First Published in Imaging Business/InfoVAR Magazine December 1997

FAB - RIP!

Leave the old selling style at the door.

When I started selling, I was told to always remember to practice the FABs (Feature, Advantage, Benefit) of a product. The focus was on explaining to a prospect a Feature of a product, the Advantage of that feature and the true Benefit of that particular feature to the person or organization. There would be a long list of FABs with each product with plenty of role-playing to follow. We were FAB'd to death.

Obviously, the old focus was on the product and it was selling your product against someone else's product. Like Ford verses Chevy. IBM verses Honeywell. Wang verses Lanier.

We then moved from the product sale to the systems sale. We told ourselves that this was the way we had to go. Selling a system was much more sophisticated then a measly product. The ones that wanted to make the big bucks sold systems. The lesser salesperson sold products.

So a lot of these former FAB trainers began teaching how to sell systems. Many salespeople jumped into their courses or read their how-to books and believed that they became better sales people because they now know how to sell a system.

Well, it turns out that the FAB's are still with us, but just called something else. Many salespeople are still selling their system verses someone else's system. They try to immediately put their system into that prospect's office before understanding what issues face the prospect or what motivates them. Many times I have seen salespeople miss the true selling opportunity. The typical salesperson thinks they know the real benefits of their own product and they are determined to get those benefits across to the prospect. But what happens is the things they think are benefits mean nothing to the prospect. Too often it is the little things about a solution or service that the prospect is really interested in, but the salesperson never digs for those little things. They were too busy talking and not listening to the prospect.

Well, the days of feature selling are over. Customers don't want to be sold. They want someone to understand their problems and come up with a creative and cost effective solution to their problems.

Most of the time the salesperson fails to talk about a benefit of their solution because the competition has the same benefits. They only talk about what separates them from the competition. But more often than not, the prospect has no idea what benefits are common in the industry and what items are unique. And they don't really care! All they want is a solution that will have a positive impact on their organization and is cost effective, from a company that they trust.

You must understand their business and personal goals first. How do you do this? Get them talking. Don't do the hard sell on your products. If you get them talking, they'll give you insight into how to sell to them. If you spend all your time telling them how great your system is or how knowledgeable you are, then you'll never learn what their needs are.

How do you get them talking? Complement them (on their workplace, the size of their operation, their family picture, etc.). Show amazement on how they are able to perform their job so well with the workload they must have (if appropriate). Ask their opinion on certain topics. Ask them what their goals are (personal, departmental, company, etc.) and what are the biggest challenges they face. The only way to find out is to ask basic questions, pull in the personal goals of the individual or group that you are working with and most importantly - listen!

You'd be amazed at the things you learn if you listen carefully. Read in between the lines. Many times customers told me how impressed they were with my industry knowledge after leaving a meeting with them. The funny thing is that during the meeting I might have talked less than 5% of the time and listened during the other 95% to them discussing their business. Many times prospects just want someone to listen to them - and not to be constantly on the defensive avoiding the "sales job".

So FAB is dead and LEO is alive.

        Listen with Interest

        Empathy with their situation

        Offer solution

If you listen, show empathy with their situation and then offer a solution, are you going to get the business? Sometimes, but there are other pieces that are needed to complete the puzzle.

        Confidence

        Knowledge

        Experience

You have to show confidence in yourself and project this at all times. If the prospect does not see confidence in you, then you obviously do not have confidence in your solution or your company. The prospect may be thinking: "There is probably a better solution on the market" and as soon as you leave the office, they are calling your competition. If you show confidence, then the prospect may never make that phone call.

You also need to have a solid knowledge of your solution and how it fits into similar industries or situations. Always bring up how others are using your solution and how it benefited them. If a prospect thinks they will be one of the first with your solution, then the hesitancy to act becomes another road block for you.

Experience in dealing with people and within the industry is important to build the trust of the prospect in you. They have to feel they are dealing with a person who really understands the issues facing them and has worked with others with similar problems. Notice that I did not say similar industries. A lot of salespeople fall into that trap. They don't have an installation within the same industry as the prospect you are taking to. Many times other customers have a very similar problem but they worked in a different industry. This gets back to understanding your solution and how it can fit into different customer areas.

If you follow the above suggestions, then the chances are very good that your prospect becomes your client!

Steve Goodfellow is President of Access Systems, Inc., a consultant in Knowledge Management, Technology Assessment and Marketing Skills. Steve can be reached via e-mail or at 315-682-1188.