Your Customers Aren’t Turkeys (but they have something in common)

It’s turkey time.  You recently had Thanksgiving dinner and may have a similar menu planned for Christmas. So how do you know when your turkey is done? That’s easy. It’s when the turkey thermometer pops-up. It’s the foolproof way to make sure the turkey is done just right, safe to eat, but still juicy and yummy.

The turkey thermometer removes all the variables in the equation – the size of the turkey, how much stuffing, how consistent is your oven temperature, how many times have you opened the door, and the accuracy of math done by the Butterball® customer service representative you just called to double check. Hopefully, you’ve planned well and it pops before the time you told all of your guests you’ll be eating. But once the little metal piece inside the thermometer melts at 180 degrees (engineering fact of the day for you), it lets go of the spring-loaded pop-up, and you know it’s time to carve. 

Your potential customers have a similar thermometer in them as well, usually multiple thermometers. They pop up when the customer is sold, or, more specifically, when they are convinced of a certain point you are making. You only have a limited time to make them pop – before the presentation is over. 

And, if a customer leaves without most of their thermometers popped, you are not likely to close the deal. So it’s important to know what thermometers are there, how to get them to pop up, and how to know when they are popped. I’ve visualized this concept during my sales presentations, and it’s been helpful to me to keep me focused on the main objective and help the customer make a decision—instead of just getting through all the slides you made the night before.

Finding What Turkey Thermometers Exist

Let’s talk specifically about a sales call or presentation. If your potential customers are truly in decision-making mode, they come to your presentation with a mental or written checklist of things they want to find out:

• “Will the product or service work in my unique environment?”
• “Are the people I’ll be working with of high caliber?”
• “Does this integrate with our existing systems?”

In order  to tailor your presentation, you first need to understand what interests the customer most.

When possible, before your presentation, ask specifically about their decision criteria on a prep call. What are the important factors they are looking for? To help ensure any meeting or presentation is productive for them, ask about their objectives for the meeting. What do they want to learn, see, or discuss? 

At the beginning of the meeting, confirm their objectives and lay out a high-level, flexible agenda (or ask if you didn’t have a chance to learn before.) Their objectives are all that matter, so be prepared to adjust your message and/or presentation around them. My personal style is to avoid starting with “I am going to show you how great my solution is.” Instead, it’s about “I’m going to share information that will help you make an informed decision.”

This is also a good opportunity to set additional criteria in the customer’s mind that favors you and your company. Be prepared with a product feature that is unique, or service capabilities that you have, but your competitors do not, that would be a benefit to this customer. You can specifically ask, “How important is the XYZ part of the solution?” Be prepared with one of two of these in case the first is not that important.

Making Them Pop

Exactly what needs to be said to convince the customer is very unique to what you sell, so the specific methods will have to be up to you. In my experience in leading and observing sales presentations from both sides, the most successful approach is to answer the questions in the customer’s mind in an Other-Centered® way. Meaning, to do your best to really see things from their point of view. 

Detox yourself of all of the Kool-Aid® and hype you’ve consumed about your company. You, your company, and your product are not necessarily the best choice a customer has. Simply, your solution is not as good as you may think it is. It’s important to be confident and passionate about what you sell. But there is a fine line between presenting information that helps a customer come to a decision on their own and just telling them you’re the best without a supporting data. In fact, customers will generally trust you more when you mention limitations of your product. Nothing is perfect. And customers know that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.             

Knowing When They’ve Popped

• The easiest way to see if the customer is sold on a specific point is just to ask. We call it “Check Your Six” to serve as an easy reminder. As a sales rep, imagine you are the pilot and the customer is your passenger. Just look behind you (your “six” on the face of a clock) and see how they are doing. “Does that answer your question?” “Is that helpful?” Give them a chance to respond and then look for cues: The customers should give a positive answer to your question, and it should be more than just one word. When it’s accompanied with a nod or other gesture, you can trust the answer and move on.
• You’ll see the customers chat with someone sitting next to them with smiles, nods and in a positive way. They are letting someone else know you just made a good point.
• When they take notes as you are making the point, that’s a good sign. You’ve said something of value, and they want to remember to tell someone later to justify their decision to buy from you.
• The customer may start asking you questions that will indicate they are convinced. They’ll ask for other details and pose questions on topics such as logistics, pricing details, even questions about you and your background.
• If the questions are about the feature or benefit you are discussing, it means they are NOT sold – the thermometer has not popped up yet. So keep cooking. Ask a clarifying question or two of your own to get to the bottom of their concern and see if you can address those points. Then Check Your Six.  (See also our blog posts The Truth About Objections or You Can't Overcome A False Objection for additional tips.)

Changing Your Agenda

Always check on the time you have left and the customer objectives you have to cover. You don’t want your presentation to end without all the thermometers popped. Adjust your agenda. Simply acknowledge, “This presentation is about your objectives. In the interest of time, I’m going to skip X and get to your next point.” 

I find that reps have a hard time with skipping over slides they’ve made and important points they want to share. You’ve done the work and want to show it. Fight that tendency. Yes, ideally, you’ve planned your time well, but you’d better be ready to change it up. You wouldn’t eat a turkey that was not cooked, would you? Write the remaining objectives on the whiteboard, verbally list them, and cover them efficiently. Customers will usually recognize and appreciate you listened and are following their agenda.

For your next presentation, take a minute to review this simple list:

• Identify the thermometers: Understand customer objectives and decision criteria before or during your presentation.
• Pop them: Imagine you are sitting in the customer’s seat. What information would you need to be convinced? Be honest.
• Move on when they pop: Check Your Six. Watch for buying signals.

To all of you celebrating this holiday season, on behalf of ASLAN, I hope you and your families have a blessed holiday and that you take the time to celebrate all the things you are thankful for. I hope all of your turkey thermometers pop, and you recognize when you are convincing your prospects.