I recently gave a talk entitled “How to shave 5 hours off your work week” for a local networking group in Richmond, VA. The audience, consisting primarily of entrepreneurs and sales folks, was eager to learn how to squeeze more time out of their day. Feeding off the enthusiasm in the room, I was primed for my presentation, waiting in the wings while a former client (whom I’ll call Karen) was introducing me to the crowd.
Karen started by reading a few highlights from my bio, but then spontaneously switched gears and decided to share the story of the personal success she’d experienced following a time management class I’d offered.
Karen was visibly moved as she conveyed that this past Christmas holiday was the best she’d had in years as a result of tools she’d acquired in my course. Not only did she learn to re-prioritize her daily tasks (resulting in greater financial productivity) she also acquired tools for saying NO to the time-and-energy-sucking people who’d plagued her for years. She was so passionate telling her story, her eyes teared up.
Karen explained that in the course of her professional life, she’d attended scores of development programs, including a few recent workshops on the very topic of time management. She’d also once engaged another business coach which cost her a lot of money and yielded lukewarm results. So to say she was a bit skeptical about hiring me was an understatement. Additionally, money was very tight for her at the time, and she emphasized the point to the audience that hiring me was not a flip decision; in fact, it was a difficult one for many reasons.
On the surface, there were 3 factors that influenced Karen’s decision to purchase my services.
- She’d seen my live presentation months before, and found the material intriguing, relevant and fun.
- She’d signed up for my newsletter and was consistently reading my other related articles (and putting them to good use) which positioned me as an expert in her mind.
- I didn’t strike her as just another trainer, spouting stock theories about what people need to do in order to achieve success. The phrase she used to describe my style of presentation was: being real.
For years, I’ve been extolling the effectiveness of being more real with prospects in sales situations. However, as I will explain momentarily, being real is only half the reason someone might buy from me—especially when a client is price sensitive!
So let’s start with the first half: What does being real actually mean?
In Karen’s case, here’s how she described it: In my speaking engagements and in my blog, I use real life scenarios that resonate with her own life. She enjoys the fact I am proud to be a work-from-home Dad and have no bones about weaving stories about my daughter into my presentations. She finds me to be a humorous and lighthearted person who, not only has lived through so many of the challenges she’s experienced in her professional life, but is also honest about what I know and what I don’t know. Karen can clearly see I am not attempting to represent myself as anything other than a regular human being with strengths and weaknesses like anybody else. All of this, in Karen’s mind, adds up to my being real to her.
Personally, in my mind, I consider someone as “being real” (down to earth, genuine, authentic, or whatever you want to call it) when the person presents him/herself outwardly in a way that’s consistent with the person he/she is inwardly.
So does this mean that in order to attract great clients, all you have to do is allow your innermost thoughts and feelings to shine? Not exactly.
Yes, being authentic is paramount in building a base of raving fans who repeatedly seek out your products and services and actively send business prospects your way. But things have changed when it comes to the reason why people purchase something from a salesperson in today’s market.
A recent study conducted by CEB Global revealed 53% of people who purchased a product or service from the company said the choice to buy was not based on how much they liked the salesperson. Of course, this flies in the face of trainers like me, who espouse the benefits of employing a relationship-centric sales method.
So if presenting yourself authentically doesn’t necessarily yield the greatest percentage of closings—what is the key ingredient?
The research reveals it is the unique value the salesperson brings to the sales experience.
To be clear, most people confuse unique value with having a unique product, offering unique options or even being unique in your manner of conducting business.
In the context of a sales situation, your unique value might be an industry secret only you possess, or some expertise that you alone have either discovered or accumulated over the years—both of which would position you as the “expert” and trusted advisor. It all adds up to unique value, but only if the prospect deems your expertise valuable. When this occurs, 55% of potential clients are more likely to purchase from you.
In Karen’s case, my being “real” was the unique value I presented when she was considering purchasing. In her mind I possessed unique value over other trainers and coaches for the following reasons:
- I am the primary caretaker of my child.
- I work from home.
- I’ve owned multiple business in the past and I am running one right now—full-time.
- I have a spouse who also runs her own business.
- I am faced with daily challenges associated with balancing work and family!
These aspects distinguished me from the other trainers she’d previously encountered, and thus, led her to greatly appreciate my unique value, so much so, she paid for a program when she had little-to-no discretionary funds to do so.
I’ve touched on two things here: the importance of being real in a sales situation and the importance of bringing unique value to the table. Obviously, value is subjective and will vary from person to person. For that reason, it is crucial you spend time identifying what unique value you can bring to bear when meeting with a prospective client.
If you take time to truly understand each individual’s situation and specific needs, you are likely to discover that your unique value might be YOU—simply being yourself.
