Quote to Remember:
“If you are solving a problem that’s important to people, AND if you have the credibility so that they believe you can solve it, then price becomes a mere triviality.” - from the book ”Your Move“ by Ramit Sethi
WHY is it important and why is it working?
It takes a lot of trust for someone to actually pull out their wallet and pay you money. They will only pay if they believe you can help them solve their problems.
WHAT is the problem the technique solves?
Some people are so busy selling that they forget that selling is merely a byproduct of building trust (thank you Romano for this quote!).
WHEN to use?
We’re all in the sales business. We constantly sell ideas to colleagues, we sell ideas to family members, we sell our value in job interviews.
Use it whenever you try to sell a product of course, but also whenever you want to convince others of your idea, or in a negotiation like a job interview.
Build trust first, identify a problem they have, and prove you can solve it.
HOW to immediately apply the technique at work or at home.
Whenever I pitch ideas to customers, I focus on building trust first by using different body language techniques. I use their names, I show my hands etc.
Then I sell the problem. I explain why I am convinced I am solving a problem that is real. I always start my sales pitches with a short presentation of all the research I have done to understand their problem. This builds even more trust.
Before you try out this technique at work, simply start at home:
Instead of telling your family, you want to buy a new car, try to find one or two problems your family members have that will be solved by the new car.
Sell the problems before selling the solution.
This is very good Adam. I see you use the what, why, when and how questions. I use that when I have an opportunity to lecture at university. I also include The who and where questions.
Great article, Adam. Any advice how to proceed if the object to sell/buy is only beneficial for a certain person i.e., the other family members don't get any benefit? For example (and this is actually just an example): I need a very special (and very expensive) camera lens which would make my live easier in certain situations but my wife does not know anything about photography as a hobby.