Whether you like it or not, you are in the sales business.
Henry Evans with Oren Klaff, author of Pitch Anything
Even if its just selling yourself to your spouse or to your boss, or to someone you just met. We are all selling ourselves on a constant basis.
If you are anything like me, you love anything that helps give you an ‘edge’ when selling, especially when you discover a new technique that really, really works.
Had the opportunity to spend some time with Oren Klaff recently, author of the new, best-selling book, Pitch Anything and this book provided several outstanding techniques that really, really work well.
You should pick up a copy of the book right now from your favorite bookstore but let me explain my favorite part first. I think you’ll be able to use this immediately if you grasp this simple, yet powerful concept.
Oren calls this concept “Prizing”.
Let’s use the example that you are selling your product or service to a prospective customer. Usually what happens when you sell something is that you give a “dog and pony” show to your prospective customer. You talk about feature and benefits, and they ask you questions. Then, at the end of that process, they then decide whether or not to do business with you. The decision is theirs because they are setup as the “Prize” by default.
And while this is how things usually happen, it is actually completely WRONG if you’re the seller!
See this concept of prizing actually changes and reverses the roles.
When you change your mindset, the customer is NOT the prize.
YOU are the prize. And your product or service is the prize.
You have worked on your product or service and perfected your offering for years. You have a tremendous value proposition, you solve a problem that your prospective customer has, and you know you can improve your customer’s life when they buy from you.
So, you need to start at the very beginning, before you even meet with them or communicate with them that…
YOU are the prize. And they have to win YOU over.
And you need to get your inner self believing this 100%. And, when you do that, it will put you in the power position.
It makes people want your product or service. It makes these prospects want to work to even have the opportunity to win time with you, or buy your offering. Its the exact opposite of being needy. Its actually being completely nonchalant.
One of the ways you need to do this is to not communicate neediness and to really, really value your time. That means that you never just hang out during a prospect meeting, you are always moving on to bigger and better things. When you communicate that, it says that your time is valuable and it also says that your agenda is what’s valuable here, not your prospect’s agenda.
So, give this mindset shift some thought the next time you are talking to a prospect.
And remember, YOU are the prize so act that way and see what happens.
NOTE: This also works well with interpersonal relationships.