Why You Lost That Sale

In this post, I’m going to share with you the number one reason why you are losing sales right now. You’ll discover why people don’t buy from you how to stop them from going to your competitors instead. Coming up!

Whether it from a buyer, co worker or family member, everybody hates rejection. As salespeople we tend to get used to hearing the NO word since we hear it so often…. But, it still is a massive disappointment for even seasoned salespeople when an account they’ve spent time, energy and money on goes cold on them.

If that’s you, stick around because today I’m going to reveal some of the thought processes behind the NOs that you’ve been getting

 And one simple hack to that will go a long way to getting your buyers to say YES, YES, and YES!

But before that, let me ask you. What do you think is the single biggest reason why your customer tells you no and chooses your competitors product?

Is it, because your price was too high, or maybe you show them the wrong colour,

Of they weren’t too impressed with your level of service?

Well, all that may be true of course. Pricing is a big factor, having good selection of Colors is important and the minimum customer service levels need to be met. All true but is that the actual deal breaker? What’s the real reason here?

Let me illustrate this with the iPhone buyer behavior.

Okay iphone users out there, let me ask you, the last time you bought your phone, did you haggle with the salesperson about the price, maybe threaten to walk out of the store if they didn’t give you the price you wanted?

Or… if you found that the store didn’t have your favourite colour, did you decide to walk across the street and buy the competitors phone because they had a better range of colours?

Or maybe it was about the service? Did you decide to switch brands just because the Apple store was under staffed that day and the competitor’s brand was offering you better service

Chances are, you didn’t. And in fact, if you are an Apple fan, as I am, those thoughts would have never even crossed your mind. You wouldn’t even consider a competing brand because it just does not match up.

You love that iconic apple logo too much.

So what is it about Apple and why are some people so in love with it? So irrational that some even tattoo apples on themselves

Is it because it’s such an amazing design?

Hmmm, I don’t know about you but a half eaten apple for a logo isn’t exactly a clever thing to do…. I mean from a logical perspective.

Imagine shopping for apples in the supermarket,

you would never buy bruised apple would you, let alone a half bitten one!

So from a logical perspective, a logo looking like that could give someone the impression that the product is incomplete. What you see is what you get right? Give me uneaten apple any day a smart and logical person would say. But customers are not always smart and logical. And I’m certainly one of them.

I do love my apple logo. I love the fact that it looks like someone has taken a bite out of it. The incompleteness makes it stand out, makes it unique for me. Makes it perfect even though it’s imperfect.

Actually I think up lots more reasons why I prefer the apple logo the way it is, but you know what is the main reason? It’s because that logo means something more to me.

It makes me happy. Period.

So the ten million dollar question is how can a logo make anyone feel happy, sad or angry?

Well, it’s about storytelling. But it’s not about the stories in the books we read or the movies we watch. Specifically it’s about the stories we tell ourselves. You see we’re wired for stories and stories helps us make sense of the world around us. We perceive the world around us in terms of stories. Stories make up our view of the people, things and places around us.

So, the one amazing talent that Steve Jobs had was his ability to hack my worldview. But not only me. He successfully influenced the inner stories that millions of people around the world were telling themselves and turned his story into a part of their story.

In other words, I have bought into what Apple stands for. Apple is and integral part of my story.

In my world, this half-eaten Apple belongs to me as much as it belongs to him. So as a customer, Apple owns me and I have absolutely no problem paying a premium for the privilege.

All the celebrated Brands we know today that charge significantly higher prices, Brands such as Coke, Nike and Tesla. Those Brands we love, are where they are today because they managed to successfully hack into the “storybrain” of their employees, customers and stakeholders…. and turn them into raving fans.

So coming back the earlier point… as to why your customers are not buying from you,

Well, it’s because your outer story does not fit in with their inner story. And no matter how nice you are to them, they are forced to choose your competitor because they find a better fit with the story there.

So how do you fit in with your buyers story, open the door and close the sale – in the fasters possible time?

 Where is this storybrain of theirs? And how do you hack into it? How do you start moving beyond satisfying and delighting your customers to actually owning them.  

If you want to connect better with your customers through the power of storyteling, click on the link below and learn about StoryHacking. It’s absolutely the fastest way to sell more and grow more in todays hyper competitive world.