In an era of short attention spans, call screening, and email that automatically filters to the spam file, salespeople have only seconds to capture a prospect’s attention. The way they attempt to connect with customers can make the difference between not meeting their quota and exceeding it.
The AIDA Model
AIDA is the 1898 business model that stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. The model acts on the simple premise that people can’t buy a product or service unless it catches their attention first. They then need to express interest and the desire to buy it before following through with a purchase.
While this might sound like a complex cycle, the decision of whether to pursue a purchase happens within the first few seconds after introduction to it. Succeeding at making a professional introduction and capturing a prospects attention buys the salespeople time to move onto the next stage. It’s far easier to connect with a prospect when the salesperson asks about him or her personally. People love to talk about themselves, but they don’t always care about learning a company’s history or other details they may find boring.
Existing Clients Disappear All the Time
One common mistake that salespeople make is becoming too comfortable with their existing client base. They fail to market the business continually and then find themselves without new revenue coming in once their current clients no longer need their services or decide to move on for other reasons. That means business owners always need to have a plan for introducing themselves to new prospects. It starts with going the same places their prospects go.
When meeting prospects in person, salespeople should dress professionally and exude confidence. Relaxed body language and remembering to smile can go a long way. When it comes time to speak to the prospect, the business professional can start with a few icebreakers such as the weather, traffic, or sports. From there, they should introduce themselves and offer a benefit statement about the product or service for sale to pique the potential customer’s interest. The introduction should be short and focus on the prospect’s needs, not the salesperson’s needs.
Introductions Using Different Types of Mediums
A telephone introduction should be no more than two or three sentences and get right to the point. Confirming that the person has a few minutes to talk and then the salesperson introducing himself or herself and the topic immediately is the best way to go about telephone introductions.
Meetings at networking events are often impromptu and require the business professional to have an elevator pitch of 30 to 60 seconds already prepared. This is a brief statement explaining how the salesperson exceeds customer expectations and would love the opportunity to do the same for the prospect.
Finally, email introductions should start by choosing a compelling subject line and then following these steps:
- Tailoring greeting to the industry and person
- Making the first few sentences about the prospect
- Explaining the reason for the email and providing a value proposition
- Asking the prospect to complete an action and thanking them for their time
Remember that follow-up is the most important part of any introduction. Without it, the most polished and well-received introduction could fall to the wayside before either party has a chance to act on the information presented.
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