Key 3: Have a strategy to professionally approach decision-makers.
Key 4: Have a Strong/Compelling First Meeting Template.
Key 5: Reduce risk.
Key 6: Keep it simple.
Key 7: Find a better way to sell.
You can get a free copy of this guide by visiting Mary's website.
In this week's marketing column I thought I would touch briefly on one of these keys to selling big ticket technical products which is 'Keep it simple'.
Keep it simple
With an increase in tech products and services and the industries they are used by, you need to remember that many of the people you talk to are not tech experts, even though they still need your technical product/service.
These people don't want to hear a lot of technical jargon; they want you to explain your product/service in simple language that they can easily understand.
And they want you to do it respectfully.
Just because they lack tech knowledge doesn't make them silly.
They are the decision-makers for your big ticket tech items - so you need to get them on-side.
Here is an example of how a simple explanation opened the way for more sales:
Mary worked with a company that sold highly technical software to truck drivers.
The drivers needed this software, but it was challenging to communicate the range of services the company could offer to them, because of their lack of technical understanding.
The simplest way Mary found to explain the software was to say that their mobile telephone, or hardware, was like a two-centimetre high Lego block.
In order to obtain the technical data about their vehicle and their consignments, they needed the technical software.
Fitting this software was like fitting a one-centimetre high block on to the two-centimetre block.
When the blocks were fitted together, the drivers could obtain the technical data they needed to streamline their delivery processes.
And of course when software updates became available, these would be automatically fitted on, just like adding on a five millimetre Lego block.
It worked beautifully.
Truck drivers understood immediately how the products worked, and could make informed decisions to purchase.
When you take the time to think of a simple way to explain how your product or service will solve their tech problems, you help increase your clients' understanding and thus reduce the risk of them making a wrong purchasing decision due to lack of understanding.
Doing this builds trust, and will increase the likelihood that they will choose your business. You will more than reap the rewards with increased sales. Keeping it simple can work in a wide range of industries.
I recall speaking with Jamie Tulloch, the owner of E3 Business Accountants, a few years ago.
We were discussing the question 'How can you tell if you own a good business or not?' Jamie said there were two answers to this question.
One was technical and one was simple.
The technical answer was that a good business has a Return on Equity of 25 per cent or more.
The simple answer was that a good business is worth at least 3-4 times the value of your home.
(So if your home is worth one million dollars, your business is a good one if it is worth between 3 million and 4 million dollars.)
This simple answer was easy to understand and is one that I still remember well years after Jamie shared it with me.
So if you are selling a highly technical product or service look for ways to explain what it does and how it works in a way that is simple and easy to understand.
"If you can't explain it simply you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein
Action Steps:
If you sell big ticket technical products or services I recommend you get a free copy of Mary's helpful booklet 'The Big Ticket Tech Sales Success Guide'.
I also recommend that you brainstorm how you can explain the benefits of your product or service in a way that is simple and easy to understand.
Graham McGregor is a consultant specialising in memorable marketing. You can download his 396 page 'Unfair Business Advantage' Ebook at no charge from www.theunfairbusinessadvantage.com.
