People often forget just how important trust is in the selling process.    Prospects don’t accept any claims you make until they accept them as fact.  And, they won’t accept them as fact until you supply one key ingredient.

Here’s your formula:  C + E = F

Claim + EVIDENCE = Fact

Five Types of Evidence you can incorporate into your process:

• Demonstrations  – If what you’re selling lends itself to this, it can be a big convincer.  My wife has purchased choppers, grabbers,  graters, cookware, and many other things, all based on a convincing demonstration.   The key in B2B and more complex sales is understanding WHEN the demonstration should take place.  Most often, reps do it far too early in the process.  That usually happens because too many companies still confuse product knowledge orientation with sales training.
• Have an Exhibit – Again, I’m not talking about a product exhibit.  Look for an exhibit that adds credibility from a third party.
• Statistics – For some people, this is a critical factor; others couldn’t care less.  Used in the right place and time in the sales process, they can be beneficial; but, be careful of overkill.  It’s easy to get carried away with these.
• Testimonials – This depends on your industry.  For example, the investment advisory business doesn’t even allow these for regulatory reasons, whereas other less regulated industries use these with impunity.  Quite often, many are written by the people that provide them – simply signed by the customer – and therefore don’t have the same credibility.  Nevertheless, some people find testimonials as comforting – almost giving them permission to buy.
• Analogies – Sometimes an analogy can shed light on an `intuitive truth’ that anyone can understand – and provide a comparison to what they’re doing (wrong) now.

Want to increase sales?  Add some evidence to your claims!  Your prospects will see facts.  That will make their buying decision a lot easier.

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