BOOK SUMMARY 18 Insight Selling
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Summary written by: Dianne Coppola
"Think of an insight scenario as a flashlight that
you use to illuminate hidden value."
- Insight Selling, page 76
As a
kid, did you ever keep a flashlight in your room so you could read under your
covers or find a misplaced toy after your lights were turned off for the night?
Maybe some of you have gone camping and used a flashlight to find your way to
the latrine at nighttime or locate your pajamas in a pitch black tent. If you
can relate to any of these scenarios, then you will appreciate the flashlight
analogy used by Michael Harris in Insight Selling to
underscore the usefulness of insight selling as a tool for helping prospective
customers discover the unique (and sometimes hidden) value of your product or
service.
Harris
believes the sales process has changed dramatically in recent years because
customers are more in tune with their needs and more informed about the
potential solutions to their problems, in large part because they can access a
wealth of information instantly via the internet. The challenge is that
customers often do not make an accurate diagnosis of their situation and
consequently select solutions that may not actually solve their dilemma. His
book outlines why using ‘insight scenarios’ will help prospective customers
‘virtually test drive’ your product and provides a step-by-step method for
creating your own insight scenarios.
The Golden Egg
Discover the Great Divide
"What
is the gap between what the customer believes today and what they need to
believe to buy your product?"-
Insight Selling, page 18
Information
overload can lead to what Harris calls an inaccurate buying vision–
the customer underestimates both the costs of their current behaviour on their
success outcomes and the potential impact of future alternatives. Without a
clear understanding of how your product can enhance their success rate, buyers
will postpone purchasing solutions, choosing instead to live with what they
perceive to be a small problem or they will buy based on price alone, possibly
ending up with a sub-optimal solution.
He
suggests savvy salespeople need to ‘open the value gap’ before closing it. Put another
way, if the customer thinks they are only “ankle deep in problems”, the
salesperson must help them see they are really “drowning in problems” before
they will be receptive to hearing more about the value propositions associated
with your product/service.
This
is not meant to be done in a deceptive snake oil seller’s way. The advice
merely underscores the importance of creating a noticeable contrast between
where the customer is today without your product or service
and where they could be if they purchased what you were
selling. And the best way to do this, Harris suggests, is to tell an insightful
story.
Gem #1
Sell like Picasso Painted
"Insight
scenarios… provide a clear word picture of what the buyer’s circumstances are
before ownership, and what they are after ownership."- Insight Selling, page 24
Insight
scenarios are stories about other customers’ dilemmas told to help challenge
the buyer’s current picture of their situation, without directly challenging
them. When you share a story about the problems another customer faced and
highlight how your product or service helped them solve that challenge and
achieve success, you encourage the prospective buyer to imagine how the
features and benefits of your product or service might resolve their problems
too. Rather than telling customers how your product solves their pain points,
which could lead to resistance and push-back from the client (no one likes to
be told they aren’t performing well), stories about the problems other
organizations faced and overcame help guide the buyer to their own conclusions
about the untapped potential that might reside in their situations.
To be
effective, your story must be as vivid and enthralling as a Picasso
masterpiece. Which means the story must be short, memorable and contain facts
that are ‘wrapped up in emotion’ because as Bill McDermott (CEO of SAP) noted,
“…buyers are not inspired to act on reason alone.” Customers need to think and
feel that the offering is right for them. As the old adage goes, “No one ever marched
on Washington because of a pie chart!”
Harris
provides a basic formula for creating an insight scenario that mirrors many
story guidelines: answer why, provide context, introduce a complication and a
villain, and create a turning point that leads to resolution. The main
difference is that insight scenarios always end the same way: “So
that’s Maxine’s story. What’s yours?”
Gem #2
It’s Not about You (or your product)
"Before
customers can appreciate ‘Why You?’ they first have to answer ‘Why Change?’ and
‘Why Now?’"- Insight Selling, page 46
This
quote really hit home for me. I am self-employed and thus constantly looking to
interact with potential customers. I’ve read dozens of books on marketing,
sales, branding – all of which emphasize the importance of being able to
differentiate yourself from your competitors; the ‘Why you?’ question. The
insight nestled in this quote, however, reminded me that while all three
questions need to be answered in a sales conversation, the latter ones need to
be asked and answered first. “Why change?” and “Why now?” are now key questions
in my needs assessment thinking process and client conversations.
Insight
Selling demonstrates the power of providing
prospective customers with “more than just information”. As Harris notes, “Delivering
insight through an insight scenario is not an end: It is simply a means to
hearing the buyer’s story.” Insight scenarios are intended to foster
dialog between you, the seller, and the potential buyer, with no pre-set
agendas or outcomes. These conversation starters are meant to help you discover
and understand the potential customer’s current buying vision. Once you do,
you’ll be able to use what you learned to shine a light onto the customer’s
path so they can better see both the challenges and the opportunities that lie
ahead on their road to success.
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