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Identify Customer Needs and Values

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Many salespeople find that business 'owners' make decisions differently from 'managers' ... all information collected to tailor a sales presentation that ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Identify Customer Needs and Values


1
Identifying Customer Needs and Wants
  • Chapter 12

2
Probing
  • Probing is the process of getting information
  • that is necessary to . . .
  • Discover customer needs
  • Find solutions to problems
  • Complete the sale
  • Probing is also called needs analysis or
    discovery

3
Probing
  • How to identify what your prospect wants and why
    they want it
  • Reconfirms and supplements the customer profile
  • Reveals factors such as practices, values and
    goals, restrictions, problems and needs, and
    loyalties
  • Is where good preparation pays off
  • Probing can reveal prospect is not aware of
    problem or need
  • Often when you are introducing new idea or
    technology

4
Probing
  • The most successful salespeople stay away from
    high pressure tactics
  • Your job is to understand business needs as well
    as personal needs
  • Goal is to create such a strong partnership or
    professional relationship with the customer that
    they will benefit from working together over the
    course of many years
  • Your products and services must fit the general
    business decisions the customer has already made
  • Decisions must result in profit

5
When to Probe
  • Probing occurs . . .
  • At the beginning,
  • In the middle,
  • At end of a call
  • The most extensive probing occurs at the
    beginning of the call
  • There are a few exceptions
  • A businessperson with very limited time
  • A purchasing agent or buyer in a large company

6
How to Probe
  • Skillful probing uses many different types of
    questions
  • Closed questions with a factual answer
  • Open questions that invite sharing
  • Confirming and clarifying questions that help
    you understand
  • Commitment questions that move the call toward a
    sale

7
Areas To Probe
  • There are six major categories of information
  • that may be collected during the probing
  • 1. How the buying decision is made
  • 2. Business or production goals
  • 3. Relevant business or production practices
  • 4. Expectations -- how suppliers are evaluated
  • 5. Current loyalties and perceived results
  • 6. Unmet needs and unmet expectations
  • Effective probing generates information in each
    category

8
1. How the Buying Decision is Made
Areas To Probe . . .
  • Selling and buying are processes, not events
  • Probing must uncover how these processes works
  • Who makes the buying decision?
  • Who influences the decision?
  • Is the decision made quickly or only after long
    analysis?
  • What types of things does the customer normally
    consider when making a decision?
  • The two main clusters of information you want
    to uncover are their goals and the decision
    process

9
  • 2. Business Goals Most businesses find their
    goals are clustered into three categories
  • Cash flow -- Describes the movement of cash
    through the firm
  • Profit -- Measured as operating profit or return
    on investment
  • Market share -- Proportion of the total market a
    specific business has captured
  • Many salespeople find that business owners make
    decisions differently from managers
  • There are often several people who influence the
    decision process
  • It is critical to understand how the organization
    makes decisions

10
3. Business Practices
Areas To Probe . . .
  • Every business is unique, just as every person is
    unique
  • Understanding the way an account does business
  • is essential to knowing how to . . .
  • Tailor your product and service bundle
  • Position your company and yourself
  • Choose the best selling points and benefits --
    those that match the way your prospect does
    business

11
  • 4. Expectations Long-term, mutually beneficial
    sales relationships are built on a strong
    foundation of customer satisfaction
  • Customers who are not satisfied do not generally
    tell the salesperson unless it is severe
  • Customer satisfaction is a function of
    performance and expectations
  • Customer satisfaction is within the control of
    the salesperson, who
  • doesnt control product quality
  • sometimes doesnt control service quality
  • does control the quality
  • of their own performance
  • Customer expectations must be managed

12
  • 5. Current Loyalties and Perceived Results
    Loyalty is not dead!
  • There is a lot more loyalty to a person than to a
    product or a company
  • Almost every experienced salesperson has been in
    a situation where his or her price or service
    package was not the best in the market, and yet
    the customer chose to stay
  • It is useful to probe into a prospects loyalty
    patterns. What kinds of things are likely to
    generate loyalty?
  • Price, Product performance, Services,
    Relationship
  • If you understand who the customer is loyal to
    and why they are loyal you can develop strategies
    for getting and keeping the customer
  • A prospect is someone elses customer

13
5. Current Loyalties and Perceived Results.
  • Sometimes, probing reveals a need to the prospect
    that they didnt realize they had. They may be
    unaware of...
  • A new product, service, or practice
  • How a marketing program could help
  • How a new technology could simplify and solve a
    problem
  • A business that offers a truly higher level of
    service
  • Probing is a dialogue that allows the salesperson
    to diagnose the needs, values, opportunities and
    goals of the customer as an individual and as the
    owner or manager of a business
  • Two key skills are involved . . .
  • Productive questioning
  • Active listening

