This approach is like an advertising headline; it attracts the attention and gives exciting news for the prospect. It also is appealing to the prospect’s major buying motive. The key to the statement or benefit approach is to give some very ear-catching words in the first selling statement. Some examples follow:
“Prices are going up by 20 percent in two days, but you can buy today and save.”
“I challenge you to find any cleaner in the world that saves you as much money and that cleans as well as this Clenso cleaner.”
“Tom Harris across the street says this product alone has saved him $1,500 during the last year in cleaning cost.
This approach appeals to the desire of everyone who wants to get something for nothing. It is used by door-to-door sales professionals and supermarkets. The great thing about this approach is that it buys selling time. The premium approach is when you give away a product, small gift, or free sample to a prospect for just listening to a short sales message. It is more effective if you give away the premium at the end of the presentation. One example of this approach is when a vacuum cleaner sales professional gives a knife set to the potential customer for just listening to a short 30-minute presentation. Also, many direct selling organizations will give away a free item to encourage you to buy more. Supermarkets have people, who stand in the aisles giving away free samples of a new food item the store is promoting. This technique catches the attention of people and gives the sales professional a few minutes to present a short presentation that will hopefully turn into a sale.
This approach is tailor-made for products that are valuable and eye catching. This is a direct and honest approach in which you get the product in the customer’s hands to assist you in the selling message. This technique gains the immediate attention of the product’s offerings and benefits. Some examples of this approach are when the tire sales professional shows you a cross section of a steel-belted radial tire or when the shoe sales professional shows you a shoe cut in half to point out the superb construction of the shoe. An office systems sales professional may walk into the office and place the product in the prospect’s hands and say, “I want you to see how efficient and easy this office machine is to use.”
This approach allows a sales professional to dramatize a scene or situation that stirs up the emotion and encourages the prospect to take action and buy the product. The shock approach is very popular in the life insurance and investment industries. The insurance sales professional creates a scene in which the husband dies in an accident and leaves his wife and children with the burden of paying the bills, making the house payment, and trying to pick up the pieces to start a new life again. The sales professional points out the security and peace of mind that are found in purchasing some life insurance.
This approach is also used by sales professionals who are selling big cars. The car sales professional points out how many people die in head-on collisions because they were driving small cars. The sales professional shows you statistics of the deaths that come from people involved in driving small import cars. He/she points out the protection given by a larger car. A large car gives you security and makes driving safe.