When talking to prospects about your offer, which should ideally come after you have gotten to know their needs and goals, the language you use can make all the difference.

Gone are the days when door-to-door salesmen would go to houses listing off the cutting-edge features of their newest vacuum. These days, people only want to hear what’s in it for them. In other words, people don’t want to be sold a vacuum, they just want a clean floor.

This is the difference between selling features and selling benefits. Features are attributes of your product or service; benefits are the end results, or value added, for that particular prospect.

Whether your company is product-based or service-based, you should be emphasizing benefits instead of features. Keep in mind that most businesses are interested in three things: saving time, saving money, or increasing revenue. Illustrate for prospects how your offering will do one or more of these things, and support your claim with concrete examples or quantitative figures.

In summary, think of this framework when talking to a prospect: “We will assist you in achieving these results so you can meet your objectives.” If you take this strategy and adapt it to each prospect’s specific needs, challenges, and goals, then your sales efforts will be much more effective.

Many people have asked us, “What is the biggest tip you could give someone who is trying to make sales?” Our answer is, strangely enough, “Don’t sell.”

Your first or even second engagement with a prospect is not to “direct sell” your product or service. You will turn many prospects away immediately if you come on too strong with a hard sale. Instead, your first conversation is to find out more about the person you are talking to. What are their goals? What challenges are they having? What can’t they do that you can?

We refer to this engagement as “an exchange of ideas” because an exchange implies that both parties are contributing. You should not deliver a canned sales pitch and hope that the prospect bites. There should be a two-way dialogue to discuss the client’s needs and objectives, get to know them to identify how your services or products can bring them results, and decide the best course of action to get there. If you show you are mutually invested in helping the client meet his or her specific goals, the sale will follow naturally.

One strategy that we advise is to start off with a small project, or chunk of a project, in the initial stages. Also, set clear goals and objectives so that you can measure success. This way you can start moving forward with a commitment from your client while you continue to build the relationship and establish your contribution to the client’s success. This is your chance to prove to them that it does make sense to work together in the long-run. You will then be in the best position to handle future projects, and will have more success rather than trying to win a large deal from the onset.

We at Direct Interactive would like to wish you a happy and safe holiday weekend. While enjoying the weekend with your family, we hope you keep in mind some of these “Chili Verde” green tips:

1. Carpool with Relatives: One of the most practical green tips for any holiday is to carpool. If you live near friends or family members who are heading in the same direction, take the ride together in order to save money and reduce your carbon emissions. Better yet, walk or ride your bike if possible!

2. Reusable, not Disposable: Disposable plastic and styrofoam materials are terrible for the environment, and must be replaced after every occasion. Instead, invest in reusable plates, cups, and utensils. When the party is over, simply wash them and store them until next time.

3. Barbecue the Healthier Way: Do yourself, your family, and the planet a favor by grilling with all-natural, sustainably produced charcoal or wood briquettes. These are free of additives and chemicals that make conventional charcoal unhealthy. No one wants coal dust, sodium nitrate, or petroleum in the atmosphere… or their hamburger!

4. Support Your Local Producers: Serve food that is grown and prepared locally in order to support your community and the environment. Your local farmers and producers depend on people like you, and the less distance food has to travel, the less carbon emissions there will be.

We hope that these tips are helpful for you when planning your holiday get-together. Following one, two, or all of these tips will make your part much more eco-friendly. Go the extra mile by forwarding these tips along to your friends and relatives in order to get them in the green spirit too.

Once again, have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Staying in touch with your entire network is one of the most powerful, yet consistently overlooked engagement practices. It is important adopt and stick to a communication plan to constantly engage your contacts and tell them what is new and exciting about you and your company. Sending newsletters or updates to your contacts will keep them informed, rekindle relationships, and most likely open the doors for new opportunities.

Keep in mind the purpose is to reconnect with your network by giving them information that is of value to them, not necessarily just advertising your product or service. There is no better way to generate immediate results than to get back in touch with your network through strategic, informative communications that will foster repeat sales and referrals.

Here is how you can kick-off your communication plan using a program like Chili Sales:

1. Build a strategic contact list of your personal network, business contacts, existing customers, and current prospects.
2. Write an email with an update what you and your business has been up to for the past 2 or 3 months.
3. Mention exciting news and developments, success stories, useful industry-related information, ongoing promotions, or any other tidbits that your audience would find of value.
4. For added impact, design an attractive yet simple HTML design using an email template editor (although plain text works well too).
5. After you send the communication, be sure to track who received the email, who opened the email, and who has clicked on your links.
6. Be sure to follow up appropriately with your contacts.

End Result: Doing this will position you as an information provider, progressively becoming a “go-to person” who understands their individual needs.

This video shows you how to create your contact list easily using Chili Sales (3-5 minutes):

Virtually all companies rely on selling to customers, whether they call it sales or business development or client acquisition. However, many people don’t know how to sell effectively and all fall into the same common pitfalls.

For example, we often see people take the ineffective route of giving the same pitch to every prospect. The purpose of your “pitch” is to exchange ideas on how you can help them meet their goals, overcome their challenges, or provide some other tangible benefit. However, not everyone has the same goals, challenges, wants, and needs. The key to getting people truly interested is using those crucial first moments to strike the right chord.

