Got a knock on my door Monday from two dudes who look like they just came from a Trump rally.
I was curious, so I answered. Figured they might be registering folks to vote or something.
Nope. They were selling solar with a company called “MagaWatts.” (Yes I spelled that correctly). Now my interest was DEFINITELY piqued. I had to figure out how they came up with this (brilliant?) idea.
So I met with them Mon AND Tuesday. NOT to buy solar, but to learn about their sales process. And after, I made pages of detailed notes about word tracks, strategies AND things to avoid, all lessons and tips learned from going through the MagaWatts sales process.
SIDE NOTE: Yes, you can and should be learning sales / comms / marketing from other industries. From other political parties. From other practices. Did I really want to do solar meetings this week? Um no. But I knew there would be something to learn for myself and for our clients. So I bit the bullet and checked it out, and I’m glad I did.
You may have heard the Teddy Roosevelt quote – “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Well it’s also the thief of sales IF you’re comparing the wrong things.
MagaWatts did not try to sell me solar panels in the traditional sense. “Here’s a panel, you need 20 of them, they’re $4000 each, so you’ll pay $80k.”
No, because then I would be comparing the price of their panels to other panels, and that’s not the comparison they want. They also know I don’t want ugly solar panels – I want the savings and energy independence they provide.
MagaWatts want me to compare the price of their service AS A WHOLE to the cost of electricity and the fact that it’s going up year over year.
The whole sales process was geared around this comparison. What I’m paying for electric now, how that will increase, how their goal is to offset my usage by over 100% because then the system pays for itself.
They never even gave me a full quoted price in the system. Just told me what my monthly rate would be, and how that compares to electric prices (and how it would only get better since energy is going up). And it looked like a no-brainer.
Having a customer internalize THAT comparison is much more favorable to them than me comparing MagaWatts to other solar companies on simply a price-per-service basis.
This applies to you and your team. Are you letting folks compare you to other practices? Or are you establishing the parameters for favorable comparison?
You price vs another practice’s price OR your price vs the massive ongoing cost of maintaining bad vision?
The risk of something going wrong (infinitesimal) vs the risk of continuing to wear contacts (much higher).
The recovery time vs the longevity of the results.
Plenty of ways to draw comparisons that keep you out of convos about you vs other places, or your price vs their price. Or spending the money vs not.
And honestly, it’s your duty to give people better ways to draw useful comparisons. The way MagaWatts is doing it is the right way. Because that’s the smart approach to make the decision from a financial standpoint.
MagaWatts – while they have not sold me anything yet – did a great job of establishing the comparison they want me to internalize.
Share this with your team and think about your comparisons going into next week…
Troy
PS – I am doing a full live breakdown of this sales experience in our “Sales in the Wild” series in our Green Room Coaching Community. So if you’re a member, be on the lookout for the invite. Lots of gold nuggets for you, and I’ll show you exactly how to take and apply them.
- How to actually present comparisons
- A nifty rapport trick you can use virtually any time (in person) to instantly get someone talking
- How to put on your detective hat and get a lot of knowledge from only a little info
- Why you don’t have to be a “sales person” in the traditional sense and how one of the guys, the least salesy looking one, actually got me to open up
- Buying analogies and support materials they used
- How to prep for common objections and slap them down
- When and how to use benefits (they did this well in certain instances, and totally flubbed it in others…)
- And more