Imagine being a Soldier! You are an amazing individual, well trained and fit, however by appearance you all look the same. How do YOU stand out from the crowd?
Consumers today have a wide choice of options when shopping for goods and services. Why should someone choose your company and your service and offerings over someone else? The most common issue we find when working with a new client is the ability for the sales team to position their offerings in the market place. What is the point of difference of your offerings over your competitors’? Are considerations such as your bricks and mortar presence of interest to the client? How about levels of stock holding or even the guarantees you offer? There are so many benefits you can offer the client, but where do you start?
This Point of Difference is the most misunderstood aspect of sales, and our experience is that sales people really don’t understand that the point of difference must be all about the client and what is in it for them. The best way to establish what your point of difference is in the marketplace, is to research what is on offer in the marketplace, and even research your own existing clients to find out what keeps them with you.
Points of difference could include any of the following:
- Location of your stock, quality and pricing of your product
- Features and Benefits of your product
- Outstanding technical features of your product
- Performance of your product
- Colour range, warranty, trading terms, the list goes on and on.
Some clients are also looking at the location of a company’s call center – ie Australia v Overseas Call Centers.
Whatever the points of difference are as determined by the stakeholders in the company, these must be shared and documented throughout the organisation. All team members and departments must be acclimatized to the Points of Difference; in fact every person that has any form of customer contact must be aware. All sales literature must also be aligned. We often find that marketing and sales collateral is not consistent throughout an organisation and appears differently on the website, shopping cart, sales literature etc. Once an organisation realises the Point of Difference of the company’s products and service offerings, the sooner they can be assured that they will have a greater chance of winning the deal.
Mystery Shopping Exercises conducted within organisations prove the level of variations of articulating the points of difference – in many cases, sales teams react with a price only when a customer orders. If you have any doubt whatsoever that your team may not be across the articulation of the Point of Difference of your company’s products and services, then we suggest you ask Synergy for Success to conduct some mystery shopping of your market channels.
Synergy for Success delivers Sales Training Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth.
Call George Manolis, Synergy for Success on 0418 436 743 for an obligation free consultation on how we can assist you in increasing sales profit. Website www.sfsi.com.au
Email george@sfsi.com.au