Make a reminder sale (Mars)
The importance of reinforcement selling - A lesson from Mars.
Take a quick look at the comparison buyer’s check-list below.
Which company has the best offering?
Price Range Easy
to use Support Delivery Track record
Company A X X X X X
Company B X X X
Company C X X X X X X
Company D X X X X
I guess we would go for Company “C “ because it ticks all the boxes.
Yet what if actually ALL of the companies could have earned a tick in the buyer’s tick boxes because they all have a story to tell on these aspects - it’s just that only Company C actually mentioned them to the buyer.
This scenario is not as unlikely as it may at first sight
seem.
For example have you ever been surprised when a client has
commented that they did not realise your product offered a particular benefit which you had assumed they knew because somewhere along the line you had mentioned it before.
You may well wonder how many previous opportunities you might have missed.
You may well wonder how many previous opportunities you might have missed.
Trainers know about the Ebinhaus Forgetting curves and so should sales people.
These curves demonstrate the importance of reinforcing sales messages.
In 1885, Hermann Ebbinghaus extrapolated the hypothesis of
the exponential nature of forgetting in particular - 'transience' – forgetting that
occurs over time.
These curves demonstrate the importance of reinforcing sales messages.
Communicators in Marketing know the importance of reminding and reinforcement
methods. Here are two popular models that include reminding and reinforcing.
A Andrew Ehrenburg statistician
and marketing scientist. Model c 1997
1. Awareness 2. Trial 3. Reinforcement 4. Nudging
- Curiosity rather than persuasion could lead to the trial of the product
- Provide reassurance in the brand
- Remind – reinforce- repeat purchase
B The DRIP
model ( Chris Fill – University of Portsmouth)
Differentiate -be different from your competition
Remind – who are we? What do we stand for?
Inform – features and benefits
Persuade – Why is it right for your customer?
A Thought experiment
Just for a moment – try this thought game.
Imagine you have just picked up a Mars bar.
You tear the wrapper and break the seal and you get the first smell of the chocolate bar.
You tear round the rattling paper wrapper and address the bar to your mouth.
The chocolate smell intensifies in your nostrils.
You then bite first through the chocolate coating , then the gooey caramel and then to the firmer nougat and 'pow', the sweetness hits you.
Quite possibly you may even be salivating or recoiling from reading this description. It has brought about a strong physical reaction.
How many of your customers foam at
the mouth with excitement on hearing your offering?
Not many , if any, I suspect. We all know what a Mars bar is.
Question : If we are so familiar with a Mars bar, why on earth do
Mars spend huge sums of money advertising them ?
Answer: To remind us. And remind us we can
eat a Mars bar any time hence their
‘magic of 3s’ slogan – “A Mars a
day , helps you work, rest and play.” Now contracted in our busy ‘to go’
lives to “ work rest play”.
So after giving your client a damned good listening to,
don’t forget to remind
them of your key benefits to gently reinforce you message in your
presentations.
Training refresher tip: When was the last time you read through your Offer Analysis to ensure your sales gun magazine is loaded with relevant benefit bullets?
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