The forgotten buying principles

The 5 Forgotten Principles of Selling

a marketing perspective

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Saturday, 20 December 2014

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mailto:[email protected]

"Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust."

-Zig Ziglar


The good news:everyone wants to buy

something


Why you are struggling to sell:the too syndrome

• Too many confusing sales practices and formulas

• Too many people you want to sell to

• Too many things you want to sell

• Too many channels you want to use

• Too similar products / services as the competition


Or maybe you’re just trying too hard!


Where is selling in the hierarchy of business

activities


Let’s organise the business into 3 main

activities (we know it’s more than that)


Where is selling in the hierarchy

Sales Marketing Delivery

They’re equal in stature and emphasis. Sounds about right, doesn’t it?


Sales Marketing Delivery

Does this equation make greater sense?

Seems like it. After-all, doesn’t sales impact revenue?

But most small businesses are likely to organise it this way


It does!


However, it doesn’t reflect profitability. As a going concern, profitability is key. It

impacts the sustainability of the business.


Thinking sell to increase sales may not produce the desired results.

Interestingly it may lead to more struggles.


How can we overcome this dilemma


Start with a paradigm shift:Think DifferentThink Marketing


Where selling should be in the hierarchy

SalesMarketing Delivery

Great marketing generates sales

Great delivery of

your product

generates sales


Sales is an OUTCOME; not an activity in itself


So what are the forgotten principles of selling from a

marketing perspective?


The 1st Principle

• You don’t have to sell

• You’ll have to be where people are ready to BUY

• Know your target segment well

• Engage them

• Educate them


The 2nd Principle

• They’re not really interested in how good your product is; they’re interested in how different it is first and foremost

• That’s marketing’s job: to position the idea in the minds of the consumer

• Make your idea unique

• Unique proposition, unique presentation


The 3rd Principle

• They’re not buying features,i.e,how fantastic your product is

• They’re buying SOLUTIONS to a perceived problem (WANTS!)

• How can you make their everyday lives better, different

• What is emerging in the sociomarketing environment


The 4th Principle

• People buy with their hearts and minds

• We’re emotional, not irrational

• We’re more right than left brain in buying behaviour

• Trigger the senses, and the emotions follow

• Sell experiences

• Every touchpoint matters


The 5th Principle

• Price is a gate, not a barrier

• You’ve got to make it easy for them to buy, not cheap for them to buy

• Tier your offer-pricing

• Develop packages

• Give them the flexibility to buy / pay


A marketing centric sales plan generates higher ROI.

A unique and compelling positioning strategy will trigger the interest.

Why a marketing centric plan


Why a sales-centric business can be risky

• We risk engaging in superlative marketing

• We risk undermining the value of the business, products / services

• We risk diluting the uniqueness of the proposition

• We risk the potential of scaling up the value chain

• We risk the profit potential of the business


Conclusion:how the sales queue is formed

• Think marketing

• Think target segment

• Think positioning

• Think what’s-in-it-for-me (the consumer)


Documents

The forgotten buying principles