For Apple the dance would be that of an order taker. They could have been as rude as they want, because the buyer did not really care, and they just want the product. For Microsoft, the 500 million to buy Danger or even the millions they poured in to marketing was not even enough for buyer’s to consider the Kin.
The products are different, but the reasons behind success of ANYTHING that can be purchased all stems from the same root; execution. In this case, Apple’s execution was brilliant while Microsoft’s was betting an old technology would not die.
Microsoft lost the sale and therefore lost their product because they failed in many ways, but they forgot to answer each step along the way in the Buyer (consumer) Seller (Microsoft) Dance(the final Sale).
Build Rapport
Microsoft failed to build rapport with their target audience and instead inferred what was wanted. Apple has millions and millions of diehard fans because they create products that are filling a need. There are 4 easy stages within Step I that must be addressed in order for any sale to be successful.
Stage One:
Always join them at their level. If prospect asks a question showing interest, make sure you understand their demographic. If they say they love BBM because you can send longer than 140 characters per text, relate to them, even if that just means “makes sense” or “I completely agree”. In the same way, if they express a pain point make sure you can relate, you can even use the same lines as before. For instance you could say “Not being able to send long texts is a pain isn’t it?”
Stage Two:
Secure an Up-Front Contract (avoid unpaid consulting). This is very important because no one lines to waste time, especially when that could mean months or in Microsoft’s case, millions spent. Once you have joined at their level, before you even know their exact needs or wants, assuming you know you can help, always secure your position with them by securing an upfront contract. Make sure the prospect(s) knows that if you are able to solve their need you will win the business. For instance, using the BBM situation you could say, “I could show you how an easy way to send more than 140 characters, but honestly one feature probably isn’t enough to change a phone, would it make sense if we took some time and I walked you the other incredible features of our product?”
If they are not willing to set the time aside, their need (their pain) is not great enough and you can disqualify that feature as a big game changing advantage of the product. There is no reason it still will not be a killer feature, but may not be a game changer.
Stage Three:
Finding Pain is the most important (and easiest) stage. My favorite way to find this out is by using one of these; “if you could paint a picture”, “in a perfect world” or “if you could waive a wand” what would that perfect product/service look like. From there, 9.999 times out of 10, your prospect will bleed from the pain and tell you everything you need to know.
Perfecting these three stages in the sales cycle will help you turn sales and development in to a process with a much higher success rate.
