Evaluate Your Customer
When a customer walks into your office, don’t sell them the first product that comes to mind. Sit them down and evaluate their needs, than sell them the products that meet their needs.
I once worked with a guy in the banking industry, who was one of the best at explaining the benefits and features of our products, the only problem was, he was spending so much of his time explaining, but never selling anything.
He never sold anything because he never took the time to get to know what his customer’s needs were, therefore he was attempting to sell them things that they didn’t really need.
Nobody will buy things that they don’t need.
This is why it is so very important to evaluate your customer.
Start off by making your customer as comfortable as you possibly can, talk about non-business topics such as the weather, sports, or a current event.
Once you and your customer have built a good enough report, start to ask some questions so that you may evaluate your customer’s needs.
You can begin by finding out why your customer came into see you in the first place. Find out what products they already have. Find out if they already deal with one of your competitors. If so, find out all you can about the products and services they have with your competitor, so that you may compare products and fee’s. This is a perfect opportunity to let your customer know how much better your products and services are compared to your competitors.
Find out what it is they need and can afford, than sell them the products you believe to be ideal for their needs.
Once you have evaluated your customer, the chances of making a sale will be very good, because you will now be offering your customer something they need and can use, so they will most likely buy it.
The last thing a customer wants to hear about, is a bunch of stuff they don’t need. They have a reason for coming into see you, so find out what that reason is and do all you can to satisfy their needs.
Don’t waste your time trying to push off all of your products on them at once. This time can be better spent evaluating them.
Get to know your customer, evaluate their needs, than meet their needs with the appropriate products.
By evaluating your customer before you sell, you will find that the sales process will come much easier to you. Good luck.
This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.
Showing posts with label selling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label selling. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Are Routines Holding You Back?
What routines are preventing you from increasing your sales?
Whether you realize it or not, you are a creature of habit. Unless you do shift work, you probably get up at the same time everyday, follow the same routine to wake up and get yourself ready for the day, drive the regular route to work, do the same things once you get to work, and take the same route home at the end of the day. Once there, you probably have dinner, watch television or read the newspaper, and follow some sort of routine once it’s time to go to bed. You set the alarm for the same time and when it sounds the next day, you start the cycle over again.
Don’t get me wrong. Routines can be good. They help us improve our productivity. They allow us to multi-task. They make us feel comfortable, safe, and secure. They reduce stress. Plus, when we have developed a great routine, we can often generate more business. However, the drawback is that they can be difficult to break away from.
When you become accustomed to a specific schedule, it can be easy to forget changes in it. For example, if you usually schedule your first client meeting after 9:30 it is very easy to miss a meeting that was recently scheduled at 8:30. I recently encountered two situations that relate to this.
The first was an appointment with my massage therapist. For several years, she scheduled her appointments on the hour or half-hour. So when she booked my massage at fifteen minutes after the hour, she forgot about it and was several minutes late.
The second was my fault. I normally meet with my trainer early in the morning, three days a week. I had to re-schedule one workout due to a business commitment and made my appointment for a later time on a different day. Unfortunately, I arrived at the gym at my usual time only to realize that I was several hours early. The change in the schedule messed up my routine.
So, how does this relate to selling?
As a sales professional, you need to recognize that routines can prevent you from achieving your full potential. However, if you persist at incorporating that new technique into your sales approach, it, too, will become part of your new routine. That’s the great thing about the human spirit and brain, it is very adaptable. The most successful people in business and in sales know that changes to their routine will cause them some discomfort. But, they are also very aware that these changes will become more comfortable and part of their routine if they work at it long enough.
It can certainly be challenging to change your behaviour and routine when you are used to making a certain number of calls every day, or meeting with a specific number of clients, customers, or prospects. When you have a specific daily routine, it is usually difficult to incorporate something new. Or, when you have developed the habit of selling in a particular manner, it is very stressful trying to change your approach. I see this in my sales training workshops all the time.
People can intrinsically grasp a new concept or principle but experience difficulty trying to actually implement it into the way they sell. That’s why many sales training programs don’t work; you can’t expect to change your behavior or routine immediately. The key is to keep applying the concept even though it feels uncomfortable and foreign. In fact, in most cases, you will begin to feel comfortable with the concept immediately after you experience the greatest frustration and difficulty. Consider learning a new sport, hobby, or task.
