something that would be of help or assistance to the other person and not only to you. Time spent working this out for yourself would be well advised. Put it in writing. Read it out loud to yourself and others. Ensure that it sounds and feels right for you.
To get you started, here are a few examples regarding setting purposes.
Examples of correct purposes:
a) To create a selling environment whereby the customer ends up comfortably telling me what is creating pain or difficulty in his business; has aligned my product, service or solution to help him solve that problem; and willingly moves forward into a contractual agreement with me.
b) A client that is confident in the fact that I now understand his problems, that my solution will benefit him in moving toward a solution, and does engage my services.
c) A signed contract, with all parties in good communication, confident that their mutual and individual benefits will be served.
Almost any wording of your purpose will work, as long as it takes into consideration that you’re trying to help give the client what he wants at a price that makes it profitable for you. Note that though money is implied, it has not been specifically stated as a purpose as money is the reward of accomplishment of the purpose!
As covered in the previous parts of this series, every step is as important as the next in the process. There is one other general heading, the “Pre-Close” that I need to mention. Almost all the sub-steps that have to occur for a close to happen can be grouped under this heading. The “Pre-Close Closings” concept is simply designed to remind you that there are things you need to do before the closing actions begin so you keep your focus on the right thing at the right time.
Now, in the seventh and last step in the sales cycle, we come to an oft-dreaded but surprisingly simple subject of . . . the Close.
daniel w. jacobs
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