Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. – Jim Rohn
Movie superstars have one thing in common: They delight their fans. The more an actor delights his fans, the higher he soars. Any actor who has the ability to make his fans laugh, cry and swing from one mood to another will ensure followership and loyalty from such fans.
Customers – just like fans – have a lot of options available to them. Technology has changed a lot of things today. The customer has a lot of choices to make from diverse alternatives. He can switch to other choices within seconds.
Sometimes, I allocate time to listen to local and international news. Each time I do this, my remote control is always beside me, any TV station that doesn’t meet up with my expectation is ditched immediately without a second thought. A lot of folks do this also. People will not waste their limited time on immaterial things. If you want people to follow you everywhere you go, you need to make a lot of sense.
Selling is acting and acting is selling
The salesman and the movie actor have one thing in common. The salesman wants to impress and satisfy the prospects and customers, while the actor’s target is to delight his fans. Both professionals have audiences to satisfy and they must do the job well.
The salesman’s customers and the actor’s fans are classified as spectators in the context of this write-up. The spectators watch while the salesman and the actor perform their duties. The salesman and the actor are expected to impress their spectators if they must stay in business. The business will go bad once the spectators feel dissatisfied.
The art of selling is a form of Acting. The difference in the selling type of acting is that the actor (the salesman) acts real life scripts and not fiction or invented story. The salesman puts all his being in the script in order to appear real before the buyer. He swings moods when necessary in order to fit into the desires of the buyer. He ensures that whatever he does in the course of selling his products and services delights the buyer. The salesman must be convincing whenever he meets the buyer. His acting will go bad if he fails to look believable.
Your presentation is your acting script
Sales presentation in selling requires high level of acting. Sales presentation is a stage performance. It is not just a presentation; it is an act tailored to fit the audience. The salesman must ensure that he is tailored to fit. His presentation style and confidence level must be appropriate. His products and services must be ideal, credible and apt for the environment.
A good presentation is the one that catches the attention of the buyer. It states what the product intends to do and how it will achieve it. It shows the why of the buying. It is not just a presentation – it is a display of anticipated performance.
Jeffrey Gitomer puts it in an exciting way when he said, ‘‘Salespeople make the fatal mistake of making a presentation. It’s not a presentation; it’s a performance.’’ It takes a lot to arrive at this point. This is where the salesman connects with the buyer. The prospect watches the salesman’s presentation skills, his oratory prowess, his self-confidence and the extent to which he knows his product, his company and the industry. All these sum up to making a movie on the part of the salesman. The salesman makes a real movie in this process! Once he gets it right, the buyer who is the spectator buys his products or services.
The more you delight the spectator, the more you sell
Today’s selling has gone beyond striving to close sales. Successful selling does not end in closing. Success in sales is a process that ensures satisfying and delighting prospects and customers. You may close a sale without satisfying the buyer. This happens sometimes and of course leads to one-off buying. Successful selling goes beyond closing.
A selling champion delights his customers by ensuring that the customer is the centre of his sales activities. Successful sales professionals get the buyer involved in the sales conversation. The prospect or customer will not get involved if he is not made to be part of the sales process. This means that the buyer should understand the salesman’s message from the beginning. No ambiguity. There is no ambiguity in sales. Clarity is the first product the salesman sells. Failure in sales begins with uncertainty. Ambiguity leads to failure.
You need to change your selling strategy if you are not meeting or exceeding your sales target. Sell like a movie superstar who inspires his spectators. Sell like a champion!
Legendary Brian Tracy was right when he said, ‘‘Once you start thinking differently, you start acting differently.’’ It’s your turn to be celebrated as the next superstar. Think it, believe it, demonstrate it and have it.