14
  • 6. Unmet Needs and Expectations
  • In business-to-business selling most prospects
    are already someones customer
  • While they may be reluctant to speak about it . .
    .uncovering some level of dissatisfaction that
    might be brewing inside a prospects mind can be
    a powerful discovery and very useful in
    developing a selling strategy
  • Unmet needs and expectations are even more
    important when dealing with your own customers
    because they represent areas of vulnerability
  • Whether the problem is factual (real problem) or
    a perception founded on a misunderstanding the
    impact on the customer is the same
  • Uncovering these areas of weakness allows you to
    correct the problem -- before you lose them to
    another company

15
6. Unmet Needs and Expectations.
  • Information about dissatisfaction with a current
    supplier
  • must be handled very tactfully since the
    prospect. . .
  • May be defensive about a previous decision
  • May want to protect their current relationship
  • Might be suspicious of you
  • When you sense a level of dissatisfaction, gently
    and tactfully suggest a positive you offer.
    Store that information and later build a selling
    point around that issue

16
Productive Questioning
  • There are four basic types of questions

Open questions
Closed questions
Clarifying questions
Confirming questions
17
Open Questions
Types of Questions . . .
  • Its only when a person listens that they can
    truly learn
  • Open questions do not have a yes or no answer
  • They ask the customer to give a slice of the
    world as they see it
  • Open questions start with the following phrases .
    . .
  • Tell me about
  • What has been your experience with
  • What do you think about
  • How do you
  • Why do you

18
Open Questions
Types of Questions . . .
  • Open questions are often used near
  • the beginning of a call
  • They get the customer talking
  • Can be a way of building rapport
  • Can help salesman learn more about the business
    or the customer
  • Near the beginning of the call these questions
    help channel the rest of the call to those topics
    that are most important to the customer

19
Open Questions
Types of Questions . . .
  • Open questions are invaluable
  • when the salesperson meets customer resistance
  • Why do you think this process
  • wouldnt work for you?
  • Open questions help the salesperson uncover
    expectations and measure customer satisfaction

20
Closed Questions
Types of Questions . . .
  • Are useful for gathering specific information
  • - facts, figures, trade-offs,
  • specific problems or issues
  • What results did you get?
  • What products did you use?
  • Where have you been purchasing?
  • Who has been helping you there?

21
Closed Questions
  • Three cautions salespeople should observe when
    using closed questions . . .
  • 1. Closed questions -- near the beginning of a
    call -- can steer you off course
  • 2. When salespeople are new (or nervous), they
    may sometimes ask a closed question and then
    answer it themselves, before the customer has a
    chance to think it through and answer
  • 3. Some salespeople fire off closed questions as
    if they were holding an interrogation

22
Closed Questions
Types of Questions . . .
  • Customers may give information once willingly,
  • but they dont appreciate being asked
  • the same questions several times.
  • Salespeople find that customers dont mind
  • the salesperson taking notes,
  • especially if they are asked permission.
  • Ask permission to take notes
  • Take notes

23
Clarifying Questions
Types of Questions . . .
  • Effective clarifying questions represent two
    skill sets
  • Ability to ask a good question
  • Ability to listen
  • Clarifying questions play back what the
    salesperson has heard and ask the customer to
    clarify or explain a little more

24
Clarifying Questions
Types of Questions . . .
  • Clarifying questions have three very important
    functions
  • Show the customer the salesperson has been
    listening
  • Help the salesperson check the implications of
    what he/she has heard
  • Encourage customers to give additional, important
    details as they correct misunderstandings or
    explain what theyve said

25
Confirming Questions
Types of Questions . . .
  • Allow the salesperson to check for
    understanding
  • Simply help the salesperson check their facts,
    perceptions and understanding
  • Have I got that right?
  • That was 30,000 finished cattle a year?
  • Most of your technical support comes from your
    representatives then?

26
Commitment Questions
Types of Questions . . .
Commitment Questions reaffirm the prospect
agrees. You may reaffirm the prospect agreed to
purchase a product or service, or simply that
they agree with one of your selling points.
27
Building a Question Flow
  • Good salespeople often use questions to drive
    or direct the sales call
  • The nice thing about using questions is . . .
  • questions allow the salesperson to work through
    the entire sales process in a conversational
    manner rather than high-pressure presentations or
    making a speech

28
Building a Question Flow
  • A good description was developed by Neil Rackham
  • in his book . . .Spin Selling
  • Begin by exploring the situation
  • Uncover any problems or obvious opportunities
    for improvement
  • Investigate the implications of those
    problems/opportunities
  • Develop a need payoff (what would it be worth
    to solve the problem) and ask for agreement

29
Building a Question Flow
Situation How did your hybrids
perform last year?
30
Listening
  • Listening is the most critical probing skill
  • Human beings are often inefficient or poor
    listeners
  • People seldom will tell you that you are a poor
    listener
  • They just find somebody else
  • who will listen

