One thing about those of us who get into direct sales - we're an enthusiastic bunch! A tremendous number of people join the company they sell for because they attended a show, or perhaps saw the products at a booth and thought, "I love this! I could do that!" The good news is that enthusiasm is essential and worth its weight in training, the bad news is we often mistakenly believe everyone else feels the same way.
Here's a three step technique to refine that excitement into a single question you can use to make sure you know that you're offering your bucket of water (your product) to thirsty horses (people who need what you have to offer).
Step One - Product Feature that Worked for You First, stop and think to yourself, "What WAS it about the product that changed me?" Did it take away your crow's feet? Did it enable your dyslexic child to gain a new skill? Did it finally give you the perfect wine serving glass? In other words, what problem did finding this product solve for you? Step Two - Turn That Into a Question Now, take whatever problem the product solved and ask,"Who Has the Same Problem?" For our crow's feet example, let's say you really hated them, they made you feel older than you are.
When they went away, you felt like you finally look right.
So, the question might be, "Who feels like their crow's feet make them look older than they are?" It could be, "Who hates their crow's feet as much as I did?" "Who wants to get rid of their crows feet without someone sticking needles in their face?" Step Three - Take it On the Road Now, take your question and start asking it to people.
Keep in mind these things.
First, just because someone has the problem does NOT mean they want to fix it.
So, rather than asking someone "Do you hate your crow's feet?" for example, you could ask, "Do you know anyone who hates their crow's feet, but would never let someone stick a needle in their face to get rid of them?" Second, the idea here is to find people who had the same problem you did.
Now you at least have a thirsty horse.
However, it's possible that you've got a bucket of water and this horse has chardonnay tastes.
In other words, they have the same problem, they want to fix it, but you still don't have the right product for them.
That's OKAY, because you will just ask them if they know anyone who needs what you DO have, and go from there.
Finding customers who need what you sell is a very big numbers game.
Just keep asking for people like you - it gets you out of the bleachers and into the playing field.
Copyright 2011