Building a Steady Flow of Customers

Guest post by: Colly Graham
Become an Author

Free PDF Download
Asking the Right Questions - By Colly Graham

Colly Graham a leading sales trainer and owner of salesxcellence replies:
The first step in finding customers is to identify your target market. Know the key drivers that will stimulate action in your prospective customers. Establish a profile of your customers and determine why they buy. Ask yourself the following questions:
What problems do you solve for your prospective customers?
Who is most likely to have these problems in their business?
How do you solve these problems?
Why will these people buy from you?
What will they gain and what will they avoid?
Where are they to be found?

Next step is to build a database of the most likely prospects for your business. You can buy list in or build your own from a good trade directory.

Next step is to make contact with your prospective customers and for this I suggest a introductory letter or email (if it is email make sure you have permission to use it). Don’t waste your money on fancy brochures nine out of ten times they go in the waste paper bin. Follow-up your letter or email with a telephone call to make an appointment to visit your prospective customer. Don’t rush to tell him all about your business, take time to learn about his business and then discover how you help him solve.
The point you need to communicate in the first few seconds is, "We have something that might be able to help you, and I simply need to learn more about you." The key is in using the right words. Before the call, answer these questions:
"What do prospects want most as it relates to my type of product/service, what do they want to avoid, and how can I help them do their job more effectively?"
The object is to build a relationship based on mutual trust and respect. In order to do that it's necessary to find out who the prospect really is.
First, clarify what it is the prospect wants, and agree on exactly what those wants are. We call those wants the prospect's Conditions of Satisfaction. What conditions do you need to satisfy to enable you to do business with this prospect? Second, assuming you can fulfil those Conditions of Satisfaction profitably, negotiate mutual commitments. In other words, get a crystal clear picture of what each of you promises to do.
You should frame most of what you have to say in the form of a question. The prospect should do most of the talking, primarily answering your questions. The more the prospect talks, the more both of you win.
A prospect may have good reasons for not wanting your products. Low price may be his highest priority. In any case, you save a lot of time by learning those things before you spend time and resources on him. Also, when you're focusing on what the prospect has to say, your ideas on how to serve him are welcomed, especially when those ideas are phrased as questions.
When we ask for commitment, we ask questions such as:
"Is that what you want?" or "Is there anything else we should cover?"
or "If we show you we can meet your requirements, what will you do?"
Good Luck with building your business and remember persistence is the key.

How to Get More Clients Without Spending a Cent!

SEO and Link Building

Money Is Your Servant

Money and Decisions

How Healthy Is Your Business?

How to Generate Sales and the Danger of Vitamin C Deficiency

Ten Ways to Manage a Rapidly Growing Business

5 Tips to Buying the Right Business

What To Do When You Lose The Flow

Home Based Business Success: 3 Key Marketing Essentials

Building Bares All - Property Insurance

Swing Thoughts for Entrepreneurs

Discover A Residual Income Affiliate Program

Most Common SEO Myths

10 Points to Add to Your Success in Business

When to Say When

How to Raise Prices

Home Based Business - Why Have Multiple Income Streams

Cash Management

Cash Flow Solution – Factoring

Home > Sales > Colly Graham > Building a Steady Flow of Customers > Google +

Free PDF Download
Asking the Right Questions - By Colly Graham

About the Author: Colly Graham

RSS for Colly's articles - Visit Colly's website
Colly Graham CEO of salesxcellence After graduating from college, Colly entered the field of accountancy however after five years decided to change his career direction in sales. First working for a Fortune 500 company in fast moving consumer goods, his career progressed from selling capital equipment, financial services to internet services, with a wide management experience in both telephone and field sales, concentrating on the recruitment, training and development of sales people, in this role he gained experience in designing and building a number of successful sales teams. Colly brings thirty years of practical experience of selling and his ability to empathize with sales people and establish immediate rapport and credibility as a trainer, (the accolade Colly receives from most sales people is “that he has carried the bag”). A licensed practitioner of NLP Colly trained with Richard Bandler in 1998. When I entered the field of sales, back in 1969, with local franchise holder for Pepsi Cola because of my lack of knowledge of any selling skills I set a goal, to one day, start my own training company. As my career in sales progressed becoming a sales manager, group
Click here to visit Colly's website.

More from Colly Graham
Why People Buy
Understanding Motivation A Key Requisite of the Sales Manager
Building Rapport Customer Relationships
COUNSELLING THE SALES PERSON
The Sales Pipeline

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Share this post and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Building a Steady Flow of Customers

Related Articles

Related Forum Posts

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.


Name:
Email: