I constantly hear from salespeople that “marketing isn’t getting me leads…the leads are no good…the prospect seemed interested until I spoke with him…”as if all the salesperson has to do is wait for the phone to ring and write up the order. If only it were that easy. Most salespeople I speak with are good, honest hardworking people that take a ton of heat and rejection, yet get right back on the horse. It’s a tough job, and takes a tough person to do it well. But while they’re good at getting back on that horse, many of them take the horse’s blinders off, and put them on their own eyes instead. They’re so focused on the product that they forget why the prospect will buy it.
Very few people buy anything because of how it’s made. Or where. Or by whom. Customers large and small have a “pain point”—an area that needs fixing—and the job of a salesperson is to find that pain point and alleviate it. THAT’S when the sale happens. There’s no magic pill, no ingenious marketing plan, or no special combination of words that will make the customer instantly fall into your lap. It’s solving the emotional issue of your customer. And each one is unique. Just because your company exists is not reason enough to make the sale.
Marketing helps. The right language can draw them in. But if you’re looking for those to solve the sale for you, you’ll wait a long, long time. Use them as the tools to help find the customer, then uncover their pain. You do that, and your sales will soar!
