How Do Your Customers Make Money?
Why asking simple questions can help you close more business.
“Everybody needs money. That's why they call it money” Danny Devito as the character Mickey Bergman in HEIST (1991)
One of the first things I teach a new salesperson is to ask questions and in my 25 years of selling advertising, one of questions I’ve frequently asked is ‘how do you make money’.
Now a seasoned salesperson might react to this as being something only a novice or junior salesperson might ask. It would ‘expose’ the fact that you didn’t do your research before the call. I’ve found the exact opposite. Asking an owner ‘how do you make money’ empowers that prospect to tell you exactly what they focus on most of their business lives.
An example, is when I called on a store that sold crafts supplies. I saw many customers in the store buying dried flowers, ribbons, buttons and assumed that the bread and butter, the ’money’ was made in the selling these various products.
I asked the owner a direct question ’how do you make money’ and the answer surprised me. They went on to tell me that the secret to making money in the craft business was education! Teaching people how to do things like make home Christmas decorations and other home item. The second step is to sell them the supplies they need to make these crafts. The next step is to teach them to make more things sell they buy more supplies and so on!
By asking this simple and direct question, I started crafting my sales pitch to include a more ’edu-adver-torial’ style of advertising strategy focused around bringing customers into the store to ’learn’ and not necessarily to ’buy’.
Asking a simple question that day saved time and separated me from the pack of other advertising sales people who may have thought they had all the answers.
Help a prospect find ways to make more money and you will make more money.
Everybody needs money, that’s why they call it money!
Mitch Drew
“Everybody needs money. That's why they call it money” Danny Devito as the character Mickey Bergman in HEIST (1991)
One of the first things I teach a new salesperson is to ask questions and in my 25 years of selling advertising, one of questions I’ve frequently asked is ‘how do you make money’.
Now a seasoned salesperson might react to this as being something only a novice or junior salesperson might ask. It would ‘expose’ the fact that you didn’t do your research before the call. I’ve found the exact opposite. Asking an owner ‘how do you make money’ empowers that prospect to tell you exactly what they focus on most of their business lives.
An example, is when I called on a store that sold crafts supplies. I saw many customers in the store buying dried flowers, ribbons, buttons and assumed that the bread and butter, the ’money’ was made in the selling these various products.
I asked the owner a direct question ’how do you make money’ and the answer surprised me. They went on to tell me that the secret to making money in the craft business was education! Teaching people how to do things like make home Christmas decorations and other home item. The second step is to sell them the supplies they need to make these crafts. The next step is to teach them to make more things sell they buy more supplies and so on!
By asking this simple and direct question, I started crafting my sales pitch to include a more ’edu-adver-torial’ style of advertising strategy focused around bringing customers into the store to ’learn’ and not necessarily to ’buy’.
Asking a simple question that day saved time and separated me from the pack of other advertising sales people who may have thought they had all the answers.
Help a prospect find ways to make more money and you will make more money.
Everybody needs money, that’s why they call it money!
Mitch Drew
posted by MITCH TV @ 8:53 AM
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