If you are paying attention to the news, you may have noticed that lots of people are under investigation from both sides of the political spectrum. The dictionary definition of investigation is “a formal inquiry or systematic study.”
While running a workshop last week, I was reminded of the power of a salesperson when they slip into investigation mode. That systematic process is the key to building trust and demonstrating value in the early stages of a relationship.
No matter what you are selling, you should go far beyond just needs analysis or selling features and benefits of your product or service. You want to have a business conversation, looking for a desired business result that you can help them accelerate.
If you are selling a solution that helps with customer acquisition, you are going to want to talk about things like:
- Total top-line sales and growth goals
- Direct cost of sale related to each sale
- The affect acquiring new customers has on payroll
- Sales, marketing, search and other acquisition spending as a percent of top-line sales
- Average sale for new customer
- Total revenue per customer per year
A good salesperson would make a good investigator. Be systematic in your approach and build trust and demonstrate value.
