My wife Ellen likes to watch home improvement shows like Fixer Upper. I’m not a big fan of these shows. I find them banal and monotonous with far too many commercials.
But the worst part is that after watching these shows, Ellen walks into our kitchen, sighs loudly and says, “We really need to put in granite countertops and a backsplash”.
My reply is always the same. “Our laminate countertops are fine. We’re not spending money to put in granite.”
I say we can’t afford it. Then she calls me a cheapskate. We’ve got an entire Abbot and Costello routine around this topic.
The truth is that I don’t think granite countertops are worth the money. Sure they would look nice. But it would cost $5-8K for what I consider to be a minor cosmetic improvement.
We don’t need granite countertops. They are a “nice to have”. (My wife obviously feels differently. But since she no longer reads my blog, I can tell you that I’m right.)
So when home improvement contractors come knocking on my door to sell me granite countertops it’s a losing battle.
I don’t need new countertops.
Are You Selling a “Nice to Have” Product or Service?
If you’re in this situation, you have my sympathy. It’s always easier to sell something that a company “needs to have.”
But as sales professionals we aren’t always that fortunate. We might believe our product is 100% necessary, but in the minds of our prospects it’s a “nice to have”.
How To Tell
Unless your product or service is mission critical for the business, it’s usually a “nice to have”. Mission critical means without your product their business cannot run.
If your product is an add-on that makes an existing product (or system) work better it’s also a “nice to have”. Here are three examples from my own past:
- You add sales automation to Salesforce
- You accelerate the performance of Amazon Web Services
- You help Small Sales Teams Sell More
There is nothing wrong with selling a “nice to have”. You just have to target the right type of prospects.
Target The Right Prospects
I strongly recommend that you narrow your prospecting and selling efforts to these three groups.
Early Adopters – These people want to be on the leading edge. They are seeking a competitive advantage and are willing to take a risk trying something new. Early adopters are eager to get your product into production quickly.
Fans – Fans are the prospects who love you, your company, your technology or your founder. Fans are the greatest. They want to support you and will go out of their way to buy from you.
People Who Need Your Product – Even if you offer the most esoteric product, there’s a niche market that absolutely needs what you sell. Find out why you are a “must have” for them and then target companies that have the same characteristics. This is how verticals are found organically.
You Are Your Biggest Enemy
If you’re like many sales reps, you’ll want to go wider and pitch a bigger market.
But you’ll just be wasting a lot of time and effort chasing prospects who don’t have a mission critical need. They won’t buy from you until there’s a significantly compelling event that shifts you from “nice to have” to “need to have”.
Save yourself the aggravation with narrower targeting and you’ll sell more faster.
Good luck and good selling,
Steve