[Editor's Note: this article WON the Best Sales Article of 2007 award. Congratulations Keith!]

Do you know exactly what to say to a prospect that captures their attention so succinctly and effectively that they are actually asking for more? If you find that you are not even getting past the first 30 seconds of an initial conversation before the prospect cuts you off and says, “Not interested,” then it’s safe to say that the compelling reasons you are currently using can withstand an upgrade. Use the following techniques outlined here to develop yours.

What Do You Think You're Selling?

1. Include the End Result of the Benefit
The intention of a compelling reason is to stimulate interest and open up a conversation. Therefore, you certainly don't want to sound like all the other salespeople who are calling on the same prospects and saying the exact same thing.

If you think that simply telling a prospect what it is you sell is enough to stimulate interest, think again. Your product or service isn't what you are selling or what the prospect is buying. A prospect buys what your product or service will ultimately do for them.

Your compelling reasons should include the benefit of the benefit's benefit. You know you have a great compelling reason when you are able to break it down to its core or the specific result that the prospect will be able to take advantage of and most importantly, visualize and connect with.

Since most people buy based on a future expectation, your prospects will be more inclined to listen to what you have to say if you have an end result they want.

When making an initial cold call or introductory call, you have seconds to grab the attention of the person you are calling on. Remember, you'll have the opportunity to discuss your product or the strategy to achieve the desired result later on in your sales process only after you've set an appointment or confirmed interest.

2. Pass the "So What" Test
You know you have the end result of the benefit when the statement can pass the "so what?" test.

Jill sells insurance and financial services. When I asked her to list the benefits of her service she responded with the following statement. "We have an online reporting system that automates your administrative duties. My response, "So what?"

Since her statement did not pass the "so what" test we need to go a bit deeper. The benefit Jill shared with me was, "Automates your administrative duties." Lets peel away a few more layers to uncover the end result of this benefit. She told me that by doing so, her clients can streamline their operations. I challenged her again by asking her to share with me what the end result would be if her clients were able to streamline their operations and become efficient. “They would be able to save a tremendous amount of time,” she said.

Finally, here's what Jill and I came up with. "We have a system that will eliminate three hours of your workload every day." Now this passes the "so what" test, since it demonstrates the end result of the benefit that the prospect can realize and is compelling enough to grab their attention.

You know you have come up with a great compelling reason when your prospects respond with a question like, “How are you going to do that?”

3. Speak to Their Ear (Make It Personal)
It's one thing to tout the intoxicating benefits of your product that the company as a whole would want to realize. However, if you're speaking to someone in HR, they may not do cartwheels when you tell them that your product or service will save the company money or increase company profitability.

What does your product or service do for them, specifically? What would capture the ear of the person you are speaking with? How does your product benefit them? It's one thing to share the benefits that the company may experience but what about the person you are speaking with face to face or who is on the other end of the phone? After all, it's not the entire company and each individual within the company that you're looking to get a response from. It’s the person who's making the decision to explore your offering in more detail.

4. Include Testimonials or Measurable Results
The more you can offer and demonstrate measurable results that other customers have realized, the more of an impact it will have. It adds to the clarity of the visual picture and experience that you are trying to paint regarding what they can expect from your service rather than the generally vague picture of "making them money or saving them money."

So, quantify your results. Use statistics, percentages, numbers, or testimonials. If you can save a client money, how much might you be able to save them? When it comes to saving time, decreasing client attrition, increasing employee retention, experiencing greater levels of personal satisfaction, peace of mind, well being and happiness, or boosting sales, productivity, and efficiency, you will dramatically increase the impact of the statement by attaching a measurement to it.

5. Identify Their Greatest Pain
The fact is, pain is often a greater motivator than pleasure. Many of us are driven to avoid potential consequences or eliminate problems rather than create or take advantage of a benefit. After all, aside from scheduling a complete physical, we typically don't go to the doctor when we're feeling healthy.

Think about the greatest pain, challenge, or headache that some of your clients have experienced as a result of using another vendor. What do they want to avoid most? What is the personal pain that you will solve if they utilize your product or service? What are their main problems, personal stresses, or triggers of anxiety that they experience in their job that you can eliminate?

Once you verbalize a prospect's greatest pain or problem, they are more willing and ready to resolve it.

The Shotgun Approach
Now, some of my clients have asked, "Keith, why develop a minimum of five compelling reasons?" Well, think of it this way. If you are calling on someone for the first time, do you know exactly what this prospect's hot button is or what will motivate the prospect to listen to you? Not exactly.

If it's not a benefit to the prospect, they won't be interested in hearing about it. If this is the case, then you have succeeded in continually reinforcing the wrong message with every prospect.

If you find that you're having difficulty creating your own compelling reasons, the fact is, this is a challenging exercise that requires some creative thinking and the ability to peel away at the traditional benefit statements in order to get to the core compelling reason. Enroll your boss or manager to assist you. Hire your own sales coach. If you are part of a sales force then make this a team effort. Ask your clients why they bought from you, rather than formulating your own conclusions. After all, people buy based on their reasons, not yours.

Developing your top five compelling reasons why a prospect should speak with you provides a unique opportunity for you to reconnect with your product newly, to reinvent and reposition what it is you are selling and discover a greater value you can offer that your prospects can connect with on a deeper level.