Stop Telling and Start Selling

A few years ago, a friend of mine told me about an interesting sales situation he encountered. He and his wife attended a Home and Garden show. They discussed ahead of time that they wanted to get concrete borders around their yard and hoped to walk out of the show with a company selected to do the job. There was one issue driving their intention – a neater, more attractive yard.

As soon as they entered the show, they stopped at a booth displaying concrete borders. The man there began his pitch. He explained in great detail how the concrete was seamlessly shaped, showed them a host of patterns and colors, and had them look at countless photos of jobs he had completed. He then proceeded to discuss several price and warranty options. After ten minutes of this, my friend said to his wife, “I had no idea this would be so difficult. We probably need to think this over and check with other vendors.”

For all of his good intentions, this man was his own undoing. He created price pressure, doubt, and competition where none previously existed. My friend has a fast buying cycle. All the guy needed to do was get to his issue – a neater yard – and help him see how his product would resolve his problem. If he had done that, my friend would probably have his borders in their yard now instead of having paid a gardener to put in new RR ties.

Remember this rule when meeting with potential customers at your trade show booth: The essence of selling is not telling; it is asking questions and sharing third-party stories that will help your prospect self-discover his own need for your product or service. People do not buy features and benefits; they buy solutions to problems. If you want to stand out from your competition, stop overloading prospects with information and brochures. Start asking thought and emotion provoking questions.

Here’s an example:

You: Thanks for stopping by our booth today. You’re probably not in the market for concrete edging, are you?

Prospect: Actually I am.

You: What has you interested?

Prospect: We would like a neater yard.

You: Tell me more about that.

Prospect: We have old RR ties for borders; they’re rotting and they’re an eyesore.

You: Is yard appearance important to you?

Prospect: Yes, but even more important is having something that is maintenance free and lasts a long time.

With just a few simple questions, you can learn a lot about your prospect’s true buying motives. Once you’ve identified the real problem, just ask, “How do you see my product taking care of this situation?” That will get the prospect to sell himself on why he should buy from you.

Helping your prospect to describe his current situation and to paint the picture of the solution is much more effective than a long list of features and benefits you offer. If you want to win over prospects at your booth, ask questions. Let them talk about their own situation. That’s much more interesting to them than listening to you talk about yours.