Nothing turns most people off more than being told they have to sell something. There are a few folks who thrive in that role and if they’re good, they’ll make a bunch of money.
For the rest of us, selling is scary, difficult, and at the lowest end of our skillset.
The challenge is that unless you figure it out, you’ll never get your ideas listened to or have people take you seriously.
Fortunately, we have the FBI to help us!
Now this isn’t the FBI you’re thinking of; the ones who wear trench coats, dark sunglasses, and wiretap your phones. I’m speaking of the sales acronym that you can apply to your self and your ideas.
F = Features. Features are simply attributes. They’re important, but not THE most important. The TV commercial for Dyson® vacuum cleaners touts the fact that they use wind tunnel technology and are bagless. That’s a feature.
For you, the feature might be your MBA or a particular certification. It might be the technical specifications of your idea or proposal. It’s important, but it’s not going to sell it.
B = Benefits. Benefits are what we get as a result of the features. For the Dyson® vacuum, the benefits of the wind tunnel is that it sucks up my black lab Sonny’s dog hair more efficiently. Not having bags saves me the hassle of changing them or having to keep bags on hand.
For you, the benefit might be the results you got a company or client as a result of that degree or certification (“Skills resulted in a 35% decrease in cycle time”) or that your idea will help save money, solve problems, or build rapport.
I = Incentive. Incentive is the final push to seal the deal. While I know that Dyson® is bagless and will do a number on Sonny’s massive amounts of dog hair in my house, the incentive might be that this weekend there is a sale and I’ll get it at a discount. That pushes me to buy.
For you, the incentive might be that you happen to willing to relocate for the position or are willing to do the job a little cheaper than the competition. You might be ready to start this afternoon while the other candidates need to give a 2-week notice. For your ideas, it could mean that you can do the job better, faster, and cheaper. Your idea might be based on your own skills and you won’t need to bring in a team of others.
If you look at sales through the lenses of the FBI tool, you realize that it’s not all that difficult. You have to know yourself and what you bring, know your audience, and know how to address their pain.
What are you waiting for? How about selling yourself or your ideas this week?
