I would add that telling the prospect the outcomes is less effective than exploring outcomes with a prospect. Telling an outcome could paint an offensive picture. “What difference would this make?” “What would make a bigger difference in your world: A or B?” Obviously, this is more effective in a live conversation than in a marketing piece. Just don’t tell me what my ideal outcome is, ask me questions, get to know me. 2 cents…

So what you’re saying is: I need an elevator speach - 5 to 10 seconds to say everything. “Hi! I’m Tom. My company assists real estate investors to become millionaires.”

This is very helpful. I have always been in sales and agree that people always buy on emotion, however, our company serves in the real estate investment industry where it is commonplace to “oversell” outcomes.

While our “competitors” do provide some helpful information, they over leverage off the emotion of a dream only to sell more stuff that will never be implemented. We do feel buyers have to take responsibility for their decisions however, with only a very small minority of buyers having positive outcomes it gives the industry a bad name.

In order to separate ourselves, we have a tendancy to really overcompensate and avoid emotions all together. Although we have better products and deals, this has hurt our sales. Often we hear from buyers that have passed over our products or deals in order to purchase from our competition - only to come back to us later and say that they regretted their decision.

Any practical ideas of how to present outcomes and connect emotionally without being viewed as “just another sales pitch”??

Brad,

My take would be to communicate the very few things people get from you they won’t get anywhere else, and do it with emotion.

So if you provide the opportunity for an investor to be a part of a real-live investment property purchase and everyone else just provides the education on how to do that, you might say something like

“We won’t charge you thousands to sit in a classroom and just go home with a pile of binders and a head full of information. We will take you with us to view, bid, and buy the property.” Or

“A picture is worth a thousand words. Do you want 40 hours of classroom education or do you want to be involved in buying an actual property? Which one will teach you more?”

Both of these create an emotional response - I’m actually going to get real live help! And we all know how a hands-on process helps us learn better than book learning. So in short, what makes your sales pitch different than the other guy is you’re not just presenting empty emotions (”Take our program and become a millionaire.”). You’re dealing with facts (they get to see the whole process with live bullets) in a way that creates an appropriate emotional response - relief and excitement. Somebody is actually going to teach me how to do this.

Thanks…very good suggestions!…with your permission I will cut and paste for our next workshop.

Please do - thanks!

just came across your blog after you followed me on twitter. i have to say i really love the simplicity of it. and one more thing… great content too. it’s real advice, practical, tangible stuff that can actually be used.

Great thread…joining quite late b/c I just ran into an old friend and boss, John Nordlander, who introduced me to your company (great hire, btw). Being a brand disciple, one thought I wanted to add to the dialogue is the fundamental concept and power of brand. As I see it, the outcomes you’re talking about should ideally emanate from something that is so authentically core to your business, its “soul” if you will, that only you can deliver on it in a manner that is not only emotional, but relevant, to your consumers. What fundamentally attracts consumers to brands/products is their emotional connection to what that brand stands for and how that, in turn, impacts their life. Brands are badges. It’s not that the benefits/features aren’t important, but as you’ve so rightly pointed out, the promise of bringing relevance to the consumer’s life is far more important. Unapologetically standing for something is something I believe most brands fail to do b/c they i) don’t know what they stand for, ii) aren’t authentic/original, iii) want to be all things to all people, and/or iv) are afraid to offend. But those brands that do take a stand and communicate their position properly transcend the clutter and position themselves to potentially sip from the holy grail of success…to become iconic.

Dave,

Great comment on brand. In the early 1900s years ago you could sell “family hot dogs” with a picture of a bucolic family picnic on the package and make your employees work six days a week and essentially have no affinity for family as a company.

Today’s consumer will not put up with such hypocrisy between what you pretend your brand is, and what it really is.

Your brand is not a logo or a tagline. It is what you and your company value, believe in, and live out. The guy on the dock loading the trucks is your brand. The accountant balancing your books is your brand. And the sales person trying to sell your wares is not selling your tagline but his/her own experience with the product in the context of the values of the company.

The more your real brand (who you are) diverges from your stated brand (your marketing), the less you will sell. Alignment between these to is critical in today’s market. There is to much transparency to pretend to be one thing and advertise another. “Authentic alignment” may win you a round of corporate buzzword bingo, but in this case, it’s the right idea.