At first the movements feel uncomfortable. Your moves are not smooth, accurate or natural. And this feeling usually persists for quite some time. However, just when you feel like giving up because it has become too difficult and frustrating, something clicks and the movements start to feel more natural. You have now progressed to the stage of being able to achieve results. The same process happens when you decide to try something different when selling.
Most sales people don’t enjoy cold calling because they don’t work at developing their skill long enough. They go through the motions of making their calls everyday but they don’t focus on improving their skill nor do they stick with it for the necessary period. People who do acquire the ability to effectively cold call have made enough calls to understand the dynamics, develop their skill at calling, and incorporate it into their routine.
Routines are powerful. However, to get the most from them, you do need to change them regularly.
© 2008 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.
Whether you realize it or not, you are a creature of habit. Unless you do shift work, you probably get up at the same time everyday, follow the same routine to wake up and get yourself ready for the day, drive the regular route to work, do the same things once you get to work, and take the same route home at the end of the day. Once there, you probably have dinner, watch television or read the newspaper, and follow some sort of routine once it’s time to go to bed. You set the alarm for the same time and when it sounds the next day, you start the cycle over again.
Don’t get me wrong. Routines can be good. They help us improve our productivity. They allow us to multi-task. They make us feel comfortable, safe, and secure. They reduce stress. Plus, when we have developed a great routine, we can often generate more business. However, the drawback is that they can be difficult to break away from.
When you become accustomed to a specific schedule, it can be easy to forget changes in it. For example, if you usually schedule your first client meeting after 9:30 it is very easy to miss a meeting that was recently scheduled at 8:30. I recently encountered two situations that relate to this.
The first was an appointment with my massage therapist. For several years, she scheduled her appointments on the hour or half-hour. So when she booked my massage at fifteen minutes after the hour, she forgot about it and was several minutes late.
The second was my fault. I normally meet with my trainer early in the morning, three days a week. I had to re-schedule one workout due to a business commitment and made my appointment for a later time on a different day. Unfortunately, I arrived at the gym at my usual time only to realize that I was several hours early. The change in the schedule messed up my routine.
So, how does this relate to selling?
As a sales professional, you need to recognize that routines can prevent you from achieving your full potential. However, if you persist at incorporating that new technique into your sales approach, it, too, will become part of your new routine. That’s the great thing about the human spirit and brain, it is very adaptable. The most successful people in business and in sales know that changes to their routine will cause them some discomfort. But, they are also very aware that these changes will become more comfortable and part of their routine if they work at it long enough.
It can certainly be challenging to change your behaviour and routine when you are used to making a certain number of calls every day, or meeting with a specific number of clients, customers, or prospects. When you have a specific daily routine, it is usually difficult to incorporate something new. Or, when you have developed the habit of selling in a particular manner, it is very stressful trying to change your approach. I see this in my sales training workshops all the time.
People can intrinsically grasp a new concept or principle but experience difficulty trying to actually implement it into the way they sell. That’s why many sales training programs don’t work; you can’t expect to change your behavior or routine immediately. The key is to keep applying the concept even though it feels uncomfortable and foreign. In fact, in most cases, you will begin to feel comfortable with the concept immediately after you experience the greatest frustration and difficulty. Consider learning a new sport, hobby, or task.
At first the movements feel uncomfortable. Your moves are not smooth, accurate or natural. And this feeling usually persists for quite some time. However, just when you feel like giving up because it has become too difficult and frustrating, something clicks and the movements start to feel more natural. You have now progressed to the stage of being able to achieve results. The same process happens when you decide to try something different when selling.
Most sales people don’t enjoy cold calling because they don’t work at developing their skill long enough. They go through the motions of making their calls everyday but they don’t focus on improving their skill nor do they stick with it for the necessary period. People who do acquire the ability to effectively cold call have made enough calls to understand the dynamics, develop their skill at calling, and incorporate it into their routine.
Routines are powerful. However, to get the most from them, you do need to change them regularly.
© 2008 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.
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