How To Capture Your Prospect’s Interest
Have you ever tried explaining something to someone that you were really excited about, only to have them give you a dull, glazed look as if to say “So what?” Ever experienced where they finally ‘got it’ and said “Oh…well, why didn’t you say so before?” and you were thinking, “I’ve been trying to tell you that for half an hour!”
Or maybe you’ve been on the receiving end and finally they said something that connected with you and suddenly you were interested in what they had to say. What made the difference?
Years ago, I saw Teresa Easler, founder of Connect To The Core, present to a large group of entrepreneurs. She shared with us two very simple, yet very profound questions that were absolutely crucial to connecting with people. Answer these two questions and your prospective clients will want to hear more. Ignore them and you might as well save your breath because they aren’t listening. Every single one of us has these two questions rolling around in our heads, all day long. The answers determine whether we do something or not, whether we pay attention or tune out, and whether we buy something or leave it on the shelf. Right now, you’re asking yourself these same 2 questions.
What’s in it for me?
Why should I care?
Every day we are bombarded by advertisements. Some capture our attention, others we don’t seem to notice exist. Not to get too detailed, but simply put, we all have something in our brains which is called a reticular activating system or R.A.S. for short. It tunes in what is important to us and filters out what is seemingly irrelevant, based on our programming. It’s a useful thing to have otherwise we’d be overstimulated with all the information pushed at us every day. If the advertisement refers to something important to us, we pay attention. If not, we ignore it and move on.
Why do I say all this? What’s in it for you and why should you care?
If you want to be successful in business (and in life), you need to be answering these 2 questions for the people you are selling to, communicating and negotiating with, and the enlisting to help you get where you want to go. You can tell them how long your company has been around, how revolutionary your product is, how your ingredients are all natural, certified organic and hypo?allergenic – those may be important to you – but if you don’t translate it into what that means to them and how they will benefit, you really are wasting your breath. Don’t assume they will connect the dots. Make the connection for them. Share with them from their point of view, not yours. What will your product do for them? What problem will it solve, specifically?
Be concise! Don’t bore them with pages and pages of facts. Selling is about finding a need and filling it. Ask questions, clarify, dialogue, and relate it to their situation – what’s in it for them and why they should care. Do that, and you will capture your prospect’s interest, and be able to turn them into happy clients that keep coming back for as long as you continue to effectively answer these 2 questions for them.
Be awesome!
For more information and to learn how to maximize YOUR selling potential, contact:
Nicole Jansen
SalesPartners?Toronto Central
(416) 216?0864 / nicolej@sp?ww.com
