What Are You Really Selling?

by Mike Delaney

What are you selling? The answer to that simple
question must be deeply ingrained if you are to
succeed. But the answer is not as simple as it appears.

If your answer named an item, such as "light bulbs",
your light bulb company will soon perish. If you named
a service, such as "employee anti-shoplifting
training", your time as a consultant is short-lived.

Light bulbs and employee training are the products you
provide. If you are to be successful, the product
cannot be what you sell to potential customers. What
does your product provide to the customer?

In other words, if you are an anti-shoplifting trainer,
what benefit does your service provide for the
particular customer to whom you are selling?

"Oh, I get it ..." you might think, "I'm not selling
employee anti-shoplifting training, I'm selling the
educated staff that the training produces. Very clever
gimmick, Mr. Delaney."

Now you are thinking along the right line, but that is
still not what you are really selling. While employees
who are educated about theft are, indeed, a result of
your training, there are thousands of employees working
for companies, other than your customer's, with that
same advantage. Does this particular customer derive
any benefit from those employees? No. How will this
particular customer benefit from the training you can
provide?

By training this client's employees, you provide the
client with educated employees. As a result of having a
staff of shoplifter-aware employees, shoplifting in the
store is reduced, resulting in what? It results in
greater profits for the customer. That increase in
profitability for the customer's business is what you
are really selling.

The most important client question that your
presentation must definitively address is "what's in it
for me?" or, "why do I need what you are selling?"
Continue digging deeper into your answer to "what are
you selling?" until the your response also answers the
customer's most important question. If your are to be
successful, *that* is what you are selling.

So, if your product is a light bulb, and a feature of
the light bulb is that it provides light, what's in it
for the customer? What are you really selling? You are
selling the customer the opportunity to see clearly.

So again I ask: what are you really selling?

About the Author

Mike Delaney is a shoplifting prevention trainer with
over 20 years experience as a shoplifter, and almost 10
years stopping them. He is the author of "How to Beat
Shoplifters and Increase Profits" available at
Bison Creek Desktop Publishing
http://www.zianet.com/bisoncreek