Value

Today I received a text message from my younger brother, Jake. He is a professional comedian, but when he is not on the road he is practicing jiu jitsu. He will argue that is the “best” and “most effective” martial art and dismiss all others (He is wrong; the right art is the one that you choose to practice). His text message was about a small, jiu jitsu practitioner with a purple belt destroying bigger, stronger, meaner, and tougher competitors at a big tournament. Jake was watching him win match after match, despite his diminutive stature.

The small martial artist defeats the larger martial artist because he has better technique. He is patient. He takes his time. He looks for his opening, and he capitalizes on his competitor’s mistakes.

The same is true for salespeople. Your technique matters.

  • You will compete against salespeople with better products and some with cheaper products. You won’t beat them with features and benefits, and you won’t beat them on price. You have to win with your sales technique.
  • You will also compete against salespeople who happen to be smarter than you, and some who have an amazing ability to develop rapport. These are dangerous attributes to go up against, and it might be difficult to believe that anyone could be smarter or more likable than you, but there may be a few of them out there. You are going to have to beat them with your sales technique.

There is nothing more important than who you are at your core and how you sell. How you sell is more important than what you sell. How you sell can differentiate and define you in a crowded market. How you sell can create more value for your clients and dream clients than any of your competitors. And how you sell can stack the deck in your favor, creating relationships of value, the kind of relationships that give you an unfair advantage.

Have you thought about how you sell? Have you thought about what you do give your clients every reasons to choose you over your competitors?

How do you create value in every sales interaction? What do you do that allows you to develop the relationships of trust that you need? What do you do to earn the right to the commitments you need? How do you help your client with the process of change (That is what we are doing. We are helping people and companies to change)?

Send me your thoughts, ideas, stories, and experiences. Then spend some time thinking about what you do to create a competitive advantage in sales interactions.

Practice this week, and I’ll see you next week!

Anthony Iannarino

www.iannarino.com

 

 

Contributor Anthony Lannarino is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and consultant. He writes daily at www.thesalesblog.com and you can subscribe to his newsletter at www.thesalesblog.com/newsletter.