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Hi!
It's been a long time since I had written any new material. So here it is now!
As the slowdown in the world economy continues, it may be harder now to discover significant problems or challenges that customers could be facing. Customers may also be putting off investments to solve their problems until the economy becomes better.
As a first step, we could explore how we can still make the sale when the customer does NOT have a significant problem or challenge that they need to resolve immediately.
Hence, this month's topics:
This issue's main article is on "How to Sell to Customers when They Don’t Really have an Obvious Need?, and we explore what are some effective conversations that you can have to uncover hidden needs and insights.
In brief:
To read the rest of this newsletter, pls. click here (http://www.psycheselling.com/page4.html). How to Sell to Customers when They Don’t Really have an Obvious Need? by c.j. Ng
Recently, I was talking to a client who used to train their sales people using SPIN Selling, but is now looking at alternative forms of sales training. Initially, I thought that they could be looking for sales training that they don’t need to pay for expensive licensing fees as a means of reducing costs. However, this was not the case, as they have deeper needs that needed to be addressed.
For the uninitiated, SPIN stands for:
Typically, trainees are trained to ask questions to find out
These all sound very logical, BUT what this client’s sales people found is a slightly different scenario. Their customers don’t really have a problem that needs to be resolved. In fact, their customers are quite happy and satisfied with their current suppliers, and there’s no existing impetuous need to change.
Looking back at my many other clients and sales trainees, I too observed that in many, if not most cases, sales people don’t really face with customers that face critical issues or problems that need to be resolved. However, that does not mean that they don't have any buying needs. It just means that a different sales approach is needed to discover their hidden needs.
Approaching Customers with No Current Needs
So how do you sell to a customer who does not have obvious and immediate needs? Here are some trains of thoughts that you can explore:
Exploring Future Needs
If you were to start your sales conversation by diving into what are some of the challenges the customer would like to resolve, then you may be in for a bad surprise. Not only do customers are less likely to have a serious problem that require an external resource to resolve, even IF they do have a problem, they may not want to share with you if they don’t trust you enough.
Hence, it may make sense to drive the conversation towards potential needs, by starting with what they might be planning in the future. Some sample questions could be:
While this customer may not be able to help you achieve your sales targets in the short term, you may actually be on course to develop some new businesses which you otherwise might have missed.
Developing
Being a Slightly Better Alternative Sometimes, you don't’ need to even prove to the customer that you can bring drastic savings or improvements in performances. Sometimes you don’t even need to have a better product. In fact, as much as 48% of the best sales proposals lose the deal.
There could be times when you just need to be a slightly more attentive and better supplier. Here are the reasons why:
In other words, customers may buy from you NOT because your products and services really made a huge difference, BUT because they are looking for reliable alternative suppliers.
The question to sales people is: are you able to position yourself to be that SUITABLE alternative?
Sharpen Your Business Acumen Much has been discussed about how sales people should be trusted advisor to customers, and qualities such as having integrity has been widely preached.
However, customers will not trust your advice if you have no idea how you can help suggest ideas that might improve their business performance.
To do so, you will need to:
Key business drivers can be helping the customer:
Still not convinced? According to research, as much as 39% of customers choose their suppliers based on the sales person’s effectiveness.
Customers don’t buy from your company. They buy from you to get your company’s products and services. That is the reason why when some things didn’t work out as planned, they will call your mobile phone instead of customer service or anyone else.
Customers may not have a big, current problem or challenge that they need to solve now, BUT some of them may want to have a trusted advisor who can help them avoid problems or achieve goals in the near future.
Need help in selling to customers when they don't really have a huge problem to solve? Simply e-mail info@directions-consulting.com or call +86-21-6219 0021 or WeChat: cydj001 and arrange to have a deeper discussion. Power Breakfast Hour: 20 Oct 2016 How to Sell to Customers when They Don’t Really have an Obvious Need?
How to conduct VENUE: Crowne Plaza Shanghai • 400 Panyu Road (near Fahuazhen Road) • 上海银星皇冠酒店 • 番禺路 400 号 （靠法华镇路）
DATE: Thursday, 20 Oct 2016 TIME: 08:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
PRICE: RMB 200 ONLY!
To make this a more conducive discussion, we are expecting a small group of about 15 people only, so please register early to avoid disappointments. Please e-mail your registrations too sales@directions-consulting.com
Pls. check out our web sites www.directions-consulting.com and www.psycheselling.com/page4.html for more inspiration. Tips for Questioning Techniques :How to Structure Your Questioning Strategy
by c.j. Ng
If you have been attending different sales trainings, you might have noticed the common themes with regards to how sales people should structure their questioning strategies. These include:
In addition to "open" and "close" questions, sales people could also use questioning techniques that are already well-established in the world of coaching, such as:
In any case, sales people will still have to start with "what would I like to find out about the customer" and work backwards with better and a more complete set of questioning tools to get customers to give forthright answers.
Directions Management Consulting
Directions Management Consulting is the partner of LeadershipIQ in China and Asia. LeadershipIQ helps more than 125,000 leaders every year through the facts drawn from one of the largest ongoing leadership studies ever conducted is used to help companies apply resources where the best possible results be achieved.
In addition, Directions Management Consulting is a leading provider of sales performance, innovation and experiential learning solutions in China and many parts of Asia.
Using the Belbin Team Role Profiling, Directions Management Consulting helps develop high performance teams and leadership at every level.
Psycheselling.com is the sales performance arm of Directions Management Consulting specialising in conducting training, research and consulting services for sales managers and their team.
Raybattle is the strategic partner of Directions Management Consulting specialising in experiential learning events and management retreats.
Currently, Directions Management Consulting has served clients such as Delphi Packard, InterContinental Hotels Group, Alcoa Wheels, Standard Chartered Bank, Merial, ThyssenKrupp, Lowe's Global Sourcing, Diehl, Kulzer Dental etc.
Directions Management Consulting will increase its efforts to conduct leadership studies in China and other parts of Asia, so that more companies apply resources where the best possible results be achieved in this part of the world.
Enquiries and suggestions, pls. e-mail info@directions-consulting.com or visit www.directions-consulting.com |
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