ACTION 2: EXPLAIN WHY YOU ARE CONNECTING

To quickly address the buyer’s unstated questions, “What’s this about?” and “Is this worth my time?”, briefly explain the reason for the call or meeting. This is the time to share the agenda or to confirm the agenda if it was set beforehand.

For existing relationships, tell Them why you are connecting and What’s in it for Them (the WiifT): “I’m calling to find out if you were able to review the information I shared regarding how you can decrease the number of dropped calls you were experiencing.”

This opener is different than a valueless starter such as, “I’m just checking in to see if you have read what I sent you about the new cell phone.” Including the WiifT focuses the buyer on why they should make the time to talk with you.

Fill Your Introduction with Value

New contacts need more than just an introduction. They need proof—the umbrella over WIIFT—to justify and validate why they should talk with you. This value statement is a proof point for who you are, what this is about, and What’s in it for Them.

The value statement I’m talking about is a succinct sentence or two that states the value they can expect from your time together or what you and your solution will provide.

Value statements provide context and a WiifT to answer their unstated question, “Is this worth my time?” For example:

• “We just finished a project for a client where we were able to fill their pipeline with 250 percent more leads and shorten their sales cycle from six to four months.”

• “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your employee development and growth opportunity goals.”

• “Our customers save between 5 and 15 percent with our home insurance compared to other insurance company policies.”

• “This is our callback to discuss your retirement planning, and how our work with individuals provides them with financial stability today and the retirement lifestyle they want tomorrow fits with your plan.”

• “Today we’re discussing sales training and how you would benefit from additional sales, like our Canadian customer who sold a sustainable $2.5 million in services in the first six weeks of implementing our sales system.”

• “We scheduled this time to discuss your widget performance and how our widget provides cost savings of up to 18 percent over what most facilities are currently spending.”

A simple way to create your value statement is to combine three components into a relevant statement:

Value statement = Action + Solution + Result

Building a value statement is not as difficult as you might think. Use words like build, increase/decrease, save, address (the problem of), or provide to describe the action. Add words like financial stability, market share, sustainable growth, low-cost alternatives, and comfort and peace of mind, to describe the solution. Then describe results in the form of numbers (dollars, ROI, savings), impact on a relationship (sharing, togetherness, working through problems), or emotional benefits (less stress, more happiness, better health), and include specific testimonials and names of important users when possible.

Perhaps the hardest part of developing a powerful value statement is finding appropriate measurement of results. If you don’t have readily available metrics, gather them by talking to existing customers and asking them:

• Why do you use this solution?

• What made you decide to first purchase it?

• What results have you realized from using it?

You can also ask other successful sales reps what value they attach to your solution and about their experiences with buyers’ success and results. Or interview someone in your marketing department on applicability and documented results achieved.

And, of course you can also tap into your own experiences and knowledge by answering the following questions:

• What problems do I solve for buyers?

• What opportunities have I helped my buyers capture?

• What are the results my solution has achieved for my buyers?

• What needs are addressed with my solution?

• What happens when customers don’t implement or purchase my solution?

When stating why you are contacting the buyer, connect the reason to a WiifT or include an appropriate value statement.