Imagine you have a toothache and are looking for a dentist.
(Stay with me here, this relates directly to your business, how you sell and especially how many prospects buy from you.)
You try one dentist. The dentist looks at your tooth and says, “You have a cavity. It must be filled. It’s going to take about an hour. First I will fill a syringe with Novocain and inject it into your gums to numb your mouth. Then I will drill for ten minutes until we clean out every single bit of decay in your tooth. Then I will mix up a composite material and use it to fill the hole. Finally, we’ll grind the composite down so that it is like your tooth. The numbness will wear off in about 2 hours, and then you will be able to eat and smile normally again.”
I don’t know about you but, if a dentist said that to me, I’d be out of the chair before the dentist finished saying the word “syringe”.
You try a second dentist. The dentist looks in your mouth and says, “You have a cavity. I’ve filled many cavities. I’ll give you something so you won’t feel a thing. We’ll clean it out and you’ll be good as new in about an hour.”
Both dentists have the same message. It’s just that the second one spared you all of the gory details. You’re given the facts you need and the results.
Which dentist would you let fill your tooth?
I have bad news for you. You may be dentist number 1 during your sales calls.
You may have heard that during sales conversations to share the benefits not the features.
Your clients don’t want, or need all of the details (the features). They absolutely do need to know the basics. They need to know that you understand their problem, know how to solve it, what the results of working with you are and are confident in your skills (the benefits).
When you are having a sales conversation with a prospective client there is a tendency to give them all the facts because we think that our clients need all of the information to make an informed decision or else you may think that by sharing the facts it positions you better as an expert.
However, the details at best confuse prospects and at worst, scare them away. What you want to share with them are the results. In the case of the dentist example above, that they will be good as new in just an hour.
Here’s my suggestion to you, pay attention to what you’re sharing during your sales conversations. Listen to yourself. Listen to your prospective client and ask yourself, am I being dentist number one or dentist number two?
What do you need to change in your sales conversations? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
This is an excellent way to look at the sales conversation Carrie. I will remember this (a Dentist w/a drill!) when talking to perspective clients! Thanks for the reminder.
great analogy!! Will be thinking about the dentists in my marketing going forward!
Dentists make your smile bright but you sure don’t want the details of how they do it!
Thank you for this! I am preparing for a Classical Feng Shui presentation coming up in February. I do tend to get into the details. Now I am reframing this talk! Perfect timing!
You are so right Karen, this applies not only for sales conversations but for presentations as well. Actually it applies to just about everything doesn’t it.
You did a great job of helping us feel the squirm factor that we may inadvertently create in a sales call. Powerful analogy! Thanks.
This makes an interesting dilemma for a detail person like me. And I know about sell benefits not features. But I’m in real estate and buyers (I only work with investors) want details and benefits. If I don’t give some details, they come right back at me with all kinds of detail questions. Once they have that, then they see the benefit to them.
I think we need to weigh the features/benefits scale a little bit based on our business as well.
Hey Louise, Of course you have to give details, it’s about not overwhelming them with details instead it’s about giving them the details that help them understand what they need to know and make a decision.
Carrie
This is great! I would definitely say I am Dentist 1, as I have caught myself sharing too much of the details, being too deep to retract my statements, and experiencing the client drifting away. What I struggle with is being able to fully articulate what the benefits are. It just dawned on me that I share so much of the features to try and build a connection with them, and then hope they can connect the dots. Thank you for that!
Hi Danielle, it’s about asking them questions to help them and you identify what their problem is and then to connect the dots with them to their specific solution.
Glad this helped!
My sales conversation is focused on what the client gets out of the arrangement, and there are no further details unless the client asks specific questions to get the details.
Exactly. They certainly need some details but generally it’s very few and only high level.