Many sales simply cannot be closed in one call, and it’s important to give your prospect a clear, persuasive printed piece—a leave behind—to help him or her recall your presentation as he reviews your proposal after you’ve left. Or as he tries to convince others to share his enthusiasm for your product.
Your leave-behind should use the same appeals and make the same sales points that you made in your presentation. Otherwise you’ll confuse the issue and make it difficult for him to remember what was discussed at your meeting
A leave-behind is especially important in a two-tier business sale—with the person being presented to must get approval, and often money, from others you can’t get to see yourself. With that you leave-behind you provide him with materials that help him communicate your pitch to others.
It’s important to keep your prospect thinking about your product in terms of his or her own situation. Often the prospect will ask questions about how the product relates to his specific needs. These questions should be encouraged. They’re valuable opportunities to talk about the benefits which are most meaningful to him.
But if the prospect sits quietly and says nothing, it’s a good idea to ask questions which force him to take an active role in your presentation: “This automatic timer will save about 5 minutes per hour per machine. How many machines do you have, Mr. Johnson?”
“We have 20 machines,” he says.
“Well, then, we could save you a total of an hour and 40 minutes of machine time in your plant every hour—or nearly 12 hours of machine time on every seven-hour shift. That’s just about like having the extra productivity of 2 additional machines, isn’t it?”
“Let’s see,” he says, “I guess it is.”
Your questions keep your prospect alert and involved.
Questions should also be used as “trial closes.” As you make key sales points tactfully ask your client if he agrees with them. His responses will tell you if he’s getting ready to buy, or if you have to go back and review product benefits until he’s convinced.
Broadcast television is the best advertising medium there is. It can sing and dance, all in living color, and get big audiences to watch. The Ford Motor Company uses it. General Foods uses. Geico uses it.
But television advertising is not for small budgets. Ad time is costly, and you shouldn’t try to play in the TV game unless you have a substantial war chest. It can take time for a TV ad campaign to catch on, and you have to have the wherewithal to keep going until it does.
Local cable is a better bet for you.
Some experts advise using television only when you can pay for 150 gross rating points a month, for a minimum of 3 months. A gross rating point (GRP) is 1 percent of the TV households in the local marketing area. If a program reaches 50 thousand TV homes in a market with a million TV homes, it delivers 5 GRPs. GRPs cost more in big markets, less in small markets. In any case, TV takes lots of money and lots of faith.
