Re: ShopTalk: What is it worth?

[Bernie Baymiller]

Royce,   I agree. Selling with solutions has been successful in B-to-B advertising for the 40 years I was involved in it. But, usually, there's one ot two other necessities in making the sale...you have to convince the prospect that your solution works and that it's cost effective.   Example...to continue with my long driver epistle that somebody got me started on yesterday... Some old guy at the range in our golfing community asks me if he can get more distance with a long driver (a lot of "pain" there). I say, "Sure," and hit four or five nice straight drives down the middle to demonstrate that it will, hand him the club and see how he does with it. Give him a few instructions if necessary. Nine times out of ten, the guy will pick up at least 20 yards, and even if he's not very straight, he's seen that I was accurate and is convinced he could be, too. At this point, almost any price I gave him under the cost of an OEM club would be acceptable. When I low ball that figure with my "non-profit" price, I have another clubmaking project for fun. Then I can tinker with the specs to better fit the way I saw him swing, and usually by the time he tries the club, he finds he can hit it more accurately than he did with my "demo." Happy customer and new friend. If he keeps playing well with it, overlength fairway woods are a month or two away...and maybe next year a set of irons. But, "keeps playing well with it" is the catch. Initially, almost all players listen to my instruction and hit a lot of good drives. But, I'll bet 40%-50% revert to their old swing within a few weeks and need a "reminder" lesson. The second time around, the lesson usually sticks. Maybe 80% of all my long drivers will still be in the bag after a year or two. Then, they'll want a new and even longer-hitting one...and that's a tough nut to deliver. :-)   Bernie Writeto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]         ----- Original Message ----- From: Royce Engler To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 20, 2002 9:35 AM Subject: RE: ShopTalk: What is it worth? The best book I've seen on selling is titled Solution Selling by Mike Bosworth.    His basic premise is that people will only buy to solve their "pain", and they won't buy your product unless you can show them that it solves a problem they have.  He lays out a process for quickly identifying the buyer's pain and giving them solutions that will solve it.  One of his main points is to sell solutions, not features.  I've used the process for a couple of years in my other jobs, and it works very well.    My $.02.... Royce  -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mark A Patton Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 10:10 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: ShopTalk: What is it worth? Good reply, and as I have used this often, I feel the need to discuss what at times I have experienced. Without going into a lot of detail, if anyone has read the book "Selling to VITO", this doesn't work with Semour or VITO. For those that have read the book, allow me to butcher it's thoughts here to be as short as possible for those that haven't: Semour wants all the info, bottom line, and often Semour equates value as most info related to dollar. Semour unfortunately includes marketing hype as info. A lot of times, Semour will ask for the "tech behind the scenes" so that they can learn and then in the future, hopefully replicate your process/skill. More importantly, VITO doesn't care about specs, etc. He/She is bottom line. If you can't display why your solution is superior in a few sentences or less, you have lost. VITO doesn't care about specs, etc, he/she wants a "solution sell" that speaks to their basic needs. I know this doesn't read well here. If you have a chance, grab the book and give it a read. I know my most successful sells are when I prove I have a superior solution without going into all the "behind the scenes" tech. Many customers don't want to know about the tech, just that you can provide a superior club. In addition, these are the same ones that find it easier to equate a "higher" value to your skills. Being that I live in Orlando, I have to mention: Don't destroy the magic, there is only 1 Mickey Mouse.  In other words, don't give away your tech/skills, just sell the superior solution if at all possible. Flame Away Mark