Volume #7

Increase your sales with CVS to BVS

‘Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to
open the door is just one more good idea.’
Jim Rohn

The concept of CVS TO BVS can increase sales of any product or service if you understand and use it correctly. I first came across the concept of CVS to BVS in the book Newsell by Michael Hewitt Gleeson.

Michael offers an excellent free Internet course on selling (which I recommend) called Newsell and you can see further details at www.newsellcoaching.com.

What is CVS to BVS?

The initials in this concept stand for

CVS: Current view of the situation

BVS: Better view of the situation

Here’s what these mean...

CVS stands for the current view of the situation.

This is the way you (or someone else) views some part of their life.

Here’s an important point.

People will usually tend to act consistent with their current view of the situation.

Example:

Many years ago I did particularly well in a sales competition and won a brand new computer with all the trimmings.

My CVS or current view of the situation (as far as computers were concerned ) was very simple. They were handy if you wanted to write an occasional letter and that was all they were handy for.

I had this CVS for about three years and as long as I had it I my actions were always consistent with that viewpoint. I think I used the computer to write three letters!

I had no interest in computers and took no notice of anything to do with them.

The only way you can get a person to change their actions is to show them a BVS

A BVS stands for a better view of the situation.

This happened with my computer. I read a very interesting book on technology called Technotrends by Daniel Burrus. The book explained in detail the effect of technology on our lives. Once I read that book my CVS changed. I immediately saw that if I wanted to succeed in today’s business environment I had to master computers. If I didn't I would be left behind!

My BVS was that computers were indispensable; they had thousands of uses and could save me time and make me a lot of money!

Once I had a new BVS guess what changed?

That's right. My actions!

Suddenly I was interested in anything to do with computers. I bought computer manuals and software. I invested in tuition. I began reading everything I could get my hands on about computers. I upgraded my existing computer and bought a new one.

All these actions were consistent with my new BVS.

This has tremendous relevance in selling.

Right now many of your customers or prospects have a CVS about your product or service that is not particularly helpful to them buying it.

Example:

Lets say you sell business telephone systems. Your prospect has a CVS about phone systems that says that their existing system is all they need to do what they want. As long as your prospect has this CVS it is unlikely they will be receptive to upgrading their phone system.

Your job is to show your prospect a BVS that makes it logical behaviour for them to upgrade their phone system. You may show them for instance that with an updated system it could allow them to handle more customer enquiries with one less staff member. This might mean a potential $45,000 a year in savings for your prospect.

If your new phone system is only $10,000 suddenly this new BVS makes it attractive for your prospect to consider investing the money.

One of our main jobs in selling any product or service is to continually be coming up with a large number of BVS for our product or service that make it attractive for our customers to invest in them.

When you get the right BVS for any potential client they can become keen customers very quickly.

Here’s an important point

If you can’t get your customer to change their unhelpful CVS about your product or service to a more helpful BVS you are wasting your effort trying to get them to buy.

If you look at my computer example, you can see that no matter how persuasive someone might have been about the value of a good computer, the message was falling on deaf ears as long as I had my unhelpful CVS about computers. The only time I was receptive to spending money on anything to do with computers was after my CVS changed to a BVS. Offering me anything before my CVS changed would have been a complete waste of effort.

I experienced this wasted effort myself a few days ago...

I was contacted by a recruitment consultant interested in finding out more about my special report marketing services. (You can read more about special reports in volume three of Easy Business Success.)

I discovered this consultant has had great success helping clients to negotiate large salary increases using a very effective pay raise system he has developed.

This consultant has testimonials on file which show his clients getting huge pay raises after using his pay raise mentoring services.

And he’s also written a short report on the topic.

I told him that this one service (if it was packaged and marketed well) would be something that a huge number of people would pay good money for.

And I gave him a number of ways that I could help him to do this.

However the CVS this gentleman has is that it is not that likely that a lot of people would pay him good money for his pay raise mentoring service.

And as a result of this CVS this person is very unlikely to take action on many of the ideas I recommended that he try.

So as long as he has this CVS I am wasting my efforts suggesting he do different things. All he does is keep coming up with all the reasons why they won’t work.

So your goal is to change an unhelpful CVS that a potential customer has about your product or service and turn this into a more helpful BVS which makes buying your product or service a logical and smart choice for them to make.

And when you do this, you will be amazed at how quickly your sales can increase.

Action Exercise:

1. What is a CVS that many of your prospects about your product or service that is not helpful to them wanting to purchase?

2. What is a BVS that would make it logical behavior for them to invest in your product or service now ?

3. Explain this BVS to a number of your prospects this week.

Have a wonderful month and I’ll be in touch again soon with the next volume of Easy Business Success.

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You can contact Graham at www.twomac.co.nz

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