Sales Velocity Partners
www.salesvelocitypartners.com
Diagnosing Customers And Their Problems Customers must discover, understand the impact of, and take ownership of problems before deciding to seek a solution. Customers rarely reach conclusions about their problems at the same time that the salespeople do. When a salesperson moves too quickly and too far ahead of their customers, they create a gap that the customers often see as applying pressure. The result is mistrust and a confrontational atmosphere. People reveal their true feelings and problems only when they believe their input will be respected and no negative consequences will result from the information they share. Be careful to communicate by word and deed; this will let them know that you mean no harm. This nurturing attitude enables open communication and mutual understanding and maximizes the probability of a positive quality decision. Your goal is to play short expertise in the customer's context. It must get deep into the symptoms, causes, and consequences of the prospect situation. If you help the customer create the criteria that they need to make a quality decision and then offer a solution that meets those criteria, there is no closing required.
There Are Fundamentally Only Two Reasons Why Customers Do Not Buy They don't believe they have a problem, or it is not serious enough to do anything about. They really don't have the incentive to change. They don't believe the solution proposed will work. They know they have a problem and they want to take action, but they do not have confidence in the proposed solution. Successful salespeople ask the right questions to understand and communicate the customer's problems. These questions are purposefully designed to avoid turning conversations into interrogations, or interviews and surveys. They help the salesperson develop integrated diagnostic conversations in which the customer's self-esteem is protected and mutual value is generated thereby stimulating communication.
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Sales Velocity Partners
www.salesvelocitypartners.com
By asking the right questions salespeople help customers to realize that they have a problem that is affecting their personal or their business objectives. Help customers thoroughly explore the dimensions of the problem and the sum of the total cost within. Help customers determine whether that cost justifies immediate action relative to other issues and opportunities they face. Now that the customer has made the decision to change, who do you think the customer believes is best qualified to help design a high-quality solution to the problem? The conventional salesperson believes the decision to buy is made much later, after a presentation and after a proposal. Since you have established exceptional credibility, it is highly likely that they have decided to buy from you and your company before any proposal.
Don't Forget To Introduce Primary Alternatives with Customers By doing this you are teaching customers that the questions they need to ask the vendors of alternative solutions and will able them to sort through the competitive smoke and mirrors.
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