If your ideal customer has a problem that needs to be fixed (whether he knows it or not), this may be helpful for you.
It’s the tale of two dentists.
You see, I’ve always had crooked teeth and a slight underbite.
(You can see the crookedness in this selfie I took with my queen, who is perfect in every way.)
When I was a child, our family dentist suggested that he could fix that… by breaking my jaw and resetting it “properly.”
It was a fool-proof solution, apparently.
But he couldn’t sell it.
Most mothers don’t jump at the chance to break their children’s bones.
So I went through my childhood and adolescence feeling self-conscious when I smiled or laughed. Took a long time get over it.
Fast forward to 2019. I’m perfectly happy with my flawed smile.
But every time I go in for a checkup, my new dentist finds a new cavity and has to use a bazooka to knock the tartar from between my teeth.
After a few appointments, she told me:
“Based on what I’ve been seeing, it’s going to be impossible to get ahead of this. No matter how faithfully you brush and floss, you will develop gum disease and your teeth will eventually fall out of your face.
“It’s not your fault. It’s just the way your teeth grew in.”
She sold me Invisaligns in a single conversation.
What’s the difference between the two dentists? And…
… How Does This Help You Sell More?
Here are a few thoughts.
Your solution should be “easy.”
The first dentist wanted to break a child’s jaw to fix a few imperfect teeth. The fix required too much work, too much discomfort.
Talking with “problem aware” prospects isn’t enough.
My parents could clearly see an issue, but they weren’t compelled to do anything about it.
People live with their unresolved problems all the time. That’s the default for many of us. If you want to sell, you have to figure out how to shake them up to make them dissatisfied enough to change.
Fear is a legit selling tool, but there must be evidence.
The second dentist would never have been able to sell me $4,000 Invisaligns to fix my smile. She couldn’t have sold them to me if they were FREE. Because I was fine with my smile.
But I was NOT about to let my teeth rot out.
Sometimes you gotta go negative in your messaging. (SORRY!)
I wouldn’t try to scare a prospect about something they don’t know about. Rather, help them appreciate the real severity of the problem they already see.
“Sell” the diagnosis before you sell the solution.
When your should-be buyer believes that you really understand what he is going through, he’s more likely to convince himself to see things your way.
In many cases, that’s where you want to start.