No wonder my sales were down; I thought AIDA was an Italian Opera!

 Feb 26, 2014

Along time ago, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, before I retrained in psych, I used to be in commercial real estate sales. I failed dismally at my first attempt, which was basically telephoning commercial property owners (who generally had their ‘pet’ agents) and seeing if they had any current needs. The first problem was that I did not perceive myself as a sales person. I had studied Business and Land Economics, and wanted to be on the other side of the fence working for a property developer, so I was not exactly gung-ho to face rejection after rejection. The second problem was that I was just given a phone and a list and told to go for it! There was no training on what to say or tips and tricks on presenting. Needless to say, I bombed out and have subsequently found this is a big issue for sales professionals. My second job in sales was much more successful. I was amalgamating medium density residential sites and then on-selling them to developers. I was not only using my skill in valuation, but I was taught what to do, what to say and given structure on how to say it. It is the latter that this blog post is about. There are two types of presentations that sales people make:
  1. I seek – a less formal, I am just trying to ascertain whether you might have a need for what I've got
  2. You seek – a more formal, you have sought me out or allowed me to present my case to you
Both of these can benefit from AIDA. Aida was an opera written in 1871 by Giuseppe Verdi. That Aida I already knew about (not that I really appreciated opera), but the one that helped me came about 30 years later. An advertising guru of the time, E. St Elmo Lewis, came up with a concept for writing advertisements that was later adapted into the AIDA model.
  • Awareness: attract the attention of the customer.
  • Interest: link the problem to the customer and then raise their interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits (instead of focusing on features, as in traditional advertising).
  • Desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs.
  • Action: lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.
This model has been through some changes in the advertising industry over time, but it is a useful construction in Sales Presentations because it is simple to remember and simple to use (when you are face to face with a prospect you don’t want to get lost in the complexity). It is one of seven models we offer in our Effective Presentations course if you want versatility. Seems pretty simple and maybe for some, a bit too simple but before you dismiss it, let’s infuse this with storytelling and a little of Aristotle’s influencing techniques. In gaining awareness, you can ask a direct question. For example, I could have started this blog with "Are you suffering from a slump in sales?" or "Do your sales presentations sometimes fall flat?" Humour or raising curiosity is good, both of which I have tried to use. If we take a leaf out of Aristotle’s book, establishing credibility up front quickly but subtly could happen here by making a dramatic announcement of a piece of news or a statistic you have discovered. In my case, I have positioned that I have a background in sales and have psych qualifications. At this stage in a story, you need to set the scene and introduce the main character(s). Try and articulate the feelings of the character and the problem they are facing. Link the problem to the reader and bring the problem to a climax. I do this all in the second paragraph. In AIDA, this is A and part of I. The next step of the story is to resolve the problem and the resolution must include your solution. This is the second half of I in AIDA. I do this in the third paragraph. As this is a training piece, however, I go deeper than you otherwise would in an “I seek” conversation, but in a “You seek” presentation you may need to go in greater depth. In the desire stage of AIDA, you need to link across to matching the features to their needs. I subtly do this by saying it is “simple to remember and simple to use (when you are face to face with a prospect you don’t want to get lost in the complexity.)” In a real sales presentation, you may need to go further in depth. Finally, because I have been told that this blog is only meant to be educational, not a sales tool, I have left my call to action a bit flimsy. “It is one of seven models we offer in our Effective Presentations course if you want versatility.” Of course, if that wasn't the case, I would probably say something like: “As I've just shown in my story, access to good information can be the difference between success and failure, or at least mediocre results. Furthermore, you don’t want to fail, so it makes sense to get an edge on your competitors with our Effective Presentations Course.” This is a classic call to action called two truths and a positive suggestion. If you agree with the first two things I say then you will probably accept the suggestion to be true too. And of course, you can access techniques like this too. But, as I am not allowed to sell here, just pretend you didn't read the last two paragraphs.

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About the Author:

Tim Higgs  

Tim has been involved in the corporate training industry for over 15 years; seven of these have been as the Portfolio Manager and Senior Facilitator at New Horizons. Tim holds a Graduate Diploma (Psych/Couns), a masters' degree in Cultural Psychology and a bachelor's degree in Business, giving him a unique theoretical backdrop for understanding human performance in the workplace. This complements his actual experience of working within the corporate sector in sales and management positions and owning and running a small business. Having worked with individuals and groups in both clinical and business settings, Tim has a fantastic insight into human behaviour, motivation and the issue of human change.

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