Positioning Research

One of my job responsibilities is to help reps pull research for their proposals and presentations. I serve as a liaison between the marketing department and sales. There is a lot of research available from Paper Chain, the CVC audits and just off the web. Most reps use data very poorly. They rattle off the numbers and expect the customer to "Get It". Numbers are meaningless to most people and many people distrust statistics. The key to using data is to position it properly and to put a face on the numbers. After relating the numbers to the customer use a story to illustrate your point. For example if you talk about the fact that a high percentage of your readers are two earner families you could back it up with a statement like: "Mr. Customer, you're a busy person, so you know what its like, your may not have time to read the newspaper every day but our publication is a quick weekly read with lots of way to save money. You can see why busy families, the kind of people who need your services, like our paper, don;t you." This puts a face on the circulation statistics and also tell him how it relates directly to his business. This is much more effective than the raw statistics.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch