In my last blog, I talked about the importance of knowledge, of knowing your products and your clients’ products strengths and weakness better than your competitors.
If you did the exercise, you will now be armed with more tools to sell your product or service.
So far, in the selling journey we have had Mindset, Insight, and now the Path-Evaluating clients’ needs.
The next stage in the selling journey is the Path.
Every sale involves some type of discovery. At this point, you have adjusted your mindset and achieved solid insight into your product or service. You are now ready to get on the path to a sale.
The next step is discovering what your clients’ needs and wants really are. You are not ready to seal the deal, but you are looking down the road ahead of you, mapping out the territory that will lead to the sale.
You will cover this ground alongside your client, by focusing on your clients’ needs and how you can move together down the path toward fulfilling them. Think of “the path” as the discovery process behind every sale, where we find out how we can match up our product with the needs of the customer.
I sometimes put it another way – “Stop selling your solution, and find out their problems.”
We should understand that the intersection is not reached all at once, and the journey is seldom the same twice.
Clients’ needs differ depending on many variables, including timing and general willingness to buy. Our job is to discover the underlying need or want, and to be there when the timing and willingness converge.
We can do that by creating events and taking actions that position us in the clients’ path, so we are there when they are ready to buy.
You can only be truly ready to provide solutions to your clients’ problems if you develop a deep understanding of their wants and needs.
In the first instance, you do this by asking questions. We’ll explore that some more in the next blog.
Evaluate emotional needs
Remember this: Every one of your clients has a need for your product, usually at an emotional level.
What I want you to do is a simple, quick exercise.
Either spend some time with a notepad, or just answer these in your next sales meeting, or do them now on your own.
- Why do my clients buy this?
- What result does it give them?
- What does it do?
- What am I really selling? (Are you fulfilling a pent-up desire?)
- How do they feel when they buy it?
- What emotions trigger a sale?
- What are the motivations for them buying your product or service?
There are several more exercises you can do to construct valuable tools and these are found in Chapter 5 On the Path: EvaluatIng Clients’ Needs (Link). Selling is not optional – How to master the most important skill in business and life.
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Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. His products and services are now sold in 23 countries and in 11 languages generating $350 million annually in sales for his clients. Mike sold the company in 2015 and now spends his time following his passions which include rugby, travel. His promise: “I can find thousands of dollars in your business within minutes – GUARANTEED” TRY ME!