Think Like Your Customers To Increase Sales
Think Like Your Customers To Increase Sales
Yet for all the talk, it’s unbelievable how many sales people and business owners let themselves and their fantastic products and services down by ignoring this simple rule.
In selling, and in business, one of the traps we fall into is that because we’re dealing with our products and services every day, we start assuming that our customers know just as much about them as we do, and therefore should already know why they should buy from us and not our competition.
But the fact is, nobody knows more about our products or services than us and it’s our job to convey exactly how the features and benefits of our products and services will make the lives of our customers better in some way.
Think like your customers think
To be able to present your features and benefits to your prospects effectively, we must first learn to think like them and to understand the underlying problems people are really trying to solve whenever they make a purchasing decision.
One of the difficulties in selling is that often people won’t tell you the real reasons why they want to buy. Think about it – would you ever tell a salesperson that the real reason you want that new car is to turn heads whenever you’re driving through town?! Fortunately though, the real motivation behind most buying decisions (the underlying motivators or “needs behind the needs”) can be traced back to just a few well established human needs.
Almost every decision we make, including our buying decisions, is geared towards satisfying one or more basic human desires. And no matter what it is that we’re considering buying, chances are that you can trace our surface reasons for buying back to one of the following reasons:
• Security/Safety – We want peace of mind.
• Wealth/Money – We’re interested in either making more money, increasing profits or cutting costs.
• Popularity/Respect – We want to be respected and liked.
• Health/Long life – We want to be healthy.
• Love/Sex – We want to feel loved and desired.
• Save Time – We want more time to do the things important to us.
So whether you’re selling in a retail environment, business to business or providing services to the general public, take some time to do the following exercises and start putting these key sales skills into practise today.
Step 1
Choose one of your key products or services and make a list of the different types of people to whom this product or service is generally sold. Are they students? Mothers? Surfers? Gardeners? Old people or young people? Rich or poor? And if you’re selling to other businesses, who are the key people within your customers organisations that are involved with the decision making process? For example, are you selling to General Managers? Financial Controllers? Office Managers? IT Managers? Shareholders?
Once you’ve done this, write down the underlying motivator from the list above that is most likely to apply for each type of customer. For instance, if you’re selling laptops to businesses, the General Manager is most likely to be interested in increasing productivity (increasing profits), while the Financial Controller is most likely to be interested in how the purchase affects cashflow (reducing costs) and the IT Manager will most likely be interested in whether the specifications of the laptops are up to scratch (security of data).
This is especially important in business to business sales as you can start to see that even people from the same company will have different motivators for going ahead with a deal and will often require you to present different features and benefits to each of them if you are to secure their business.
Step 2
Next, make a list of the 5 main features of the particular product or service you’re selling. What is it about your product or service that’s unique, or beneficial or different in some way? This can include physical features (eg “shock resistant rubber casing” on a mobile phone), service based features (eg “your accounts done within 10 days” for an accounting service) or quality based features (eg “built by fully certified Master Builders” on a residential apartment block.)
Step 3
For each of the 5 features you have listed in step 2, write down two major benefits that each feature provides your customer using no more than a sentence for each one. When doing this, imagine that you have just told your prospect about one of the key feature’s of your product or service and they have now said to you, “So what?”
The idea of this step is so that you can convey how each feature will be of benefit to your prospect quickly and concisely. For example, using the apartment block scenario, the feature might be, “All our apartments are built by certified Master Builders…” and one of the benefits of that might be, “…Which means they meet the highest standards of quality and building compliance.” Or another benefit might be, “…Which means all workmanship is guaranteed for a minimum of 10 years.”
Step 4
By now you should now have a list of five key features and a total of ten benefits of those features. And now for the most crucial step.
Once you’re clear on the key features and benefits of your product or service it’s essential that when presenting them to your prospects that you take the final step of linking them back to the underlying motivators of your potential customers, whoever they might be.
Next to each benefit listed, write the underlying motivator and type of customer that is most likely to be interested in this benefit from your list in step 1.
Again using our building example, the underlying motivator that the benefit of “meeting the highest standard of quality” might satisfy, could be the purchasers need for being seen to own an attractive investment property (respect). And the underlying motivator that the benefit of workmanship guaranteed for 10 years” might satisfy, could be the need to have peace of mind that they made a sound investment (security).
Once you’ve completed this final step you should now have a good idea of exactly what features and benefits your prospects are likely to be interested in. Just knowing this will make you more confident, you’ll appear more knowledgeable about your business and you’ll be more effective showing your clients how your company can help solve their problems.
