Yeah... But did the customer actually say it was a problem...?

As a sales trainer for the UK&I business of Experian, I am often asked what are the key things to be focusing on when engaging in a sales process with a prospect.

My answer is always the same – customer problems, because if you don’t have one of these, then someone’s got a problem and it isn’t the customer… It doesn’t matter if you have got the timescales or understand the full purchasing process. If there is no problem, or a big enough problem, a sale is unlikely to take place. This often happens when reps make broad assumptions on behalf of the customer by asking the wrong kind of questions and then interpreting the answers to what they want to hear.

For example ‘tell me about how you take data into your organization?’ As the customer explains the process, the rep is thinking about all the things their service could help with. Except the customer hasn’t actually said there is anything wrong, even if it sounds like a problem. But the rep doesn’t hear that and runs back to the office to type up the quote.  

By asking problem based questions to ascertain levels of satisfaction with a customer, you are much more likely to uncover something wrong. For example if the rep was to instead say ‘what challenges do you face when taking data into your organization?’ The information and detail you’ll get back from the customer is very different and much more useful to the seller.

Once you have found that all important problem don’t stop there… You'll then need to clarify your understanding of it and finally examine the problem in more detail, to understand the broader implications across the business or to that individual. Once done, that my friends, is when you have an actual problem you can work with. 

So remember:

Identify – Is it an actual problem

Clarify – How much of a problem?

Extend – Who else is it a problem for?

And don’t just take my word for it, this is based on scientific research over 40 years by Huthwaite International on successful sellers and their key behaviors.

If you found this useful you might like my other work on www.theselfdevelopmentreviewer.co.uk