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Articles on Sales Matters:

Thinking Like Your Customer

Several years ago a well-known professional speaker asked me what I did better than any other sales strategist. Most people would find a question like that tough to answer. I didn't have any trouble. Without hesitation I answered, "I hear things from a customer's perspective."

"You mean you're a really good listener?" he said, trying to fit my response into a familiar sales skill set.

"No," I replied. "I hear from a customer's perspective. I know immediately how they'll react to a seller's words, questions, or presentation. I know exactly what needs to be changed in their customer interactions in order to advance the sales process."

He looked at me like I was nuts. I'm not.

Defining your prototypical customer
For years I've helped companies jump-start their new product launches and shorten time to revenue. To be effective, I learned how to quickly immerse myself in their customer's shoes so I could figure out the best value propositions, create sales tools and develop sales training programs.

For every project, I created a prototypical customer that I used as a benchmark to test which sales approaches would yield the best results. There's no magic in doing this. It's a discipline that anyone can learn if they're willing to invest the time.

I also have my own prototypical customer. Let me tell you a few things about him. He is:

Between the ages of 40 - 55 with a title such as "Vice President, Sales."

Responsible for achieving ever-escalating growth/revenue objectives.

Constantly worried where business is going to come from this quarter.

Not sure that the people on his team are capable of making "the numbers."

Often abrupt in initial conversations, but a nice guy once you get to know him.

Everyone wants his time. He's booked solid and on the road a lot. Losing his top sellers or best customers would add even more stress to his already overfilled workload.

I call him "Bob" - although his name might be Keith, Debbie or Paul. I could even describe how he looks, although I won't because one of my "Bobs" might be reading this! But what's most important is that I know how my prototypical customer thinks - regardless of his sex or physical appearance.

Improve your prospecting success
Here's how I use "Bob" to help me get business. Before I call him, I write out a personalized script template integrating my knowledge of his company and my value proposition.

After that, I pretend that I'm Bob and listen to how it "hears" to me. When I do this, I can immediately tell when I'm babbling or sounding like an overanxious seller. Then I change the wording and do it again. And again ... till I finally find something that appeals to Bob.

Next I'll think about what happens if Bob picks up the phone. If my lead-in is good, he'll likely say, "Tell me more." So then my task is to figure out how to say what I do in a way that entices Bob. I test and retest how I'm going to respond to his comment until I come up with an answer that make him want to set up an appointment with me.

Now you may think this is a lot of work. Well, it is. But think about all the work you don't have to do because you're so much more effective in every client interaction. That's the beauty of creating your own prototypical customer.

Create your own "Bob"
Last fall as I was reading the business section of our local newspaper, a headline jumped out at me because my name was in it: "Best Buy builds a store for Jill."

As defined by this retailer, Jill is the suburban mom-type who is the main shopper in the family. She's well educated and confident, but typically intimidated by high tech toys and store clerks who spout words like gigabytes and megapixels.

So Best Buy is creating Jill-friendly stores in order to attract this prototypical customer with her significant spending power. Every time they face a decision, they can ask, "How would Jill feel about this? Would she like it? Would it encourage her to stay in this department longer?"

Doing this significantly enhances their ability to be successful with all the Jill's of the world. Best Buy has profiles for Barry, Buzz and Ray too.

Are you starting to see how this works? I'd suggest you give it a try. Create just one prototypical customer to get started. Really get inside his or her head. next look at your account entry campaign or PowerPoint presentation from his or her head. Then make the changes you need to be more effective.

You already know how to do this. When you were growing up, I bet you didn't tell your parents about everything you did. Why? Because you knew how they'd react. Or if you did tell them, you found a way to downplay or conveniently omit things that you knew were unacceptable to mom or dad.

Or think about your best friends. Do you know how they react to certain jokes? Political events? Pressure to get things done? Of course you do.

See, you already know how to really climb into people's heads. You probably just never applied it to your sales efforts. I think it's about time to get started. Don't you?

