There is a big fight in the media at the moment over the whole idea of "fake news" and who you hear from and what they mean. In the world of sales and marketing, the clash between facts and opinions is a key one.
My wife is a science teacher, particularly biology, and we were talking earlier about the difference between the objective and the subjective, or in other ways between facts and opinions (not matter how well informed such opinions are). Even in science, people often cling to older theories until proved otherwise - one idea being the miasma theory of disease where people thought bad smells themselves caused illness, until the proof behind the germ theory forced them to rethink their approaches.
Kills 99.9% of all sales pitches
In marketing, you regularly hear what sound like facts or other carefully-worded elements such that sound good but sometimes fall apart on careful inspection. Even the famous disinfectant marketing claim that a disinfectant kills 99.9% of all germs might only refer to 3 or 4 key pathogens, not every type of germ under the sun.
In many parts of the world there are national bodies that regulate what different adverts or other pieces of marketing can say. If you want another interesting read about such a body in the United Kingdom, then you can read the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and it's rulings on such pieces.
If you are looking to buy something, then it is therefore important to be careful, to read between the lines and to carefully check on what is being said - especially on what is stated as a fact.
Just the facts, ma'am.
Sales itself is driven by facts: revenue is a fact, winning a customer or not is a fact, how large is your pipeline is a fact, how may calls you have is a fact, how many leads you have is a fact etc. etc.
Such facts cut through business jargon waffle like a hot knife through butter. A business without revenue is ultimately not going to survive, no matter how hyped it's initial pitch might be.
However, you cannot simply tell someone facts about your product and expect them to buy. Sales is certainly not just telling people dry data but is strongly about the buyer's perception of what you sell and how it stands out from the competition.
That's just, like, your opinion, man.
We've now walked through how you should check on facts as a buyer and why facts are so important as a seller, so what role do opinions play in the matter?
One of the core parts of sales is that it is always in the mind of the buyer: they usually have in their minds what their perfect solution to their pain point(s) is and your job in sales is to best show how whatever you are offering matches that solution. Part of your job could even be in challenging them with something different or in demonstrating how well they match together.
Ultimately though, it's usually about how you need to sway the opinion of people who either are the decision makers or are highly influential toward the decision makers. I'll look to cover this more in another article or more in future, but their opinions of your solution are absolutely key.
Opinions can also be highly beneficial when they come from someone else, such as a happy client who loves your solution and wants to tell the world. I've been fortunate to have many clients be willing to share their own opinion backed by their own experiences, which prove to be great references and have helped me close new business as a result.
As a buyer, again it's worthwhile to know where positive opinions come from and to check them out yourself. I've won a good amount of business by having happy clients willing to share how they've benefitted from using my solution, even if some may argue that it is choice-supportive bias.
In summary
In summary, both facts and opinions play their roles in sales, because sales itself is a strange mixture of art and science. You are not selling to cold rational machines but instead to humans who are complicated and often very emotional -and if you want any further guidance on how to sell to humans then do let me know :)
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