Here’s a recipe to train yourself how to strike the right chord with prospects:

1. Pick your top 5 current prospects.
2. Use the internet to read about their current activities.
3. Put yourself in the shoes of these prospects and think about what your needs and challenges might be.
4. Use this insight to strike up a conversation, and then ask more specific questions like, “What are your short-term goals for the next month, what are challenges you’ve seen in the past month?”
5. Don’t sell. Get prospects to talk about themselves. Learn about them. This builds a relationship between them and you.
6. Identify areas where your prospect needs help, and position yourself as the expert who can provide that help.
7. Be sure to track this information so that it is readily available when you re-engage them.

End Result: You started a trusting relationship that is more likely to result in a sale, but will also ensure the opportunity for more business deals in the future. Your next conversation should be a work-session to put together a plan of action that will deliver real results.

For a way to easily record your research and important bits of information, enter profile notes in Chili Sales. Here’s how to do it (3-5 minutes):

Knowing your clients’ interests, hobbies, and preferences is a great way to build stronger relationships and open doors to new opportunities. Having this knowledge allows you to add a personal touch to your interactions that will make your clients see that you think of them as more than just a sale.

Additionally, when you have the ability to identify contact groups who share common areas of interest, it would be a great idea to host a social outing or mixer to bring them together. For example, if you know that a large amount of your contacts is interested in basketball, schedule a night where you can all get together and watch a basketball game. Offer incentives to convert prospects into new customers, and also for existing customers to bring their friends.

Here is the recipe that you can follow to engage contacts based on interest:

1. Prioritize the specific interests that you will profile (hobbies, sports, food, music, etc.).
2. Tell your colleagues about the value of collecting this information and set weekly goals.
3. Gather the information, either in conversation or through questionnaires.
4. Track your progress at the end of each week.
5. Use this information to create personalized communications and events.
6. Build a community amongst your customers who share common interests.

End Result: Your customers will feel a stronger personal connection to your company, building their trust and loyalty.

This video teaches you how to track interests and hobbies using Chili Sales (1-2 minutes):

As most of the world is flooded with headlines that read more like corporate obituaries for the most recognizable brands, Chili has found plenty of success stories during the recession that are being overshadowed. What Chili has done is gone out and taken a look at its members, motivated people like you and me, to inquire about what they are doing these days to stay positive and contribute to rebuilding the economy.

Take for instance Stephen Chen, who co-founded GreenSoul Shoes less than 12 months ago. GreenSoul Shoes has yet to officially release its product, but they have already taken orders from over 20 distributors worldwide, and has been covered by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. In addition, they have just been awarded the top prize at the Fordham Business Plan competition.

The company’s business model is what makes GreenSoul unique: for every pair of sandals bought, the company also donates a pair to children in developing nations. And since they are made with 100% recycled materials, this practice is as environmentally friendly as it is altruistic.

Stephen, who held the position of VP of Business Strategy at Bear Sterns before it collapsed, started the GreenSoul project after his partner Alastair’s trip to South East Asia. Using low-cost viral marketing and email campaigns, GreenSoul was able to get people excited about its hot idea and turn the concept into reality. They continued to raise awareness about their eco-friendly restoration model, and effectively communicate the value of their product to establish a presence which ultimately led to them being approached by Sketchers, a large shoe company, to establish a joint venture.

So what was their secret?

GreenSoul Shoes is the perfect example of how a company with an idea can leverage their own network to get the word out and build excitement. Build hype, communicate the value of your product or services, and identify strategic relationships in order to benefit from the most effective marketing strategy: positive word-of-mouth and referrals. With a proper strategy and the motivation to act, an innovative product or service can have a successful launch even in the worst economic times. After all, there is always a market for creativity.

First off, we’d like to welcome you to the Chili Community and look forward to you becoming an active member of our community. When we decided to start this blog, we had people like you in mind. Whether you own a business, or you’re part of a small company, or an employee of a multinational corporation, we feel that everyone will find something of value here.

As experienced consultants who have dealt with many Fortune 500 companies in supporting their business development and customer relationships, we have seen the difference that the right strategy, tools, and coaching can have on a company’s success. However, more and more people around the world are finding their businesses and their jobs vulnerable to the economic downturn. Companies in all industries are faced with new challenges that they have not experienced, and the getting the help they need to succeed often comes with a large price-tag of its own.

At Chili Sales, we think differently. By putting our strategies and tips on the blog, we can share our consulting experience and knowledge with people all over the world. Additionally, the web-based tools that were formally used exclusively by our clients have now been launched to the public and are accessible right from this site’s homepage. While both of these facets are effective on their own, the true value comes from putting the practices that we blog about to work using the tools specifically designed for this purpose.

On this blog you will find material on subjects such as acquiring new clients, increasing customer loyalty, communicating effectively with your contacts, and driving growth through positive word-of-mouth. You will also find success stories of people who see the value of building stronger relationships with clients, focusing on loyalty, and engaging their network. These motivational stories are real-life applications of the practices that we preach.

In closing, we at Chili Sales encourage you to make our blog part of your routine, and we look forward to getting to know each one of you. Once again, thank you for visiting our site.

Until next time,
The Chili