Jill Konrath
19 Feb 2007

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Write A Great Sales Letter

Postal mail is an essential channel for following up leads generated by marketing communications or sales calls, and sales letters are among the most popular tools in a small-business owner’s arsenal. You can write and send them at little or no cost. And it seems there’s always the need for a good sales letter—whether it’s to follow up a phone conversation, a meeting, or a lead generated from marketing communications. However, because most small-business owners are not professional writers, sales letters can be challenging. It’s easy to go overboard and make your letter too hard sell or, on the flip side, produce a letter with “no teeth” that doesn’t present your company in the right light or move your prospect closer to making a buying decision.

Some people think writing a sales letter should be quick and simple, so they get frustrated after a short time and either give up or settle for a letter that’s simply mediocre. In reality, even the best professional writers expect to spend considerable time crafting an effective letter. But that doesn’t mean every time you send out a letter you should spend hours creating it. Instead, it’s important to have a group of polished sales letters on hand that can be easily modified to fit specific situations.

You can write a terrific sales letter. Start by taking a look at these six guidelines:

Tip #1: Personalize your letter.
Sales letters, though coming from your business, should always remain personal in nature. They should address the recipient by name and demonstrate how your company or product will meet his or her unique needs. Because the vast majority of sales letters are sent to follow up a previous connection, you should have sufficient information to thoroughly customize your “form” letter. Be careful with the salutation. Unless you’ve held a conversation with your prospect that puts you on a first-name basis, it’s best to adhere to a formal salutation using the recipient’s last name.

Tip #2: Focus on benefits.
To be effective, your sales letter must focus on the benefits the reader will gain from engaging your services or buying your products. You’ll remember from the introduction to this book that benefits always answer the prospect’s question, “What’s in it for me?” And you’ll see in the following sample letters that the benefits—or what the prospect will gain—are always contained in the first paragraph of a good sales letter. Features, the characteristics of your company, its products or services, are used in the body of your letter to explain the benefits you promise. Then it’s best to restate your primary benefit in the final paragraph.

Tip #3: Make your letter outer-directed.
Resist the temptation to write about what “we offer” and instead focus on what “you’ll get.” Do you see the difference? No one wants to read a litany of what you do, how you do it, or what you provide. They do want to read about how what you do will make their lives or work easier or better. So all sales letters must be written from this perspective, eliminating most uses of the words “we” and “I,” and replacing them with “you.”

Tip #4: Take responsibility for the next step.
Smart marketers know it’s a mistake to expect prospects to take action on their own. Even with a strong call to action that contains an incentive, you should still retain control by telling your prospect what you plan to do next. In other words, give the prospect the opportunity to contact you, but don’t expect it. Always state exactly what action you plan to take and be sure to follow through.

Tip #5: Include a postscript.
This is one sales tactic that can be borrowed successfully from direct mail, although it’s not appropriate for every type of business. It’s often helpful to include a postscript because recipients tend to read the salutation, then skip to your P.S. before reading the body of your letter. So put your primary benefit or any special offer in your P.S. to motivate prospects to spend time with your letter.

Tip #6: Keep it clean.
Of course, I’m referring to your letter layout and design. In fact, you don’t need to do anything special at all in the way of design. Just keep it simple and professional, avoiding “loud” graphics, borders, and colors—unless they’re already a part of your product or brand image (because you’re selling children’s games or surfboards, for example). Your letter’s appearance must be consistent with professional one-to-one correspondence since anything over the top may scream “junk mail.” Use your business stationery and make judicious use of color and bullet styles. Avoid using many exclamation points, and stay away from copy written in all capital letters because it’s actually harder to read and seems to scream at the reader.

A great sales letter presents the benefits of your products or services and explains them with features. Plus, a good letter always strives to move the prospect further along in the sales cycle by stating clearly what the next step must be. Whether your goal is a one-to-one meeting, group sales presentation, or the opportunity to present a cost proposal, close for it in your letter and then follow through as promised.

Kim T. Gordon
22 Mar 2007

The following article is excerpted from Kim Gordon's latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, (Kaplan Publishing).

Kim T. Gordon is the "Marketing" coach at Entrepreneur.com and a multifaceted marketing expert, speaker, author and media spokesperson. Over the past 26 years, she's helped millions of small-business owners increase their success through her company, National Marketing Federation Inc. Her latest book,Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars, is now available.