Dear Reader, put on your existing customer hat (either as consumer or business owner) and pretend you are calling a customer service or sales rep at a current vendor/partner for a reorder or a question and then say out loud the first word that comes to mind after reading each bullet below.
- “We have an exciting new product…”
- “I want to make you aware about something new”
- “Now you can upgrade to….”
- “There are some additional choices now….”
- “This is actually part of a bundle now….”
- “There is a new a new feature to think about…”
OK I can hear you!
NO! NO! NO! That is the word you are saying. And if you’re not, you’re probably lying.
Worse than you saying “No” is the fact that you the existing customer, are shutting down your ears and your brain to hearing anything more from the cross-selling or upselling rep you are engaged with. And dear reader since you likely working for a business in the business of profits – you need to know this happens.
Imagine if you heard this instead; And say the first word that comes to mind out loud here as well.
- “There have been a few changes since you last called.”
- “There is a change to the ordering platform/process.”
- “There are some changes to the product(s)..”
- “We’ve made a few changes to this….”
I can’t hear much! That’s right – your reaction isn’t overt. Mostly it’s silence or an “uh huh”.or a soft “OK” but most important, it’s a reaction that says…. tell me more…
And that is so much better than the immediate mental (or often verbal) shut down we get. Change gets a bad rap. It’s something people usually don’t like, but it’s different now in the world we live in with all the version 8, 9’s and 10’s we see. Using the word change in the selling process can be to your advantage; especially when introducing new products or upsells to existing clients. Massage your message to leverage the word as means to share the positive possibilities with the new product(s) or upgrade. The word change makes people stop. Change piques interest and/or curiosity. The word change even if it raises a tiny bit of tension – creates attention. The word Change makes people listen even if it’s only for a few seconds.
Those few seconds of attentiveness are the key. It opens that door. What you say after you get the attention I suspect you are already very, very good at – now it won’t be wasted!
When something changes we’re wired to find out what the change is. We have to know. That’s not always true for when there’s something new, something added, something bundled or something you can upgrade.
There’s been a change to your sales process. The change is to start to use the darn word!
Till next time,
Grow The Business.
Mark
Mark McCarthy's Blog 