The Law of Six!

Many years ago I was listening to a tape series on sales and marketing by Brian Tracy and he said something so simple yet so profound that it has stayed with me for all these years.

It was a concept that he referred to as the law of six.

The Law of Six is a law in sales that says that there are and always will be six primary objections or reasons why people don’t or won’t buy what you are offering. There may be more– but there are and always will be six primary reasons why people won’t buy from you. Thus the “Law of Six.”

The objective of the astute salesperson or marketer is to figure out what the six primary objections that people have to buying from you are in advance. Then prepare your advertising, sales presentations, marketing materials, web sites and promotional materials in advance to address both the positive qualities and the potential negatives of your offering.

I believe there’s great value in bringing up the negative qualities of what you offer in advance. This way you take away your potential buyer’s ammunition for why he can’t go ahead with the purchase.

A couple of weeks ago I was in my eye doctor’s office and there was a sign in their office that said, “We promise to take longer than one hour to make your glasses!” As I’m sure you are aware of, the biggest challenge of traditional optometrists is the eyeglass places that advertise “glasses made in about an hour.”

What my Eye Doctor did was brilliant. She attacked the basic foundation of the idea that good, quality eyeglasses can be produced in about an hour. At the same time she cast major doubt about the quality of glasses made in about an hour while at the same time built the value of her way of doing business.

Spend some time thinking about what you sell or offer. What are the reasons people don’t buy from you or buy more often?

Think about Michelin Tires and how they advertise their products. Their biggest marketing and sales challenge is the fact that their tires are much more expensive than their competitor’s tires. So, what do they do? They create a campaign that features “angelic like” looking babies sitting in the tires and always use the tag line— “Michelin…because so much is riding on your tires!” The way in which they present their message is a pure emotional appeal AND IT WORKS! They have gotten us to believe that if the people (especially your children) who ride in your vehicle are important to you, then you should make sure your loved ones are riding on Michelin’s. What they’ve done is totally eliminate (at least in some people’s mind) the price objection for their product by appealing to the emotion of your desire to take care of your loved ones.

Article by Otto Collins, Consultant, Speaker and Writer who helps people learn how to sell more and make more money by improving their marketing efforts.

www.newagemarketingtips.com

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Spend some time thinking about the reasons why people won’t buy from you. Write them down and don’t stop until you have exhausted all the objections you can think of. I’m willing to bet that all the objections you can come up with can be then narrowed down to six major objections.

Address these objections head on in your sales and marketing. Don’t hide them. People are smart. They’ll figure out the strength’s and weaknesses of your offering. The job of the wise marketer is to stack the reasons for buying your product or services despite the benefits of what the competition offers. Our job as marketers and salespeople is to show others how we can help them improve their lives. Our job is to also show our potential customers that we are the best possible solution for their needs.

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