Why does your potential customer want a security system?
One of the BIGGEST mistakes that a salesman can make is to assume they know the motivation (emotional need) of their potential customers. This need is established through the most powerful tool of a salesperson: ASKING QUESTIONS! If their concern is for safety for themselves, their family and/or their property, then I would proceed to the next part of the presentation. If their need is not emotional (e.g. because it is required by their insurance carrier, to lower their insurance rates, because other people in the neighborhood have one, etc.), then I would spend some time here to establish an emotional desire (remember that your customer buys with their emotions, and justifies their purchase with logic). This emotional desire could be established by any combination of the following:
For residential systems:
Adding a smoke detector for 24 hour protection for family and property, giving facts about residential fires, and/or
Adding a "Medical Emergency" zone to the system, if there are elderly or physically impaired people at the residence, and/or
Adding a "High Temperature" zone to the system, if they have a wine cellar, and/or
Adding a strobe light on the roof to clearly show the police where the alarm has been activated, etc.
For commercial systems:
Add a "Medical Emergency" zone to the system for immediate dispatch of paramedics if an employee is injured, and/or
Finding out if there is equipment vital to the continuing of their business which can also be protected (e.g. high/low temperature alarms, a/c failure alarm, high/low pressure alarm, etc.), and/or
Adding a strobe light on the roof to clearly show the police where the alarm has been activated, etc.
An emotional desire can be induced by showing the potential customer that they can get more than they thought because YOUR system will protect lives (medical alert, fire detection, etc.), special assets (wine, jewelry, guns, etc.), their business (pressure, temperature, humidity, etc.). and, get faster law enforcement response due to a strobe light guiding law enforcement officers to your location. Whatever you tell them that created (or intensified) their desire will be more "hot buttons" that will be referred to during the presentation and in the close of the presentation.
Features and Benefits
At this point of your presentation you should have been able to establish good credibility for your company and yourself. You should also know their emotional needs (hot buttons) which you will relate to throughout the presentations. The next part is to establish a high perceived value for your system, while increasing your potential customer's emotional desire for the system. This is done through the presentation of the features and benefits of having YOUR system installed and monitored. It is very important to understand the differences between features and benefits, as they serve different purposes for your potential customer.
A feature of your system is something that will build confidence and value in your system.
The benefit of that feature will build emotional desire for your system, and answer the question, "What's in it for me?"
There should be a benefit for each feature that you show, and you should make sure the potential customer COMPLETELY understands the value of the feature and why it is a benefit to them.
You can have all of the features in the world, but if the benefits to the potential customer are not understood, it will mean nothing. For example, if you were trying to sell a new Cadillac to someone, and you told them that one of the features of this model was that it had a "Northstar System", it would mean nothing until you explained the benefit of that feature, which was that the engine did not need to be tuned up until the car had been driven 100,000 miles.
What are the features and benefits of your system?
That should be an easy question for you to answer. The features of the equipment that you use are the reasons that you buy that equipment. Because of your knowledge and experience, there are reasons that you buy the brand and model of the contacts that you use for windows and doors (or you may have different types for different purposes). These reasons may be: ease of installation, more reliable (will not break due to the vibration of the door closing), sensitivity, etc. Each of these reasons is a feature of that contact, and should have a benefit for you. A simple way of looking at this is to make a "Features & Benefits" chart.
DEVICE: Door Contact
FEATURES:
Easy to InstallMore ReliableSensitivity
BENEFITS TO YOU:
Less LaborNo Service CallsMore Flexibility in the Location
BENEFITS TO THE CUSTOMER:
Faster InstallationDependabilityLess likely to flase trip if the door moves slightly due to the wind blowing
The customer is not interested in the benefit to you; only the benefit to them. And, they will only find out about the features and benefits of your system by what you show and tell them. Most people would make the assumption that the potential customer knows what a door contact is, and that is one of those fatal mistakes that cost companies a lot of business. Do you remember the first time that you saw a door contact, and someone demonstrated how it worked? You were probably fascinated how small and complex it was. Your potential customer will have the same reaction when you hand them one and show them how it works. To add more impact, also hand them one of the "old style", or one that is not reliable, and explain the differences.
They may have had some other companies bid an alarm system with door contacts, but you would probably be the only one that had enough consideration to educate the customer by letting them see and touch the contact and explain the features and benefits. This gives you more credibility as a professional, and that particular contact gives the customer confidence in you and your system (builds value). There is an old rule in selling that states: Show and tell; when you stop showing and start telling, you stop selling!
There is a reason for your buying everything that you put into your systems. Try to make up a "Features and Benefits" chart for each item, and use the "show and tell" method in your presentation.
When it comes to items that cannot be demonstrated (e.g. a keypad, communicator, motion detector, etc.), a picture is like 1000 words. One of your best sales tools is a Polaroid Camera. This allows you to SHOW the customer the actual device installed at a number of locations, and to TELL why it was installed at that location and what purpose it serves. A picture will also show the potential customer the results of your installation, which will give them confidence in your ability to install the system to their satisfaction.
(NOTE: The more features that you show the customer, the more confidence they will have in you as a professional. The more benefits that you tell them about, the more emotional desire they will have to buy your system and the perceived value of the system will increase.)
Each feature presented does not have to be a long drawn out process. The presentation of the door contact could be a simple statement like this:
"Mr. Jones, this is the contact for the door that I use in my system (hand it to the customer). You will notice how small is it is, which means that it can easily be concealed, while at the same time it is designed to withstand the constant vibration that it receives from the door opening and closing. In all of my experience, I have found this to be the most dependable contact. The last thing that you need are service calls to replace equipment that will not stand up to daily wear and tear. Right?"
The following things happened in this presentation:
The customer was involved (full attention) because the contact was handed to him.
The statement "it can easily be concealed" will start to build confidence in your installation. (Note: the customer has probably never mentioned the quality of your installation, and how well the system is concealed; however, the question will come up at some point, and if it is addressed throughout the presentation, the customer will have full confidence in your ability to install their system without having to verbalize it.)
The statement "it is designed to withstand the constant vibration that it receives from the door opening and closing" paints a picture of the kids running in and out of the house slamming the door. The customer now "sees" the system installed, and understands that there is a quality in the design needed to withstand frequent vibration.
These are good points, but does the customer really understand them? (Remember, the customer is always subconsciously asking the question: "What's in it for me?) By asking the question: "The last thing that you need are service calls to replace equipment that will not stand up to daily wear and tear. Right?", informs the customer that the quality of this product is designed to keep them from having problems (disappointments) with your system, and prevents service calls. By them answering you question, you know that this point has been made, and it is time to move on to the next one. If their answer is, "What do you mean?", then some more time should be spent on this feature. (NOTE: Never move on to the next feature until you make sure that the potential customer fully understands this feature, and the benefit to them).
When you have shown the potential customer the features and benefits of having your system installed, the next part should be the presentation of the features and benefits of CSSS, INC., as your monitoring facility. Our web site has a page for "Our Facilities" and "Our Central Station Team". These pages (or any other pages on our web site) can be printed out and included in your presentation. (NOTE: Do not just hand these pages to the potential customer and assume that it will be read and understood. You SHOW the customer the various pictures (features), TELL the customer how these are a benefit to them and ASK QUESTIONS to assure that each benefit is fully understood. This should help continue to build credibility for you, your company and your system.)
