Do You Really Understand Your Customer's Problems?

I have the opportunity to speak with the sales leaders for a lot of small and medium-sized businesses. One common sales challenge I have been hearing a lot lately is that sales people are not having consultative dialogues with the customer. As a result, sales cycles become longer or win rates drop. Let me paint the picture.

If you are a seller—it’s happened to you.  If you are a sales manager—you see it all the time.  A seller is working on an opportunity with a new prospect and all signs indicate that they are going to buy.  Then after a long period of silence from the prospect, the seller is told that the purchase or initiative is going to be put on hold.  The salesperson can’t figure out what went wrong and instantly scrambles to put the deal back together (sometimes making things worse).  The sales manager is confused as to why business that was once forecasted in the pipeline has seemingly disappeared for no reason.

While the customer may give the seller several reasons on why they decided not to go forward, chances are that the seller never truly understood the factors that were impacting their buying decision in the first place!

Think about the last purchase you made where you felt you had a positive experience with the salesperson.  Did the sales person introduce themselves and immediately tell you what they thought you needed? Did they ask you questions to better understand your situation and accurately diagnose your needs?

Here is a good way to test yourself to see if you understand your customer’s real problems.  Think of a specific opportunity you are working on and name two or three challenges that your prospect wants your capabilities to help them resolve. In most cases, this is the easy part.

Now comes the hard part. Ask yourself, “What bad thing will continue to happen if they don’t do business with us?”  It could be that their revenue won’t grow, they will lose market share, miss a goal, etc. Obviously, it varies based on product or service.

But if you can’t answer the question, chances are your prospect can’t either.
The basic principle here is to diagnose before you prescribe.  When you can answer the question, “what bad thing will continue to happen if they don’t do business with us?” you are ready to provide your prospect with a recommended solution. Challenge yourself to answer that question for your clients. They will reward you with their business.

To learn more about SPI’s Small and Medium Business Solutions, click here

Comments

[Door Levers]

Businesses should make sure that they realise the end solution is in the problem they encounter. They should also make sure that there is a clear customer service process communicated to the rest of the entire work force..