Finding the Need is Only Part of the Sale
by Thomas Baskind
Published on this site: August 18th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
Many of us in sales are taught to believe that the most important
job of the salesperson is to "find the need" of
our prospects. If we can uncover "needs" then our
job is easy; we just need to show our prospect how our product
or service fills that need. Right?
Well, the problem with that approach is that it only addresses
part of the pie. Think about it. What do you do when YOU need
something? Let's say you need to buy a new computer; do you
sit around and wait, hoping that a computer salesperson is
going to call you? NO, of course not; you go out and you fulfill
your need.
So, as a salesperson, if people really NEED your product
or service they will pick up the phone and call you to place
an order. If that's the case, why aren't you selling more?
Oh, you say, they're buying from your competitor. Or, you
might tell me, "Well, they just don't KNOW that they
need my product or service; my job is to "find the need"
and to "build their pain."
Let me give you another way to think about this.suppose,
just suppose for a moment, that instead of just focusing on
"needs" we broaden our thinking: as a salesperson
you want to find out about what people DO. Your job is to
find out and understand what they're doing now, how they're
doing it, who they're doing it with, when they're doing, why
they're doing it that way, and then to help them do it better.
Makes sense, right?
When you adopt the "DO" philosophy over the "NEEDS"
philosophy, your thinking and the questioning will become
much broader. By asking "do" based questions you
get better information from your prospects, which in turn
allow you to make a proposal that will make much more sense
to the prospect. And the only reason people buy something
is because it makes sense to them.
By asking "do" based question you are creating
a conversation which engages your prospect. When performed
at its best, selling is an extended conversation; it is not
an interrogation by the salesperson, and neither is it a "product
dump" where you aim to tell your prospect anything and
everything you can about your services.
What are some examples of "do" based questions?
Well, here are a few:
- "What are you currently doing about _______?"
- "I'm just curious, what made you decide to do it
that way?"
- "How did you decide to do that?"
- "What are you hoping to accomplish in the next quarter,
year, three years.?
- "Tell me exactly what you do here?" Or, "tell
me what your key areas of responsibility are?"
- How was this decision made in the past?
- Will the decision process be the same this time around?
Take some time to make a list of questions that you can ask
that are relevant to your business. Some of the questions
may not seem to have a logical or direct tie to your product
or service; that's OK. In fact, that's good! By focusing on
what your prospects do and how they do it, you are opening
up the whole dynamic of your sales call into a true conversation;
one that will help you better understand the goals, objectives,
and needs of your prospect. By broadening your conversation
in this way you are then able to make the proposal or recommendation
that will make sense to your prospect.
And, in the end, the only reason people buy something is
because it makes sense!
Thomas J. Baskind and Mark Dembo are Managing Partners
in DEI/Lexien of Greater New York, a sales performance improvement
and management consulting company. They invite you to visit
their website, http://www.lexien.com/,
and welcome your comments and inquiries
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