4 Cs of Selling

As we consult clients, we mentor on the 4 Cs of selling. These staples of effective marketing are essential to understand in order to convert customers. Most business hit at least two of the 4 C’s but find that their conversion rate does not meet their expectations. Instead of correcting the challenge at the root, they just push out more marketing. thinking that the increase in volume will meet their goals and milestones. So what are the 4 Cs of selling? Let’s dive into it, shall we.

Creditability, Capability, Cost, and Chemistry it rolls off of my tongue like silk chocolate, and when it explaining it, it goes something like this.

Creditability
Is your product or service creditable? Can you back them up with facts? This is why legitimate reviews are so important to most businesses. For those products with a more defined pallet, acknowledgment from major sources help galvanize your creditability. This is why a reference holds so much value. If your colleague provides a reference about your business, skip go and move right on to capability.

Capability
Does your product or service meet expectations? If hired, can you produce the intended results in a reasonable timeframe? Do you have the equipment or man power to do so? The owner of a company I worked for many moons ago, had a saying; “Don’t make the sizzle better than the steak” In other words do not over sell yourself or your creditability will be in jeopardy.

When I look at services or products being offered, I always take a look under the hood to see if they are truly able to meet expectations. However, you can get a glimps by thoroughly going through a company’s website. However, to shorten the sale, just put your capability right up front.

Cost
This is the one that everyone gets …. maybe. Is your product or service priced right? Are you creating the right value with what you are offering? I read so many articles about how to put the right value on products and services. One of my favorites is a bottle of water. Put that bottle in a regular store it costs $1.00. Put that bottle on an airplane, it costs $3.00. Put that bottle in an amusement park on a hot day, it costs $5.00. The water’s value only changed because of the environment. If you nail the first 2 c’s then, you can charge more in the right environment.

Chemistry
Ok, so you have the first 3 C’s nailed down, but your sales team has the personality of a greasy used car salesman. This my friends is where I will show my age. Before all of the current technology that we use, the marketing and sales team needed to find a way to connect directly with the values, desires, and personality of the consumer. We call it demographic. But it is so much deeper than that. Face to face interactions, allowed sales to be able to read tone, facial expressions and posture to form immediate responses to close the sale. In our modern age we have lost this art, and use all sorts of assumptions to try to replace the human experience. Chemistry of an organization starts from the first moment an interaction occurs.

As an example, I travel almost every week, and I fly Delta. Delta, in my mind is the epitome of chemistry. At least for me, every step of my journey is catered to by friendly voices, faces and attitudes. The tone they use to solve challenges and provide service is why I continue to go back to them every week, even if I have an occasional negative experience. My suggestion, pick your example and learn from that business and understand why they are the forefront of their industry.

So where does this get us? The above is a short list of the 4Cs. Grab a pen and start checking the boxes. If you honestly can not check 4 boxes then go back and figure out how to change. If you feel like you are missing something, that is where I come in. Schedule an appointment with me for 30 mins. It is FREE.