Sell Feelings Not Facts
I’ve been hearing for years that a successful business needs
to have a USP (unique sales point). The problem is that most
businesses find difficulty in identifying what their USP is.
And even if they have a USP, eventually they find their
competitors doing the same thing.
So instead of losing sleep wondering what your USP could be,
far better to think about what your ESP (emotional sales
point), could be.
Your ESP is about how your customers feel when they deal
with you. How they feel when they use your product or
service.
A USP could be – “We have a 24 hour delivery service”
The ESP would be – “You’ll be enjoying our product the day
after ordering it”
A USP – “Our prices are very competitive”
The ESP – “You’ll feel you’ve received value for money if
you buy this”
As all good sales people know, we don’t sell a feature (USP)
we sell a benefit (ESP).
Customers don’t buy Nike clothing because there made from
quality materials, they buy Nike because they want to feel
like Tiger Woods on the Golf course or Andre Aggasi on the
tennis court.
They don’t buy Microsoft products because of all the
research they’ve done, they buy them because they feel good
about them.
Start to think what your ESP is. What does your product or
service do that makes your customers feel secure,
comfortable, acceptable to others, admired, stylish,
wealthy, important, happy, relaxed or sexy.
For those of you selling engineering or technical products
and think this isn’t for you – think again.
Some years ago I worked as a Sales Engineer for Loctite
industrial adhesives. On several occasions I proved to
engineers through numerous tests, how my product could save
time and money over the assembly methods they were using.
Many engineers agreed with all the test results however they
often rejected the product on the basis that it didn’t FEEL
right for them.
I realised then that I needed an ESP to overcome this
resistance.
So there you have it – always remember that a customer will
make an emotional decision before a logical one, whatever
they’re buying – so what’s your ESP?