What do you stand to lose by not using metaphors in your communication?
Before I get to that, let me talk about what happens in a typical sales process.
We generate leads, qualify them, nurture them & when the timing is right, we take them through the sales process. We expect to move that prospect from stage 1 to the final stage of the sales process by qualifying them at every stage & by generating sufficient interest in our products. Most of us tend to forget the buying process of the client or do not think about aligning with the prospects’ buying process. Deals fall apart. If we are lucky, accidentally everything falls in place and we win the order.
To create emotional bonding with our products just like how a magnet attracts iron, we need to use some techniques. Branding is one. One of the tools of branding is communication. And metaphors are an important part of communication.
If you look at any High-Value Sales, you can’t miss the images. Without images, Sale does not happen. Think of a home – a villa or an apartment. Ask the sellers/builders to try to sell without using any image. They cannot.
- Their print ads consist of images.
- The TV ads consist of pictures/videos of their beautiful properties.
- Their websites host videos too.
- All their brochures are full of beautiful pictures.
- Apple understands this very well & they use stunning images.
For those of us who sell high-value items that are not tangible, like for example, Software Services / SaaS, we can either show some images from our previous work/or show some end-user screens from our SaaS product. Alternatively, you can use word imagery, in other words, “metaphors” to create images in the minds of our customers.
For example, if you are selling holiday resorts, you may want to say this to your prospective customers: “Leave your jewels in your bank lockers; we will give you stars to admire.” That’s a metaphor your customers & prospects will remember whenever they see you.
Happy Selling!
#b2bsales #metaphors #kkrocks
