By John Holland, Chief Content Officer, CustomerCentric Selling®
A quick insight into how sellers view and position their offerings can be gotten by asking a simple question:
What do you sell?
It’s a question sellers should be prepared to answer whether in social settings or sales calls.
Many sellers feel this question is an invitation to describe offerings and launch into product pitches. This is due in part to the extensive product training they receive, but responding in this manner isn’t likely to get conversations started. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that leading with product is unlikely to move the ball forward.
If I were asked what I sold and responded with: I provide sales training and consulting, it could elicit the following reactions:
- A yawn
- What type of training do you do?
- How much does your training cost?
None of these responses is headed in a positive direction. I suggest any references to offerings should be avoided.
In 20 words or fewer, share an outcome that you help clients achieve.
In my case it could be:
I help organizations identify and share best practices of their top performing salespeople.
It won’t always lead to conversations but I’ve succinctly answered the question and am more likely to have discussions about outcomes before any product discussions.
You may want to create a positioning statement so that you’ll be better prepared with an answer to what should be an innocuous question.