Far too often, sales representatives and even CEO's get caught selling all the features of their products and leave the "what's in it for me" portion of the pitch until the end. We've all done it. Sure, you may have a long list of all the benefits of your product and all the problems it solves, but the prospect doesn't care about half of them. Instead, find out what problem the prospect wants to solve  and find out up-front. This way you can frame your product's value in the context of the prospect's needs. 

The Trap: What Not to Do
"Thanks for taking the time to learn more about my product. Here's what our product does. Yada, yada, yada  (Have I hit on something you're interested in yet? No?) Yada, yada, yada. Oh, and, yada, yada, yada..."

A Better Approach
"Thanks for taking the time to meet with me. Before I tell you about our product, I would like to learn more about you and your practice. (Ask some probing questions until you find a pain point.) What are some of the challenges you face when treating patients with (disease/condition you specialize in)? 

Once you get some answers, you can position your pitch on how you solve his/her problem.That way you're not wasting his/her time with information overload. If you want to pepper-in a few additional benefits at the end, that's fine. But don't weigh your pitch down with information that may be irrelevant to the person you are in front of today. 

Selling solutions to problems vs. selling products also strengthens your relationship with the prospect. By listening and helping him/her solve a problem, you become strategically important and a trusted colleague. 

​So, how good is your story?

• Is it positioning you as a market leader?
• Is it attracting new customers?
• Does it clearly communicate your benefit?
• Does it have adequate evidence to create believers and followers? (Clinical data, peer reviewed articles, case studies, testimonials,etc.)
• Is it a good story not well told? Or a bad story told too often?
• Are you telling it using the right channels & mediums? (social media, trade journals, key opinion leaders, websites, presentations, video)
• Does your story hold-up when people retell it? In other words, does the “innovative” internal champion at the organization you are selling to have the right set of stories to motivate the final decision maker holding the purse strings? (This is critical)

If you’re reading this, your answers to the above questions are most likely,“no". Otherwise, you would be too busy flying around the country closing sales. The good news is that there are proven strategies and formulas for creating and telling stories that motivate buyers,build brands and create loyalty among customers. Be sure to tune into future posts, or contact me directly to build your new story for 2017.