SELLING THE SIZZLE

SELLING THE SIZZLE

The greatest salespeople I’ve ever seen have been people that can use their product’s many benefits to invoke emotion in the buyer to motivate them to sell. While all buyers are motivated differently, but most do buy on their gut feelings. When you’re in a restaurant and that sizzling steak goes by wafting aromas does it motivate you to buy a steak or a salad?

In learning sales we’ve all been through the features and benefits training. Beginning salespeople get good at rattling feature lists off to the customer. When I sold my first house with an Agent, I was amazed at some Agents who raced through my house, with dry emotionless fact, clinically describing to them the different parts of the home. My home had many beautiful aspects of why I had emotionally bought it and enjoyed it that only good Agents would identify and espouse to the buyer. What must be translated into the customers psyche is the emotion for the product that will enable them to connect to it and buy. Selling the Sizzle, you must appeal to the heart, the buying motivator.

Imagine if I came and knocked on your door and said I was going to sell you a steak. Immediately you’d cynically think big deal I can get a good steak from any number of places. What do I want with a bloody piece of meat cut off a cow? But then I describe the steak and how it would make you feel. I’d begin to tell you how when you look at my steak you’ll see the great quality of the texture of the meat and marbling. As you look at it you can imagine how good that texture and taste is going to be when the final result is in your mouth, having the complete feeling wash over you of satisfaction in the steak you’ve invested in. Just looking at it makes think of that feeling after you’d eaten a well cooked meal with quality products, you’ll sit there in your chair lost in that satisfying haze, rubbing your belly, feeling complete.

As you smell the steak cooking on the grill, your mouth salivates, your excited anticipation jumps. The aroma washes over you out of the grill and your excited family comes eagerly over, attracted by the tasty smell and look at your wonderful choice of meat. Anticipation and excitement abounds and you see that look in you’re family’s eyes that makes you feel you doing the very best for them and making them happy. Imagine the succulent juices as the cooked steak runs over your taste buds and down your throat and give you that satisfying feeling in your belly. Your family digs in, not only have you given them a wonderful nourishing meal, you’ve created a bonding event with memories you’ll always share. Imagine how pleased you’ll feel as your wife comes over gives you and thanks you with a big hug and the kids jump in the hug and say – “Thanks dad you’re the greatest!” That’s what buying my steak is going to give you, Mr. Customer.

Now how many of you want to buy my steak. While this is a controlled environment I obviously have not even given you’re the features of the steak yet, but how many of you are salivating right now? It’s the sizzle, not the steak.

Remember, it isn’t the features of your product; it’s the way it’s going to make them feel. Use that to your advantage in making people feel good about what they are buying. Are you a tour guide for your products? Do tell people “This is the kitchen” to people who obviously know what a kitchen is. Or are you’re an emotional guide, helping people identify how they are going to feel, about their kitchen experience. Some mortgage people are the same way. I’ve heard “Its just a mortgage, you can’t even see it”, but how does it make them feel? Sit down right now and put on a pad of paper some of the emotional benefits of your product.

One final note to remember, take the time to care about your client and identify their needs, wants and desires. If you don’t know that, you can’t help them turn on their emotion feelings and experience your products true benefits.

Also, ask yourself are you the sizzle? Do you make you’re your client feel good about you?