In any sales line, the product presentation is one of the trickiest steps. Even small mistakes here can throw off a prospective buyer; and worse, it can result in regulatory issues – such as if you misrepresent a financial product. It’s not surprising then, that
many new sales people fumble this step, or find it the second-most difficult thing to do (approaching strangers is often considered the first). Here are some simple tricks to help you out:
The “framing effect” refers to how receptive we are to messages, based on how they’re presented.
One example of this is explaining late fees. If you tell a prospect that payment after the 25th of the month incurs a late fee of $50, they may be unhappy about your product. But if you tell them that payment before the 25th of the month gives them an “early bird” discount of $50, they receive the message more positively; even though there’s no actual difference.
As a loose rule of thumb, good framing will present the product in such a way that:
It takes a lot of patience to go over the script or marketing materials, and identify the words you need to change. However, it costs nothing in terms of money, and it’s well worth the effort.
Action bias is a psychological condition where we feel better about something, or more in control, if we perform an action; it doesn’t actually matter how much the action changes things.
A classic example of this is cake mix: companies selling cake mixes found that customers were more likely to buy, if instructions required them to add the egg themselves. It is unnecessary to make the buyer do this (the company can do it themselves), but buyers enjoyed feeling some sense of interaction or control.
As long as the action involved is not too difficult, it can improve engagement. So you could consider asking the prospect’s participation in a small decision, such as how they want to set up a product. If you’re selling floral arrangements, for example, let them make small decisions on composition.
Action bias, incidentally, can be very strong for certain niche products. Airfix planes and Lego sets, for instance, require significant effort from a buyer; but the effort is the entire point of buying them, as opposed to fully assembled models. It’s up to you, as a salesperson, to know where your product lies on the scale.
A value proposition is what the product does for the prospect, it is not what the product is.
For example: the value proposition of a car is that it gets you to places faster and in comfort. As to what a car actually is, that’s a separate conversation explaining combustion engines, drive trains, fuel injectors, etc.
A common mistake among new salespeople is to go on and on describing what the product is, without addressing what it does for the prospect. This is especially problematic with technical products, such as financial products, operating systems, or
complex machinery.
When describing a product, always come back to:
You may even want to prepare a checklist, which you present at some point (e.g., go through the list and say, point by point, what the product is going to do for them).
That said, you can focus on product details instead, if the customer is already engaged, or an expert. If you’re selling machinery to a qualified engineer, for example, or a financial service to a banker, then you don’t need to focus too much on the value
proposition. Experts may in fact prefer that you focus on the details, as it’s what they’ll seek to analyse first.
This means you need two very different presentations, when dealing with newcomers to the product versus seasoned procurers / users.
At Exodus Capital, we know all this is easier said than done; that’s why we use close mentorship to guide you along these processes. Through practice and actionable steps, we help you to get better at presentations, and building relationships with clients. Do reach out to us for help, if you want career opportunities that can match your wider goals.
