By Paul Reilly

Every salesperson has left money on the table. Sellers do this in several ways: through discounts, making unnecessary concessions, or not charging a high enough price. Here’s the real problem…You’re not leaving money on the table; you are leaving impact on the table.

You’re likely asking the wrong questions. Most salespeople ask themselves, “How should we price our solutions?” Instead, ask yourself, “How does our solution impact the buyer?” Impact is what compels the buyer to act.

Buyers need you to present how your solution positively affects their business. Buyers don’t know what they don’t know. They are busy, distracted, and have other priorities. Presentations fall flat when you focus on what your solutions do and how they work. The only what and how buyers care about are what they gain and how they are affected.

Buyers want more than functionality; they want inspiration to change. Impact equals inspiration. If you’re tired of leaving money on the table, then quit leaving impact on the table. Here are two ideas to help you sell more profitably.

Sell the dream, not the details.

Where does your customer want to be in the future? What is their vision of success? What gets your buyer up in the morning? Answering these questions excite and inspire the buyer. To sell your dream, explain how you help the buyer achieve this dream. How does your solution help the buyer realize their vision? How does your solution straighten their path to success? Selling the dream begins with understanding the buyer’s vision, then hitching your solution to their vision (explaining how you help). Buyers don’t care about features and functions as much as outcomes and impact.

So what?

This simple and powerful question cuts to the core of your impact. Sellers often spit out the benefits without connecting that benefit to meaningful impact. A salesperson may say, “Our enhanced functionality will allow you to monitor several machines at once.” So what? Why should the customer care?

The previous statement asserts that buyers inherently know what they gain. Never assume the buyer fully understands your solution’s impact. The litmus test for communicating impact is asking and answering the question, “So what?”. The following example demonstrates how to connect a benefit to impact using the so-what question.

“Our enhanced functionality enables you to monitor several machines at once. Meaning, you can operate multiple machines with fewer people, saving you money. You will also identify bottlenecks quicker, enabling you to enhance productivity, making you more money.”

Stop letting your value-added impact be the best-kept secret from your customer. If you’re tired of leaving money on the table, then quit leaving impact on the table. Sell the buyer on the dream by detailing how your solution helps them achieve their goal or vision. Along the way, communicate the impact, not just features and functions. Applying these concepts will help you sell more profitably. (Now, that’s impact.)

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