Think Like Your Customers To Increase Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Richard Liew's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
One of the most well known pieces of advice in selling is that customers buy benefits, not features.
Yet for all the talk, it’s unbelievable how many sales people and business owners let themselves and their fantastic products and services down by ignoring this simple rule.
In selling, and in business, one of the traps we fall into is that because we’re dealing with our products and services every day, we start assuming that our customers know just as much about them as we do, and therefore should already know why they should buy from us and not our competition.
But the fact is, nobody knows more about our products or services than us and it’s our job to convey exactly how the features and benefits of our products and services will make the lives of our customers better in some way.
Think like your customers think
To be able to present your features and benefits to your prospects effectively, we must first learn to think like them and to understand the underlying problems people are really trying to solve whenever they make a purchasing decision.
One of the difficulties in selling is that often people won’t tell you the real reasons why they want to buy. Think about it – would you ever tell a salesperson that the real reason you want that new car is to turn heads whenever you’re driving through town?! Fortunately though, the real motivation behind most buying decisions (the underlying motivators or “needs behind the needs”) can be traced back to just a few well established human needs.
Almost every decision we make, including our buying decisions, is geared towards satisfying one or more basic human desires. And no matter what it is that we’re considering buying, chances are that you can trace our surface reasons for buying back to one of the following reasons:
• Security/Safety – We want peace of mind.
• Wealth/Money – We’re interested in either making more money, increasing profits or cutting costs.
• Popularity/Respect – We want to be respected and liked.
• Health/Long life – We want to be healthy.
• Love/Sex – We want to feel loved and desired.
• Save Time – We want more time to do the things important to us.
So whether you’re selling in a retail environment, business to business or providing services to the general public, take some time to do the following exercises and start putting these key sales skills into practise today.
Step 1
Choose one of your key products or services and make a list of the different types of people to whom this product or service is generally sold. Are they students? Mothers? Surfers? Gardeners? Old people or young people? Rich or poor? And if you’re selling to other businesses, who are the key people within your customers organisations that are involved with the decision making process? For example, are you selling to General Managers? Financial Controllers? Office Managers? IT Managers? Shareholders?
Once you’ve done this, write down the underlying motivator from the list above that is most likely to apply for each type of customer. For instance, if you’re selling laptops to businesses, the General Manager is most likely to be interested in increasing productivity (increasing profits), while the Financial Controller is most likely to be interested in how the purchase affects cashflow (reducing costs) and the IT Manager will most likely be interested in whether the specifications of the laptops are up to scratch (security of data).
This is especially important in business to business sales as you can start to see that even people from the same company will have different motivators for going ahead with a deal and will often require you to present different features and benefits to each of them if you are to secure their business.
Step 2
Next, make a list of the 5 main features of the particular product or service you’re selling. What is it about your product or service that’s unique, or beneficial or different in some way? This can include physical features (eg “shock resistant rubber casing” on a mobile phone), service based features (eg “your accounts done within 10 days” for an accounting service) or quality based features (eg “built by fully certified Master Builders” on a residential apartment block.)
Step 3
For each of the 5 features you have listed in step 2, write down two major benefits that each feature provides your customer using no more than a sentence for each one. When doing this, imagine that you have just told your prospect about one of the key feature’s of your product or service and they have now said to you, “So what?”
The idea of this step is so that you can convey how each feature will be of benefit to your prospect quickly and concisely. For example, using the apartment block scenario, the feature might be, “All our apartments are built by certified Master Builders…” and one of the benefits of that might be, “…Which means they meet the highest standards of quality and building compliance.” Or another benefit might be, “…Which means all workmanship is guaranteed for a minimum of 10 years.”
Step 4
By now you should now have a list of five key features and a total of ten benefits of those features. And now for the most crucial step.
Once you’re clear on the key features and benefits of your product or service it’s essential that when presenting them to your prospects that you take the final step of linking them back to the underlying motivators of your potential customers, whoever they might be.
Next to each benefit listed, write the underlying motivator and type of customer that is most likely to be interested in this benefit from your list in step 1.
Again using our building example, the underlying motivator that the benefit of “meeting the highest standard of quality” might satisfy, could be the purchasers need for being seen to own an attractive investment property (respect). And the underlying motivator that the benefit of workmanship guaranteed for 10 years” might satisfy, could be the need to have peace of mind that they made a sound investment (security).
Once you’ve completed this final step you should now have a good idea of exactly what features and benefits your prospects are likely to be interested in. Just knowing this will make you more confident, you’ll appear more knowledgeable about your business and you’ll be more effective showing your clients how your company can help solve their problems.
Think Like Your Customers To Increase Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Richard Liew's Website.
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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