Have your kids ever participated in an event at school . . . you know, a holiday play or sports event . . . and pictures are passed along later? Be honest . . . do you really stop to admire the pictures of all the other kids . . . or do you focus on finding pictures of your kids?
Same thing as when you are in the audience for the Christmas show and the whole third grade class comes out and stands on the bleachers. Where are your eyes focused, like a laser? On the other kids? Nope . . . your kid.
What’s my point? Actually, it’s a mission, a critical one to those of us who make sales calls and presentations. People want to see pictures of their kids, not our kids. Ergo, buyers want to see mental pictures and hear stories about them (and their lives) and not stories about us, salespeople (and our stuff). So picture a presentation that either goes like this . . .
“John, let me start out by telling you a bit about ABC Wealth Management Group. We have been around for more than 75 years. We are rated in the top three of our industry in customer satisfaction. I want to talk to you today about our newest alternative investment products.”
Or . . . the presentation could go something like this . . .
“John, we are meeting today to talk about your financial goals and objectives. We are going to talk about growing and protecting your wealth and putting you and your family in a position to enjoy prosperity and security through the application of some alternative investments that are designed to both diversify and add some lift to your portfolio.”
Do you see the difference? The first presenter is hauling out pictures of his kids . . . kind of like the boring neighbor who insists that we all look at slides of his family’s recent trip to Europe. The second presenter is putting the emphasis on the buyer, on his life and on his family . . . where all people naturally want it to be.
Sounds basic but I cannot tell you how many times I have seen and heard salespeople lead with “the story of us,” when the name of the game is “the story of the buyer.”
Now . . . did I show you the picture of my daughter scoring the winning goal . . .
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