31
Why Listening is Difficult
  • Five common reasons people dont listen well.
    They.
  • are bored
  • dont really care about the speaker or his/her
    opinions
  • do or think they already know what the customer
    is telling them
  • cant focus on someone else for very long
  • are nervous and/or preparing the next thing they
    want to say

32
Effective Listening
  • Effective listening is active listening
  • Listen to everything the customer says
  • Listen for the way the customer says it
  • Carefully observe all non-verbal communication
  • You must pay attention to three types of
    information
  • Facts
  • Feelings
  • Non-verbal cues

33
Listening for Facts
  • Use clarifying questions or re-phrase what you
    just heard to help make sure you have heard and
    understand the implications of what the customer
    is saying
  • Sub-verbally support the customer and encourage
    them to keep talking Oh?, Yes, I see,
    uh-huh, a raised eye-brow, nod of the head
  • Take notes, draw diagrams or fields, or draw
    organizational diagrams
  • Never answer your own questions
  • Never interrupt the customer or stop listening
    before the customer has finished answering
  • Try not to get side-tracked by interruptions
    such as the phone, beepers, other employees

34
Listening for Feelings
  • Feelings may be more important then facts when a
    customer is making a major purchase
  • Pay attention to how fast the customer is
    talking. The rate of conversation can be a cue
    for
  • excitement about a problem or opportunity
  • nervousness about an issue
  • eagerness to move toward a result
  • Pay attention to how much information the
    customer shares. In general customers share
    information when they
  • are comfortable with the salesperson
  • believe the salesperson might be able to help
    them
  • have a complaint
  • want to communicate their expectations

35
Non-verbal Cues
  • Sociologists tell us that much of our
    communication occurs through non-verbal messages
  • 55 percent non-verbal communication
  • 38 percent tone of voice
  • 7 percent only through the words themselves
  • Non-verbal communication includes . . .
  • Actions
  • Gestures
  • Body posture
  • Facial expressions

36
Non-Verbal Cues
  • Customers often provide important clues about
    their state of mind, non-verbally
  • Leaning away can be a sign of discomfort
  • Leaning forward is a sign of interest and
    involvement
  • Leaning back, arms behind head, or standing with
    one foot on something indicates they feel
    comfortable
  • Crossed arms may indicate defensiveness or
    holding in of feelings
  • Furrowed brow may mean you need to slow down and
    allow the customer more time to ask questions and
    process information
  • Pursed lips may indicate impatience or anger
  • Nervous leg-shaking or pencil-tapping may
    indicate anxiety or a need to move the call along
  • Looking at a watch or clock means the salesperson
    is out of time
  • Expert salespeople not only read their
    customers non-verbal communication They control
    their own

37
Keeping Track of What Is Learned
  • It is a good idea to actually record
  • important information about key accounts
  • or high priority prospects
  • Information about the decision maker
  • Information about business goals
  • Facts about the business
  • Critical success factors for the business
  • How they evaluate their suppliers
  • Satisfaction with current suppliers
  • Opportunities for improving their results
  • Unmet needs or expectations

38
Transition To The Presentation
  • At some point, the customer expects the
    salesperson to process what (s)he has heard
  • Present ideas or solutions
  • Describe products and services
  • Explain how you can help them
  • This transitional period is sometimes called
    arousing interest
  • It is a bridge between uncovering basic needs and
    values of the customer and providing alternatives
    or solutions

39
Arousing Interest
  • There are several possible ways to manage this
    transition
  • Sometimes it happens naturally, the customer is
    clearly ready to get down to business
  • Sometimes, the customer waits for the
    salesperson to make the transition
  • When you feel you have a good grasp of the
    customers needs, values and problems, it is time
    to move into the next stage

40
Arousing Interest -- Transition Tactics
  • Select a technical feature or program that might
  • be useful, based on what has been learned
  • Arouse curiosity in potential results
  • Begin customizing a product / service bundle
    that fits this particular customers needs
  • Use a testimonial
  • Show a personal analysis this is particularly
    expected on the second or third call
  • Set up a hypothetical what if?

41
Summary
  • Probing is a process of discovering a prospects
  • needs, values, and problems through . . .
  • Diagnostic questioning
  • Listening
  • Capturing
  • Probing involves several types of questions
  • Open
  • Closed
  • Clarifying
  • Confirming
  • Probing is highly useful in the early stages of a
    call
  • but is a tool used extensively throughout the call

42
Summary
  • Salespeople must be excellent listeners
  • Hearing and confirming spoken information
  • Listening for feelings
  • Observing non-verbal signals
  • The customer expects the salesperson to offer
    information, ideas, and solutions that involve
    their products and services and generate
    significant benefits for them
  • Building a bridge and generating interest in
    hearing your story can be critical to selling
    success
  • Utilize all information collected to tailor a
    sales presentation that uniquely fits each
    customer
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