The marketer sold you something. You weren't interested at
first, but then he's talking about another competitor's
product and explained its features, its benefits and so on.
Since he's not talking about his own product, you listened
in for a while.
Oh yeah, what the company is offering sounds like it would
make a great bargain! Wait... you mean it's not good
enough? I'm already intrigued, you actually mean you have
something better? No way!
Then he pulled his offer out and present it to you. You're
SOLD before you're sold.
Well that's the power of comparison selling. Michael
Masterson, in his book "Ready, Fire, Aim" once talked about
his experience working with a boss who sold aluminum
sidings.
If you've ever seen Barry Levinson's film "Tin Men," you
know that the siding business is no walk in the park. For
one thing, the product you're selling isn't something you
can port around in sample case. It requires imagination.
Not just on the part of the prospect, but on the part of
the salesman who has to paint the picture of a newly
finished home.
What's more, the price was high. It could cost as much as
$2,600 to cover a house in aluminum siding. Remember, this
was at a time when the median annual salary hovered around
$5,000.
Here's how it would work...
Michael's boss would run through his pitch for covering and
protecting a house with siding and then he would throw a
question to the prospect.
"How much," he would say, "do you think it would cost to
cover your house in oak?"
Oak? Did he say oak?
"Yes, oak... handsome, effective, oak. How much would that
cost to cover the whole house? I can tell you. It would
cost you about $10,000."
"Now oak is a great choice. It would really do the job
nicely. But now let me show you why aluminum siding is
BETTER than oak..."
That is how comparison selling can work for you, too.
Now if that isn't enough, sometimes you can also add
bonuses or premiums to your offer to further amplify the
value you deliver to customers. And, done right—by
explaining how valuable the bonuses are on their own, your
prospects would hold their cash right in front of you like
a hungry wolf waiting to be fed. Of course, this' a
metaphor. Have you tried applying comparison selling to
your sales message before? If you haven't, you can start
with some of your competitor's offer competing with yours.
Explain why yours is better, and how it can trump your
competitor's in value.
And yeah, sometimes it doesn't have to be something you
uniquely have. It could be some of the most obvious facts
in the industry. If you haven't heard of Claude Hopkins'
stories about how he sold Schlitz beer, it would worth at
least a close read.
You could make it your unique selling proposition, you
could use it to turn your prospects' objections into
benefits you can sell, and you can do so many things with
this strategy to sell much, much more products in return
for a wealth of fortunes.
Use it, but remember—don't go overboard on
exaggeration in the comparison. Ultimately, it's enough
proof and trust that help prospects hand you their credit
cards and hard-earned money.
----------------------------------------------------
A former college dropout, Dan Lok transformed himself from
a grocery bagger in a local supermarket to a
multi-millionaire. Dan came to North America with little
knowledge of the English language and few contacts. If
you're ready to take your online business to the next
level, go to:
http://www.websiteconversionexpert.com/more.html
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