Top 4 Ways to Become the Best Solution

Until you position yourself as the best solution to solve the buyer’s problem, you are selling just as much for every other company’s solution as your own. Here are the top four ways to position yourself as the best solution.

After you have first established yourself as a think-partner, and after you have moved this decision to the top of the buyer’s To Do List, your work is not over. You have successfully moved the prospect into the bottom of the sales funnel. That means that they trusted you to show them that they have a problem, and they are ready to do something about it. At this point, you have to ensure that you are the solution they choose.

Although each of the following tactics can be used individually, they are most effective when used all together.

1. Craft a Compelling Message

The best way to engage your audience is to craft a story that resonates with their position. Your goal is to guide the buyer on an emotional journey so they can see the outcome of their decision and feel the victory.

When people hear a story, they tend to superimpose themselves over the protagonist—so make sure that in your compelling message, the buyer is the hero. This will help the message resonate, and will yield that victorious feeling.

2. Third Party Validation

Essentially, a third party’s validation is a business referral.

If other buyers in similar position to your prospect have had success with you or your company, then the third party’s endorsement removes the risk. The more similar the situations are, the easier the association will be for your prospect. And the easier the association, the more likely that the risk disappears and your prospect will be swayed.

3. Confess Your Weakness

When someone confesses a weakness unsolicited, it shows that person has integrity—or at least we tend to think so. When we are the ones who confess that weakness, we also better position ourselves to recast the weakness as a potential strength.

Positioning a weakness as a potential strength not only requires the confession itself, but it also requires us to reframe the conversation.

For a perfect example, consider Ronald Reagan’s response to a question asked in the Presidential debate. The interviewer asked Reagan (who was 73, at the time) if voters should consider age during in the Presidential race.

He famously responded, “I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

In this example, we can see how reframing a potential weakness can have dramatic and positive repercussions.

4. Contrast Your Claims

If you do not differentiate your company from those of your competitors, then you are selling just as much for your competitors as you are for yourself. In order to be persuasive for your company only, you must create a sharp contrast between your solution and all others.

Conclusion

When you have already established yourself as a think partner and moved this decision to the top of the buyer’s To Do List, you still have a task. Now, when we are in the bottom of the sales funnel, is the time to use these four ways to become the best solution. By Crafting a Compelling Message, providing Third Party Validation, Reframing Weaknesses, and Contrasting Your Claims, you can become the best solution—the solution your buyer chooses.

Photo by Zak Suhar.