The Golden Nugget vs the Mother Lode
iStockPhoto © Joe Belanger
You know everything there is to know about your products. You stand before your prospects fully armored, battle-ready, and poised for a stunning and mind-numbing display of the vast and all-embracing array of your knowledge.
Your word, your message, your solution, and the caliber of your presentation and delivery surpass what even the best sales and marketing icons in the business could only dream of bringing to a prospect’s table. Surely, if you describe the mother lode – some gem of pure revelation within the prospect’s scope of desired outcomes – will radiate that glorious spark of, ‘we must have this,’ in their eyes.
Indeed, your meeting seemed to go well. But after the meeting, your prospect will have an hour’s worth of snippets, thoughts, and ideas floating around in their heads, which will never fully coalesce into the vivid focal point of your message or mission. Somehow your prospect’s cognitive ability to acknowledge the broadest extent of your message seems to have gone the way of yesterday’s Twitter time-line, out of sight, and out of (their) mind.
My point here, if I still have at least your valued attention, is that your prospects won’t know what to remember most, unless you tell them. You have got to define, and then convey, the one golden nugget you want them to remember, above all else.
- What should they take-away from the discussion?
- What is the most critical must-have element of your message?
When it is all said, and nearly done, you cannot leave it up to your prospect to decide what that one thing is. More than likely, their focus will be fuzzy as they try to understand the entire panorama of your offering without focusing in on your main message.
iStockPhoto © Bruce Smith
Because their mental lens was set to the widest aperture, they will have a general sense regarding their own reaction to what you have described; yet be unable to mentally nail down exactly how to describe your solution or its impact and effectiveness.
That is a problem you must not create for yourself. If they cannot articulate – much less remember – the main sales proposition then they cannot sell themselves, or their colleagues, on why action must be taken.
And that is a tactical melt-down when you are trying to get someone to buy something from you.
It is certainly permissible and necessary to talk about a broad spectrum of concepts – the advantages, the features, and the benefits – as long as you always bring it back to one unforgettable element of insight. This is what they will deliver to the decision-makers. Their focus will remain on this key component long after your presence and presentation have faded from their immediate agenda. Here are some simple, though invaluable, questioning techniques to help your prospects remember the golden nugget:
- “If you remember one thing about us/our solution, it should be this” It’s ok to come right out and say it. Here’s an example: “if you remember one thing about this blog post, it should be this: it’s essential to help your prospect recall the one golden nugget.”
- “ We’ve talked about many ways we help clients, but it really all comes down to this one golden nugget.”
- “Can I ask you a question, what would you say is the main thing you’ll remember most from our conversation today? Is it the golden nugget?”
This last approach – asking your prospect to tell you what the one golden nugget is – helps in two ways.
- It is the absolute verification that you are focusing in on the one thing that is most important to your prospect.
- It helps them think it through, via their own framework, so the message sticks.
You have so much to tell your prospect about, and so many questions to ask. And that is okay, and certainly a vital piece of the sales process. Just be sure that you bring it all back to the one golden nugget they should take with them. After all, considering the time you have personally invested in this prospect, leaving behind that carefully-crafted and perfectly-polished golden nugget for them to admire, is worth its weight in . . . well, the deal.
Now that you have read this blog, what is the one thing that you will remember?
Author, Nancy Nardin is the foremost expert in sales productivity tools. As President of Smart Selling Tools, she consults with many of the top sales productivity software vendors as well as end-user organizations looking to select the right tools. Click to get Nancy’s What & When weekly digestwith invitations to complimentary webinars and informative publications. Follow Nancy on Twitter @sellingtools or subscribe to her Tool Talk blog. Nancy can be reached at 916-596-3035. To schedule a free 30 minute consultation click here.
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