Jeffrey Gitomer June 20, 2013

• Both of the words are related.
• Both of the words have nothing and everything to do with the sale.
• Both of the words have more power than any other fact or figure about your product or service.
• Both of the words determine your understanding of the selling process and how it relates to your sales success.
• Neither of the words currently appear in your slide presentation or your sales presentation.

The words are “ownership” and “outcome.”

When someone comes into your place of business, or you call on someone, orsomeone calls you to buy, or someone goes to your website to buy, it’sbased on the same reason: they want to take ownership.

And after ownership, they have an expectation of how they will use, enjoy, and profit from the purchase. That’s called outcome. And customers have an expectation of it BEFORE they purchase.

I don’t go into a car dealership to buy a car. In my mind I’ve alreadybought the car. The reason I’m there is to get back and forth to work.Or show my customers how cool I am. Or show my neighbors how cool I am.Or take vacations with my family.

Those are outcomes.

What happens AFTER I take ownership of whatever it is you’re selling is onebillion times more powerful than the sale itself. Salespeople who focuson “trying to sell” miss the entire opportunity to engage the customeremotionally about how they will enjoy, produce more, and profit morefrom the purchase – from ownership.

NOTE WELL: In the salesprocess, it’s broken down to: What’s the real need? What’s the realurgency? What’s the real desire? Who is the competition? Does theprospect have the budget or the money? Do I understand the customer andhis or her business? Have I emotionally engaged them? Do they like me?Do they believe me? Do they have confidence in me? Do they trust me? And am I good enough to gain commitment?

That’s a pretty complete list. But those answers pale in comparison to “ownership” and “outcome.”

What will the customer do after they take ownership? What does the customerwant the outcome of their purchase to be? And as a salesperson thatneeds to be your focus.

THE BEST NEWS IS: Neither ownership noroutcome have anything to do with price. They have everything to do withthe emotion of the sale. And your main job as a salesperson is to findout why they want to take ownership, and what they expect the outcome to be after they take ownership.

It is a visualization process. You literally paint a picture of what you believe will happen to thecustomer once they possess what it is you’re selling. And please do notmisinterpret this lesson as only for a “product” sale. Service is soldexactly the same way.

I don’t want to pay an annual maintenancefee. Rather, I want peace of mind that if my air conditioner, or myheater, or my copy machine, or my roof needs repair that someone will be there to do it in a heartbeat. Terms and conditions are one thing –that’s the cost. Peace of mind is another thing – that’s the value,that’s the outcome, and that’s what I am buying.

And more often than not, it is NOT what you’re selling.

Here’s what to do:

• Review your entire sales presentation. See what percentage, if any, focuses on the pride of ownership and the outcome of ownership.
• Allocate presentation time to outcome. If, as I suspect, there is little or nothing about ownership andoutcome, then I recommend at least 25% of your presentation focus on it.
• It begins by asking questions. Questions that will get you to the motive of why the customer wants tobuy. Questions that will get you to the understanding of when they wantto buy, and why that’s important to them. Questions about their pasthistory as it relates to your product or service. And questions abouthow they intend to use your product or service once it is purchased.
• Questions will generate dialogue. Emotional dialogue. Emotional dialogue trumps price. Once your customer or yourprospective customer understands how they win, how they will enjoy, howthey will benefit from, how they will produce from, and how they willprofit from what it is that you’re selling, then you can get down tobuyer urgency.
• Get to their urgency. The more emotional the dialogue, the more “urgency” will become evident. And the less important price becomes.

KEY POINT OF IMPLEMENTATION: Visit customers who have already purchasedyour product or service. Discover how they use and benefit fromownership of your product. Document everything you find. Don’t try toremember anything. Write it all down.

Visit at least 10customers. At the completion of those visits you will have all theinformation you need about ownership and outcome. You will have a newand more powerful presentation. You will also make more sales. Andthat’s an outcome you can bank on.

©2013 All Rights Reserved. Don’t even think about reproducing thisdocument without written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and BuyGitomer. 704/333-1112