Last week we talked about the three questions that our customers ask at every interaction. If you have not done so, feel free to go back and read that post. It should only take about 3 minutes. A quick read.
Today we are going to answer how we the professional sales person will answer these questions. We do this by uncovering needs. Yep, we are going to ask them questions. There has been a great deal of study on what questions to ask and old sales techniques always told us to ask open ended questions that are not answered with simple answers like “yes”, or “no”. What I have found is that there is no correlation to success with asking all open-ended questions as opposed to closed ended questions. Obviously if we ask all closed ended questions, we will lose interest from the customer and they will move along.
I choose to use a mixture of open-ended questions and close ended questions. I let the conversation flow well and make the customer feel relaxed. Keep in mind when we are asking questions, the customer is likely to have their guard up. Making the customer feel more relaxed is key at the beginning of the sales process. Making sure where we meet, colors we wear, and scents we spray on is also important. For today, we will focus on the questions.
In the Uncover Needs of the sales process we are looking to draw out information from the customer so that we can sell them the best solution. We need to find out their needs. Needs are grouped into three areas and I use the acronym SIR:
1. Situational
2. Issues
3. Ramifications
Situational needs are questions we use to draw out where the customer is. This is where they are at in the buying process, where they want to get to in the future, who is the decision maker, what is their process for making a decision, what is driving their need for looking at options, etc. These are very probing questions and customers are usually not wanting to discuss for hours on end. The more questions we ask that are situational the more risk we have of the customer becoming anxious. We will want to limit the amount of situational questions that we ask so make sure we are asking the best ones.
The larger the transaction there are likely more than one decision maker. I have had to address large teams of decision makers for deals in the multi-million range. When I was selling outdoor power equipment to landscapers it was usually one or two people. Keep that in perspective when you are in the situational questions to understand if you are speaking to the correct decision makers.
Issues are the needs we really need to focus on. They are the limiting factors for organizations that want to move forward, or the reasons why organizations may fail. These are highly motivating needs that we need to address with our product or service. Pain is a large driver in making changes so find out what pain they are experiencing and why. We also need to understand why these issues are causing them limits or pain. Asking what success would look like to the customer here would help them think in depth and confide in us a little more. They may also bring in the people that are actually experiencing the pain to help describe to us the issue not just the symptom of the issue. The key is to find the issues that we can resolve with our product or service.
Ramifications are also highly motivating needs that we need to know. If the customer is unsuccessful in finding an option to mitigate the issue they have, what does that look like? Does the organization have to close its doors, does it lose a large contract, or is it smaller to where the customer can not find a special gift for someone special? Husbands do not buy your significant other a treadmill. That is not a special gift.
When the stakes are high people are very motivated to find a solution and are more open to options. Make sure when asking ramification questions that we are building up the problem in the customer’s mind to drive a sense of urgency so they open up, bring in others that can help provide information, and help us find more information to drive the best solution. The more we elevate the issue the better influence we can have on helping our customers. Understanding the ramifications well will strengthen our sales presentation later and can move the customer to action.
Be careful not to jump into your presentation just yet. If we do not uncover all of the needs prior to presenting they we will miss the target and then we risk devaluing our solution. When I do half and full day trainings on the sales process I walk teams through the entire process including developing the questions that will derive larger impact with their customers. We really need to invest time to develop great questions for the sales teams to make greater impact which results in becoming the brand of choice.
“Businesses wonder why it is still hard to be thought of as the brand of choice with customers. How can our business make more profitable transactions and stay out of the commodity battle with low profits? I equip your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate explosive revenues with greater profits!”
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lWIVasmkFsoYL4h0AqIZgH6LC3qaw_gI/view?usp=sharing – client profile sheet
https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Process-Uncovered-Success-Influence/dp/0578421518 - Book
https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/5AF12 - Sales Process Uncovered Online Training
https://kevinsidebottom.kartra.com/page/68N10 - Trustworthy Online Training