Today's question has come from Lawrence in Singapore. He writes:
Dear Tony,
I have had talk with some of my important prospects to invest land asset in a foreign country (Canada).
Every time, the answer bounced back, you know what:
too far away and too risky and I must see it before I'll invest.Tell me how I can overcome and solve this situation.
I look forward to your reply asap.
Thank you!
Best regards
Lawrence
OK Lawrence, there are a couple of possible things going on here. First, it may just be that this person is not financially in a position to invest at the moment. Maybe they don't have the amount of money the investment requires available. Only you can know that. Just check back, have they approached you, or have you approached them? Have they specifically said they are looking to make investments at the moment or are you just assuming they might want to?
This is important because you are getting an objection based on risk. And your particular product, Canadian land investment, is from many angles considered to be a safe investment.
(I can't mention your company because you didn't give your permission for me to do so; and I will always respect everyones privacy)
When an objection is directly contrary to the normal positioning of a product, the prospect is either not in possession of all the facts or is giving nice words to escape. Their real message may be "I am not interested right now."
It also indicates that you have been "feature dumping" on them. If they are unfamiliar with your product, then they need a level of education before you try to "convince " them of how great it is.
That done, lets move forward on the assumption that they are someone who has money to invest and are interested in making investments right now.
Their feedback to you says they feel it is risky.
Perfect, Start to ask questions about their views on investment risk. What is important to them about risk? What is their previous experience with "risky" investments? (see if you can get information about their investment portfolio from this).
Once you know their feelings and experience and what they have invested in, you will have the information you need to figure out how to position your product.
Prospects are people who have a need for the kind of solution you can offer and an interest in doing something about it. If you have not established this, they are just a "Suspect".
You need to start by asking questions.
As you are in Singapore Lawrence, watch out for the next series of Positive Business Minutes on NewsRadio93.8
I will be running a series soon to solve the 25 most common problems that sales people tell us they have. Any of you who want a heads-up on the date for On-Air, just drop an email to salescoach@corporatesurvivors.com and I will keep you posted.
Good Selling
Tony
Friday, June 03, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
My customers only care about price
This question of customers only caring about price is one that comes up time and time again as I work with sales people. This week it was Raj who asked me, while we were up in KL this week doing some seminars on Confidence and Fear of Rejection for the investment sales teams at Walton International Malaysia.
As it was just a casual conversation over coffee at The Coffee Bean on the ground floor of Wisma Genting (why do I mention these guys? Because they have the most friendly attitude and helpful customer service I have experienced in one of these stores for a long time. They actually seem to enjoy working there. If you want to discover what service attitude in your retail outlet should be, go to KL and try this one), anyway back to Raj. I didn't even find out which company he works for, so I can't give him a mention here.
So, why do customers seem to care only about price? Because features and price is usually all we give them to choose from! How often do you go in and start doing your "company pitch"? You talk about your product before finding out what they need or why. Now this may come as a shock to many of you, but the stuff your marketing department gives you as a great pitch on why your company and product is unique, is pretty much the same story that everyone else uses!
So the prospect is hearing the same features from everyone. All the product options seem to be the same. So what can they choose on? PRICE. It's all they have left! And let's face it, given two apparently identical products, who would buy the most expensive?
Oh yes, and for those of you who I can hear muttering, "but we talk about benefits, just like our marketing brochures say" Sorry, products don't have benefits. Benefit is what someone gets if they need it, buy it and correctly use it.
If your customers ask about price first it is because they have been "trained" by sales people over the years. Because we don't move the conversation in a different and better direction!
If you have a question about this in your industry, email your question in. Be sure to give as much information as possible about a real situation, not just theory or a fear you have about asking questions. Let's work on real stuff.
Do tell me who you are and what you sell. You will not only get answers, but also a link to your website. You never know when a prosect might be reading here as well.
Good selling
Tony Latimer
Asia's Sales Coach
As it was just a casual conversation over coffee at The Coffee Bean on the ground floor of Wisma Genting (why do I mention these guys? Because they have the most friendly attitude and helpful customer service I have experienced in one of these stores for a long time. They actually seem to enjoy working there. If you want to discover what service attitude in your retail outlet should be, go to KL and try this one), anyway back to Raj. I didn't even find out which company he works for, so I can't give him a mention here.
So, why do customers seem to care only about price? Because features and price is usually all we give them to choose from! How often do you go in and start doing your "company pitch"? You talk about your product before finding out what they need or why. Now this may come as a shock to many of you, but the stuff your marketing department gives you as a great pitch on why your company and product is unique, is pretty much the same story that everyone else uses!
So the prospect is hearing the same features from everyone. All the product options seem to be the same. So what can they choose on? PRICE. It's all they have left! And let's face it, given two apparently identical products, who would buy the most expensive?
Oh yes, and for those of you who I can hear muttering, "but we talk about benefits, just like our marketing brochures say" Sorry, products don't have benefits. Benefit is what someone gets if they need it, buy it and correctly use it.
If your customers ask about price first it is because they have been "trained" by sales people over the years. Because we don't move the conversation in a different and better direction!
If you have a question about this in your industry, email your question in. Be sure to give as much information as possible about a real situation, not just theory or a fear you have about asking questions. Let's work on real stuff.
Do tell me who you are and what you sell. You will not only get answers, but also a link to your website. You never know when a prosect might be reading here as well.
Good selling
Tony Latimer
Asia's Sales Coach
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