When business owners and salespeople are prospecting me, they sometimes share one-pagers with their information, benefits, and offerings prior to our initial meeting. As a consumer, I don’t care for having to invest my time and energy both in “reviewing” these documents and then also “sitting” through a sales pitch. This approach creates an easy opportunity for me to cancel the meeting, especially if I think their “information” is not relevant to me.
If you strive or proclaim to be consultative in your process, schedule a meeting with me to Discover Wants and Needs and then Make Recommendations for next steps. This provides the opportunity for me to “buy” within your consultative practice, rather than “selling transactionally” off your one-pagers.
While working with my clients, we consider . . . Why and how are you using these documents? How familiar is your target market with the industry language and jargon throughout your handouts? When and how are you sharing these during your prospecting, marketing, buying, and selling process?
Graphics are awesome! I use the STAR Model during my Discovering Wants and Needs meeting. After I learn about my prospect’s target market, goals, branding, marketing and sales process, how they are investing their time, etc., I continue the conversation utilizing the STAR Model to chat about WHY I do, WHAT I do, and HOW based upon what they have shared with me.
This often leads them to ask me, “What are next steps?”, “What do you recommend?”, “How can you help me?”, “When can we get started?”. I then have the opportunity to use my consultative process to create a Scope of Work and Get Commitment with a customized Success Process.
If you utilize one-pagers, a powerful addition would be including your Competitive Edge ~ problems you solve . . . value you bring . . . why do business with you. People really want the outcomes and results you bring, rather than just buying the products and services you offer. They don’t want the “shovel”, but they do need the “hole”. See this example by downloading Branding, Marketing, Prospecting, & Sales Development Strategies for SUCCESS!: Bringing Value to Business Owners.