You've learned how to present your product effectively from the previous article.
In this article, you're going to look at how to prove sales messages.
Satisfied customers prefer the evidence-based selling approach thus making this particular skill a valuable skill to develop.
You typically will be using visual aids and reprints to validate your claim.
By the end of this article, you'll be able to:
- a) Prove key message with reprints
- b) Employ visual aid effectively
- c) Prove message during your product presentation
How To Prove Your Sales Message
Proving a sales message involves using reprints from relevant publications, for example, business journals. The purpose is to validate or support points made during presentations or discussions during the sales call.
You're going to look at how to:
- a) Prove with reprints
- b) Use visual aids
a) Prove with reprints
Reprints are simply copies of articles published in business-related publications or something similar. They refer to case studies showing the effectiveness of methods, programs, courses, etc.
It's a huge advantage to be familiar with them before using it.
Here are the steps in proving sales messages using reprints:
- 1. Introduce proof source
- 2. Establish credibility: name/author, the title of the source, publishing journal, publication date
- 3. Outline the research design
- 4. Describe results which apply to the issue being discussed
- 5. State the benefits
- 6. Check the impact
Why don't you grab a reprint right now and highlight the section which indicates proof of your statement?
Next, you complete the following:
- Title
- Credibility sources
- Research design
- Proof statement
- Benefits
Then, write down how you would present it:
- Introduction
- Credibility
- Proof statements
- Benefits
- Check for impact
b) How to use visual aids
Visual aids are used with two purposes in mind:
- 1) To help prospects remember what you said. When verbal info is combined with visual reinforcement, retention is increased up to 6 times!
- 2) Visual aids reinforce credibility.
When using a visual aid, remember to:
- a) Hold the support so they can see
- b) Point to the appropriate section with a pen
- c) Summarize