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Think about the way you sell and the way you present your product or service.

How many times do you think you use the word “we”? My bet is hundreds.

How many times SHOULD you use the word “we”? My answer is ZERO.

Do the customers care about you or themselves? Obvious answer. So why do you “we-we” all over them? They don’t care about you. UNLESS you can help them.

The key to mastering any kind of sales is switching statements about you – how great you are and what you do – to statements about them, and how great they are, and how they will produce more and profit more from ownership of your product or service

HERE’S THE SECRET: Take the word “we” and delete it. Delete it from your slides, your literature and ESPECIALLY from your sales presentation. You can use “I” but you can’t use “we.”

HERE’S THE POWER: When you stop using “we,” you have to substitute the word “you” or “they” and say things in terms of the customers. How they win, how they benefit, how they produce, how they profit, how they will be served and how they have peace of mind.

MANDATE FOR UNDERSTANDING: Go through your entire presentation and record it. Listen to it actively – which means taking notes. Count the number of times you use the word “we.” Take out the “we” and begin to make value statements instead of selling statements.

Here’s the reality in plain English:

1. The buyers, the prospects and the customers expect you to have knowledge of their stuff, not just your stuff. To transfer that knowledge, the prospects need to understand and agree with your ideas, feel your passion, feel your belief and feel your sincerity beyond the hype of your sales pitch.

2. You have to know their industry, not just your product.

3. You have to know their business, not just your product.

4. You have to know what’s new and what’s next, not just your product.

5. You have to know the current trends, not just your product.

6. You have to know their marketing, not just your product.

7. You have to know their productivity, not just your product.

7.5. You have to know their profit, not just your product.

`Here are some classic examples of we-we thinking:

• We have to educate the customer. Do you really think any customer on the planet WANTS your education?

• You feel you have to tell the prospect all about you, your company and your product. Three things that are guaranteed to put any prospect to sleep.

• We offer solutions. Solutions are an insult to a prospect. Answers are better, and more partnership- and relationship-driven.

• You compare yourself to the competition, rather than differentiate from them. You’re still selling your features and benefits. I don’t want features or benefits; I want value.

• You have a PowerPoint presentation that brags rather than proves. This will not put prospects to sleep. It will put them in a DEEP sleep.

What were you thinking? Oh, you were thinking we-we.

Assuming they have a genuine need or strong desire, all you need to make a sale is:

1. Answers they need.

2. Ideas they benefit from.

3. How you differentiate from the others.

4. Value they perceive.

4.5. Trust they perceive as a result of all the other elements being in place.

There’s an old song titled “Take the ‘L’ Out of Lover and It’s Over” from the early 1980s by a group called the Motels.

Paraphrase: Take the “WE” out of selling, or it’s over. For you.

Jeffrey Gitomer can be reached by phone at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com. © 2007 Jeffrey H. Gitomer