Sales reps learning to pitch and sell their products is an essential part of success at the beginning of the journey. If you don’t know your product, organization, industry, your value proposition – it’s going to be tough to communicate effectively with prospects and customers, much less influence them.



Practice and repetition are key, so we can move away from thinking about what needs to be said and we can move towards how we customize what we say in every unique selling conversation. It’s easy to stay in a product-centric rhythm – requesting time with buyers to talk about our (financial) product and what we think it can do for them.



The truth is that buyers/merchants don’t care about your product, your organization or what you think you can do for them, UNLESS you’re solving a business problem OR helping them achieve a DESIRED OUTCOME.





J. Keenan has a great rundown of what he calls product-centric sales reps vs problem-centric sales reps (bold):



Talk about their product --> Talk about customer business problems



Focus on their company --> Focus on the buyer



Tell/Explain --> Ask questions



Motivated solely by quota --> Motivated by customer success (and quota)



Are product experts --> Are business analysts



Have technical discussions --> Have business discussions



Reach to demand --> Create Demand



Operate solely from scripts and elevator pitches --> Improvise off of scripts when appropriate/customize every engagement



Emails and cold calls to ask to talk about their product --> Emails and cold calls to ask to discuss business problems



Don’t know why customer “needs” to or wants to buy --> Know the buyer’s intrinsic motivations to change



Are quick to lower the price --> Rarely compete on price



Is challenged by the buyer --> Challenge the buyer



Are unable to control the sale --> Control the sale



Sell features and benefits --> Sell an outcome



Close hard at the end --> Helps buyer close themselves



Builds relationships on likability --> Build relationships on credibility and results



Need to be liked --> Don’t need to be liked



Being problem-centric enables Funding Pros to be more effective at uncovering what are the true needs of the merchant/buyer, but the level above this is embracing that what every buyer really wants to achieve is desired outcome (even if its through the means of solving a problem). Whether they are conscious of it or not, they want to move from one present state to another desired state in the business. That's where you come in.



Merchants don't buy funding products, they buy outcomes. What outcomes are you helping merchants achieve daily?



-FundingStrategist

https://fundingstrat.com

https://fundingstrat.com/outcome-cen...ntric-selling/