REALLY

I was working with a rep today and as we were telling a prospect about our product he looked at the rep and said REALLY. I have heard customers and prospects say that word a thousand times before, but for some reason it caught my ear this time. Now that I was listening for it I heard the prospect say really 3 more times.

I started thinking, is there a relationship between a prospect saying really and the prospect buying and becoming a customer?

So what does it mean when a customer or prospect says really? The first thing it means is you told them something that they didn’t know. It also tells me that whatever you told them shocked them. Depending on how strongly they say the word really tells you how much shock there was.

Is it a good idea to shock a customer? Maybe yes and maybe no. If the information you gave them is positive and the customer perceives it as adding value, than yes it was good. But if the information isn’t living up to the customers’ expectations and they are saying really in a way that show disappointment than it isn’t good. So shocking a customer can work for you or against you.

Really can also be said in a way that is mocking you. If the customer doesn’t believe what you are saying or what you are saying isn’t new to them at all they can get very sarcastic and say really. If this happens and you don’t pick up on it you can look like a fool.

Now I find myself arguing both sides of the issue. Is it good to hear a customer say really? If I weigh all the facts and place the possible good results against the possible negative results, then REALLY is a REALLY good thing to hear.

So how do you get the prospect to say really? The way I saw it done today was by telling the customer something about the product that was so special and unexpected that the customer was blown away by the fact. Do you know something about your product or service that will blow prospects away? If you do than it is easy, you need to work the fact or benefit into every presentation, if you don’t you need to find one out. Maybe you need to go right to the source, the manufacturer of your product. Talk to one of the designers and let them know what you know about the product and ask them to give you that nugget. If it is a service you need to go to the creators of the service and do the same thing. Go to the experts. If the experts are not available than g to the closest thing to an expert you can find. Maybe it is a sales rep that is doing a great job with the product or service, maybe it is a sales manager, maybe it is someone who has been with the company a long time and can give you important history or developmental information. FIND SOMEONE, you are sales reps, we find people and information all the time.

Getting a prospect to say really isn’t that hard, getting them to say really enough times that it makes the case for them to say YES takes some learning and practice.

Lorin