Why do prospects and customers buy? A common incorrect answer we hear with amateur salespeople is because of our quality, delivery, location etc. While these may be factors into the buying decision, this is not why someone will buy. These are features and benefits.
People buy because they have a problem, a problem that is solved by your product or service. There is a gap between where they are versus where they want to be. We call this pain. Pain is the reason people buy.
Interest, or curiosity, often motivates a prospect to explore what you have to offer but does not in itself motivate buying behavior.
As a sales person, once you have heard some interest or curiosity you must then use questioning strategies to determine if there is any pain behind the interest.
Thru good questioning you can discover the following:
- How long the issues has been going on
- What they have tried to address (if anything)
- Who else knows about it
- What it is costing them to live with the issue
- What are the consequences if no action is taken
- How committed they are to taking action now.
Look back at the opportunities you or your sales team were chasing and didn’t win. Ask yourself….what was the Pain? Can you answer all of the above questions?
When you don’t understand the prospect's needs, you cannot effectively do a presentation or proposal and prospects are unable to distinguish your product or service from the competition’s offering.
How effective are you or your sales team at truly discovering Pain from their prospects?
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CEO of Gerry Weinberg & Associates, Inc.