the science of sales success and how to get rich

_{When you find out about customers' alternatives, do not end up in wars over features or price. If customers compare your features with competitors' features, their goals get lost in the shuffle. When customers do not evaluate features of products on how they achieve their goals, they are less likely to change their current supplier. When customers consider products to be commodities, comparing the number of features becomes their system of evaluation.}

_Example

_{Rebecca Hoffman sells accounting services. Dennis Ketchum, a neutral customer, tells her that he is using XYZ Company to do his accounting services. Rebecca resists the urge to ask Dennis the product-focused question: "What do they do for you?''}

_{Instead, she asks: "What do you see as the major goals you want to accomplish with an accounting service?'' This question is customer oriented not product focused, and it is one that Dennis has never heard. As expected, he does not know what she means by "goals'' and looks like he is trying out a new pair of eyes. No problem. Before their meeting, Rebecca reviewed the Market Profile sheet for this type of customer, and she is ready to suggest pertinent goals, such as ensuring tax record-keeping compliance or providing access to lending institutions.}

_{Which type of question do your customers hear more often: "What do they do for you?'' or "What are you trying to accomplish?''}

_{You want customers to use goals, filters, and measurable value as their yardsticks to compare products. If possible, your proposals should look like a modified Market Profile sheet by listing how their specific goals and measurable benefits connect to your features and benefits. Customers can use this list to check off how many of their goals you achieve versus competitors and the value of each one. You vividly illustrate to customers how your products achieve their goals. You learn how to create these checklists.}

_{Again, if you choose market segments correctly, your unique strengths win the sales. In the interim, you can hope that competitors focus on your products and try to figure out how their features compare with yours. Let them suffer the fate of ignoring customers' goals.}

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