Sales Tips: Feel, Felt, Found

 

First, a good salesperson controls the conversation. You should not be worrying about what you have to say; instead, you should be listening to and thinking about what your prospects have to say. A valuable formula that will help you in a sales situation is to think in terms of “feel, felt, found.”

 

What do you do when someone gives you an objection? What do you do when they have some particular objection to your product, or your service, or even the entire appointment? It could be anything—whether they think your product costs too much or any other objection. The “feel, felt, found” formula gives you a way to handle that objection.

 

After listening to your prospect—really listening to what they have to say—you might say something like this (in the example of an objection over cost):

 

“Well, sir/ma’am, I appreciate you mentioning that to me, and I understand how you feel. I felt the same way when someone first approached me about this, but what I found out afterwards was that the investment in the product or service actually saved me money, and made me money in the long run.”

 

Maybe somebody says, “I don’t have the time to see you.” In that case, you could say, “I understand how you feel. I talked to someone last week who felt the same way. But what they told me afterwards is that they found it was the best investment of their time that they could have made.”

 

The “feel, felt, found” formula helps you connect with an audience and then substantively talk about an objection. If you are in a new position, or if you are new to sales, you might not have the proper language down yet. You might be worried about what the prospect is going to say to you. This is a helpful formula to hang your hat on. No matter what kind of objection you get, you say, “I understand how you feel. I felt or someone else I talked to felt the same way. But this is what they found out, this is the benefit.” “Feel, felt, found” can give you a track to run on in your sales process.