Is your DSI super?  Wait…let’s step back first.  A DSI is a Dominant Selling Idea – think of it as the modern day version of the Unique Selling Proposition (USP).  Basically it’s THE big idea inside a marketing brand – it’s the selling idea that establishes you as the #1 choice within your category and specialty.  You can learn all about the DSI concept from the book “Why Johnny Can’t Brand” by Bill Schley and Carl Nichols.

When they talk about a DSI, they’re not talking about marketing fluff and being super funny or creative (although that’s not excluded from a DSI).  A DSI is about having a simple (sentence or two) way to communicate the value you bring to your customers that makes you the top of your specialty and category. 

An example of DSIs? 

There are lots of car brands…cars are the category.  A specialty within the car category is safety.  What do you think of when you’re looking for a safe car?  Volvo established their Dominant Selling Idea a long time ago as the safest car brand – they pretty much own that specialty.  Here are some others:

M&Ms – the candy that melts in your mouth, not in your hand.

Enterprise Car Rental – “We’ll pick you up”!  (They created their own specialty of rental cars not at airports).

Halls – with ‘Vapor Action’ (lots of throat lozenges, but only one with ‘vapor action’)

The beauty of an effective Dominant Selling Idea is that it automatically makes you the top choice within your selected specialty (assuming you can live up to your claim).

The Test for a Super DSI

In Why Johnny Can’t Brand, the authors go through a lot of ideas and a process to help you figure out what your DSI should be.  It’s not easy…and not every business is going to be able to legitimately have a DSI, but here’s a test to help you figure out if you’re onto something.

Is your product or business idea:

1. Superlative

Are you as good or better than everyone else within your specialty?  Can you claim #1 in something?  Best in class within your boundaries? (i.e. best pizza in Kansas City).

2. Important

Does your differentiator – your DSI – address something that’s important for decision makers? You may sell cars that have top and bottom windshield wipers…but that’s not likely to sway many decisions.

3. Believable

Is it clear why we should believe your claims?  Do you have credible and important testimonials?  Does it logically follow that you would be good at this product or service? (Think about your favorite steak restaurant offering up an enchilada…probably not believable).

4. Memorable

Does your idea stand out from the crowd?  Does it link to an emotional feeling?  What would cause me to remember your idea if I looked at a dozen similar ideas within your category or specialty?

5. Tangible

This is where the rubber meets the road.  You might have created a great idea that establishes you as a believable #1 within your specialty in a memorable way, but if you don’t actually deliver on that promise you won’t last.  To have a Super DSI, it has to actually perform (and be more than just an idea on paper).

What I really like about the concept of having a DSI is that it’s not just clever marketing and it’s not just for big national players.  Any business or idea will benefit by positioning as a Dominant Selling Idea…and any business or idea will suffer without that positioning.

Think about the last time you told some friends about a great restaurant in your area.  Maybe you said something like; “They have the best fries…you’ve got try them!”  or “I was amazed at their service, I’ve never had an experience like that before!”.  That’s potentially their DSI…something they should build around.

Now think about how your customers describe your business…would they consistently isolate on your important strength?  Are you consistently positioning yourself as #1 in a specialty?

These are tough questions and they take a lot of time and soul searching to answer honestly, but if you can figure this out you will be successful.  A valid DSI can take you to new heights in your business.

What do you think about Dominant Selling Ideas?  Are you comfortable that you know what yours is?  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Shawn Kinkade   Kansas City Business Coach

Photo by aka Kath

If you have ever sold anything in your life then you’ve encountered a sales objections at some point in time. In fact, regardless of your profession, we all deal with objections in life with co-workers, business partners, spouses, and family.

The good news is, there are some simple steps you can take to better handle and even reduce the number of objections you are confronted with if you take a little time to prepare.

First of all, in the process of selling (a product, service, concept, etc.) when an objection arises it shouldn’t come as a surprise.  I would encourage you to embrace the objection and think of it as an opportunity. It’s a clue as to what your prospective buyer is thinking.  This simple step alone will take some of the negativity off the objection as you mentally process it.

When an objection presents itself listen completely, pause, and make sure you understand the situation. When you respond, the most effective responses are generally framed as a question.

