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The World Is Not Your Oyster When It Comes to Sales
By John Aberle | Prospecting
By John Aberle | Prospecting
Stop wasting your time, effort, and money trying to sell to the whole world. It takes discipline to train yourself to narrow your efforts to your best effect. I too have to discipline myself: soft sell sales and soft sell marketing appeal mostly to small business owners and people who care about developing long term relationships. Yet we find it tempting to be available to anyone and everyone who might want to buy our products. We don’t want to miss out on any sale. The whole world is our oyster. Not so.
The people who thrive are those who identify their niche and tightly focus on what they do that appeals to that specific group. Last year I read a great example of this by Wayne M. Thomas in his book, The Sales Manager’s Success Manual
When he initially identified his potential patient base, he included everyone over 40 in Southern California. His advertising produced disappointing results. This is because the vast majority of the population over 40 did not feel they had a need to get rid of wrinkles. Furthermore, most of them did not have the finances to afford to even if they did want to. Changing his campaign to “I restore lost beauty!” and concentrating his advertising to where the best prospects lived, he appealed to those for whom their looks meant success or failure, people who also had the money to afford his services. In the example Thomas gave, the focused campaign was 13 times more effective.
In my experience, this is very realistic. That’s why I strongly encourage everyone in soft sell sales and soft sell marketing to determine your ideal customer profile. Prospects who match that have the greatest likelihood of wanting and feeling they need your products and services because such problems are common to people and companies like your best customers.
Beware the sensuous whisper of greed. It causes us to think we can appeal to everyone. Today, more than ever, the whole world is not your oyster when it comes to sales and marketing. Decide on the group of people who have the problems and desires, the needs and wants you address best. Help customers buy because it works for them. You’ll find your sales more fun and the results mutually rewarding.
Finally, if you’re looking for an excellent book on sales management, check out The Sales Manager’s Success Manual
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