4 Reasons People Don't Buy Your Ideas...Products or Services

Have you ever stopped for a moment to consider why people don't buy your ideas? My friend, Tom Wilkerson, a former general agent for Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company, is the consummate salesman and community leader. Tom has a way of making complicated concepts, such as sales, simple. Here are his 5 reason why people don't buy your ideas, products or services.

1. They don't trust.

2. They don't need.

3. What you're offering doesn't help them.

4. They feel no sense of urgency.

Recent public policy debates in Washington D.C. highlight the importance of these factors in swaying public opinion. If you listen to the arguments of opponents of health care reform, these five themes are highlighted. Some feel that Congress and the President spent too much money on bailouts and stimulus packages. They lack trust. Others, who have health insurance and are afraid of being burdened with taxes and losing what they have, don't need reform. Simply stated, what is being offered doesn't help them. Finally, others who say "let's slow down" and examine this change and implement it gradually don't feel a sense of urgency. All five themes are part of the debate. I offer this simplistic analysis not to support one position or the other, but to show you how all five reasons must be addressed to successfully sell your ideas.

Do the same themes apply to selling products or services? Absolutely yes! Regardless of whether you are trying to make change in your community, selling a product to a consumer or trying to offer a professional service, these five reasons must be addressed in order for you to be successful.

In my book, I emphasis the importance of credibility. Credibility and visibility are the two essential elements of developing business relationships. Credibility goes to the heart of trust. You can't simply wake up one morning and say, "Today, I am going to be credible." It takes a lifetime of work to establish credibility. Credibility and trustworthiness can not be turned on and off like a switch. It must be a part of who you are or a part of your businesses culture.

Need is perhaps the greatest driver of human behavior. Need and want are often confused in the minds of consumers, but need must be addressed in order for a sale to occur.

Offering something that is needed may seem like a no-brainer, but I am often amazed at how many people selling a product or service fail to examine the needs of the person to whom they are selling. This is necessary to determine whether the product or service actually helps the consumer. You must have a compelling reason why your product or service will help address the needs of the consumer.

No sense of urgency is often the reason a sale fails. A consumer may like the product or service but he or she will not act until motivated or pressured to do so. How many "infomercials" on TV say, "If you call within the next ten minutes, you will receive_____ free!" Why do they always throw in a bonus offer - to create a sense of urgency.

Just think how many wills are written after a poor health diagnosis or how many accountants are hired after an IRS notice is received. If you want to sell your idea or product, you have to demonstrate to people the urgency of acting now and not delaying.

Before you attempt to make a sale keep these five themes in mind and you will do well.

The Two Key Components of Developing Business Relationships

Visibility and credibility are essential to becoming a successful Rainmaker. You have to become aware of, and become known to, the persons with whom you want to build business relationships. You have to become visible. If people don't know who you are, they can't purchase your product or service. That's why networking, civic involvement, speaking opportunities, publishing articles, blogging and other activities that provide public exposure are so important. You can't hide your light under a bushel basket and expect to grow your client base.

You might be thinking, "Hey, I know a guy who is at every event, knows everyone in town, but doesn't have any clients. Why hasn't visibility worked for him?"

The answer probably lies in the second key component of developing business relationships - credibility. Being charming and engaging is wonderful, but it won't sustain a long-term business relationship. You must be competent, reliable and trustworthy to maintain strong business relationships. If you tell a client that you will do something, you better do it, do it right and do it on time. Delivering on promises is essential to developing and maintaining credibility.

We all know lawyers, accountants and other professionals who are brilliant practitioners but have no clients. They work long hours, are extremely dependable and exude credibility. Unfortunately, they don't generate clients because no one knows who they are. They are invisible to the world outside their firms.

The examples above highlight the importance of striking a balance between visibility and credibility. To be successful you have to possess both. As you evaluate your client development abilities, think about where you fall on the visibility and credibility spectrum and then develop a plan to achieve and maintain greater balance.