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Success Circle Call #2: What Makes You Unique?

Getting more qualified referrals is the dream of every salesperson. Yet most salespeople fail to put themselves in a position to dramatically improve their odds of receiving them. Are you missing golden opportunities?

One of the easiest ways to build your referral business is to properly position yourself. It's a matter of educating others about what you do and who you can best serve with your service. So how do you educate without becoming a droning bore?

The first thing to recognize is that it's “education” not “selling.” Education is letting people know what you do in a way that doesn't come across as assumptive or pushy. To be effective, your education also needs to be simple and specific. That means you need to be able to let others know what you do in 20 words or less. Strip your message down to what makes you truly unique.

Many salespeople have trouble with this. In fact, it's the number one thing salespeople confess to having difficulty doing. To help, take time to answer the question, “Why should someone buy from you instead of your competition?” Focus your response on the one thing that makes you stand out. Focus it on the true benefit others receive from your offerings.

Next, look at who values that benefit the most. Don't get lured into the trap of “we can do anything for anybody” mindset. Even if it's true, communicating this kind of shotgun approach is a real referral killer. You want other people to remember you, so when given the opportunity they can refer you. If you don't give people one (and only one) group that benefits from your service, then you won't be memorable.

Listen to the recorded call (approximately 45 minutes):

Let's look at an example. Cindy is a commercial cleaning contractor. She can clean anyone's office in a corporate building. She has decided to focus on the attorney office market however, because of her connections and knowledge of them. So when she communicates what she does, she says "I'm a commercial cleaning contractor and I specialize in cleaning attorney offices."

Now every time I meet an attorney I think of Cindy. By focusing her message on who she can best serve and educating others, she has positioned herself for more referrals.

First, she stated what she did by stating what made her unique. The other business people were polite and listened. Then she restated what she did by prefacing her statement with “I work with attorneys to wow their clients.”

Immediately, the light bulbs went off. Several people enthusiastically volunteered that they knew one or more attorneys. Referral seeds were planted only because the client properly educated them on who she serves in addition to what she does.

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