My job is selling technology. Actually I'm more of a translator. I sell technology to other businesses and that's where things get weird. There is a bewildering array of tech out there and unfortunately many companies think technology sells itself and the value that the technology delivers should be obvious. Wrong. That's where I come in. I said I was a translator. My job is to translate techno babble into value that customers understand. This blog share my adventures with high tech sales. Selling high tech is fun so come join me on my sales journey!

Sunday, 25 November 2012

Magic Words

This week I was lucky enough to see  Phil Jones presenting about Magic Words. Phil is an excellent presenter with a real flair for conveying simple yet powerful concepts.

His presentation pretty much covered the contents of his book Magic Words which I found very useful. The book covers simple psychology techniques to make your words have more impact.

I particularly liked the techniques for heading excuses off at the pass.  Phil used to lead the sales team for DFS furniture stores and they wanted to sell the coating to protect the material on the furniture as it was high margin.  The number one excuse why customers  didn't want to buy it was that "We never eat or drink on the furniture".  To solve this problem he used the "I bet you're a bit like me" technique.  He would frame the conversation using "I bet you're a bit like me. When you work hard you come home and you want to crash in front of the TV with a beer or glass of red wine. Maybe even some crisps and snacks".  The customers agreed they do this sort of thing.

Now when it came to selling the protective material coating they can't now say we never eat or drink on the furniture! 

A few of the ideas and concepts are covered in my book but there is enough novel content here. I will be experimenting with the techniques over the coming weeks and will report on success.


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