Basic Examples:

Objection: Your Price is too high

Reply: “I understand your concern, what were you planning to spend?”

Objection: I want to think about it.

Reply: “That’s a fair statement, so what are the specific items you want to think about?

Dig for information

The main thing you want to do is get your prospect to open up and tell you more about what’s keeping them from making a decision. During this dialog be real, be sincere, be understanding, and be positive. Honest, heartfelt questions will normally get prospects to open up. And, you must answer the objection to the satisfaction of your client, before moving forward in your process.

Objections are never a signal to argue or debate with your client, there may be nothing that stalls or even kills a negotiation faster. They are also never an open door to speak poorly of your competition. If an objection forces you to compare your product or service against a competitor, use factual information only. Hearsay and rumors are not recommended for long-term success.

What if there was a silver bullet to eliminate Objections?

The reality is they are part of the selling process and they will never totally be eliminated. However, they can be greatly reduced. How? By spending more time diagnosing your prospect and getting confirmation about what the needs and expectations are before you’re get caught off guard during your presentation. You need to ask questions, lots of them. And then make sure you listen to the answers. You can defuse objections by clarifying the expectations before you ever start your presentation.

Example: At the end of a perfect presentation the potential buyer announces they need to consult with another person before they can commit. Could this objection have been prevented?  If the salesperson had asked up front about decision makers and had a commitment that everyone who needed to be there would in fact be there for the presentation, this issue could have been prevented completely, by simply asking the right questions ahead of time.

A short exercise to start improving the way you handle objections is to write your top 5 most common objections on one side of a piece of paper. On the other side, for each objections list 2 to 4 clear responses (framed as questions) that will address the objection and keep you engaging with your prospect. Remember – the point of the sales discussion is to really understand the needs of your prospect, the objections help you figure those out.  Review your list regularly and get comfortable with the idea of smoothly addressing the objections.

We would love to hear how you handle objections with your product or service. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Chris Steinlage Kansas City Business Coach

Photo by Marco Bellucci

  photo by Ian Hayhurst

I bet you’re really good at what you do.  You add a lot of value to the right kind of customers…probably way more value than you charge for (if you’re like most business owners I know).  You know your industry, your product and service inside and out.  In fact you could go into painful detail on how the work gets done…which actually might be part of the problem!

Which would you rather hear – a litany of facts and figures, features and benefits…or an engaging story that illustrates a problem, an approach and a solution (a happy ending!)?  It sounds like a pretty obvious choice, but look around at how most businesses present themselves from a marketing perspective.  The ones who don’t know any better talk way too much about themselves and about all the cool features they offer.  The smarter ones focus on benefits and outcomes, but even that can be pretty dry and unremarkable over time.

Maybe it’s time to think about telling some stories about your clients.

Read More…

  photo by chuckyeager

I started Aspire 4 years ago, give or take a couple of days, and it’s been a fun, exhausting and enlightening ride so far.  Not only have I had a chance to learn a ton of great things through my own business efforts, but I’ve picked up a lot of amazing things from my clients as well.

When I started Aspire, I didn’t realize I was ramping up my business a few months before the ‘Great Recession’ started, which has led to some really strong lessons as well (things like living within your means, slow and steady, bootstrap wherever possible, etc.).  It hasn’t been easy and certainly there have been plenty of stumbles and frustrations over the years but there’s also been steady growth and I’ve gained a lot of clarity with each lesson.

As they say…”If I only knew then what I know now…!”.  Which brings me to the point of this post – I wanted to take a shot at sharing the most useful things I’ve learned over the last few years – hopefully they’ll be helpful to others…and if you’ve got some useful things that I haven’t learned yet, then share them in the comments!

Read More…

photo by Ernst Vikne

Sometimes the hardest part of this whole business thing is getting them to move!  Have you ever had the situation where you’ve had good meetings with potential prospective clients…and then you wait?

They know who you are.  They know what you do.  They need what you do, but for some reason they don’t move and you end up waiting for something to happen!

I’ve got a couple of clients facing this very situation – they’ve put a lot of time and effort into marketing, they’re getting initial meetings with what looks to be the right kind of people (qualified and in need) but things are moving slowly…or really not moving at all!

Read More…