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The most common error in selling occurs when
salespeople are so focused on what they or their company wants from a sales
relationship that they lose sight of what their prospects want from it. Today
this fatal orientation can lose more sales more quickly than ever before.
Buyer's markets are crowded markets; crowded markets are filled with buyers who
are confused and far too many sellers who use outdated, "me-too"
marketing techniques.
Because of the crowding in today's markets, buyers are now prone to view similar
products or services as similar when they merely give the appearance of
similarity. The key to success in a crowded market is to determine what
buyers value most, and then to point out those unique advantages of your product
or service that address those things they value. Period. When you focus on
what the customer values most, you create perceived value that makes your
product or service clearly stand out from the crowd and that quite often leads
to a positive buying decision.
Today, the successful sales professional is a master at needs analysis and
application-based selling. Simply defined, needs analysis is understanding and
selling to the buyer's needs rather than selling a product or service to meet a
quota, win a contest, or "make a quick buck." Application selling is
showing, in easy-to-understand terms, how a particular product or service can
fulfill the buyer's most pressing needs.
Focusing on the buyer's needs results in better alignment of your product or
service in the marketplace. Conversely, continued reliance on outdated
traditional selling techniques will result in poorly positioned products. For
example, strong, aggressive, and insensitive closing tactics will lead to more
closed doors than closed sales!
Focus is defined as a sharp, clearly
defined center of interest or expenditure of time, energy, or dollars in order
to maximize a return on any or all of the above elements.
Old school sales techniques have never
focused on the customer's needs. Instead, they have focused on the product or
the company behind the product, or, worse yet, taught salespeople to focus on
themselves. If the sharp, clearly defined center of interest or activity in your
sales career has been on self, company, or product, then your career has been
languishing.
Far too many organizations focus on everything except the customer, a situation
that leads to what I call, "institutionalized insulation." If you
never strip away that insulation and shift your focus to place the customer's
needs at the top of your list, you will always remain in the doomed,
"me-too" marketing crowd that will become the selling dinosaurs of the
new millennium.
Here is a story that clearly illustrates a salesperson with a misplaced focus.
I had already decided it was time for a new car, and I knew exactly what I
wanted. My dream car was a top-of-the-line model available at a local
dealership. When I walked into the dealer's showroom, a young, enthusiastic
salesperson greeted me. I figured that I would make his day, giving him the
easiest sales he had ever had.
"Look," I began, "I'm going to make this easy for you. I want
that model over there. I want it in silver with the blue, crushed velour
upholstery. I want the turbo-charged engine and four-speed automatic
transmission with overdrive. I want the best stereo system, an electric sunroof,
and upgraded wheel covers."
What do you think his response was? Excitement? Disbelief at how well-informed I
was? No. He paused for a moment, feigned deep thought, then said, "Did you
know that this model was ranked #1 in its class in all the automotive magazines?
Did you know it's got an all-steel body with steel beams in the doors? Did you
know that the front end is designed to deflect around the passenger compartment
in a collision, so that the occupants will not get hurt?"
Where was his focus? On product! He probably got an "A" in his
sales-training class because he knew his product as well as anyone I have met,
but he was intellectually and emotionally distanced from me as a customer. His
response showed me a clear case of institutionalized insulation and, as a
result, I did not buy the car from him.
If he had trained under a customer-focused, value-based sales system, he might
have said, "We have one of those in stock right now. Do you mind if I ask
you a few questions so I'll know better how to serve your needs?" Then he
would have waited for my answer. I always answer "yes" to someone who
wants to learn how to serve my needs. He might then have asked when I wanted to
take delivery, or if I had a trade-in, and how I planned to pay. Instead, his
training clearly forced his focus onto the product.
Getting to the top of any crowded market niche and staying there is
not easy. The secret to reaching and remaining at the top level is being attuned
to change. Successful sales professionals will be in a constant state of
adjustment. Because your market, your customers, and the world are constantly
changing, you need to analyze, anticipate, and adapt to the changes that you
face.
If your focus is on product, you most likely emphasize product demonstration.
Your demonstrations may highlight how terrific your organization's latest model
is but will show a customer how to meet his needs only if you are lucky. In a
crowded marketplace, salespeople need to stop thinking "demo" and
start thinking application.
By definition, demonstration selling forces the focus onto the product. All that
accomplishes is to make you look just like everybody else, so you fade into the
crowd in your market. The difference between demonstration and application
selling, although subtle, is critical to success in crowded markets. The shift
toward application selling is an early step toward casting aside institutional
insulation and adapting the new philosophy of pure, 100% customer focus.
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