|
A
widely held belief is that people buy products or services. There is
also an even more widely held misconception that people buy what they
Need. The real truth is that people buy the end result that they Want
rather than the product or service they may Need. There is also a big
difference between a salesperson being Needs based and Needs obsessed!
To put it differently, people will eagerly buy what they Need from the
salesperson or organization who understands what they really Want. As
the old adage puts it, a lot more beer is sold than Bibles! There are
also a lot more sugar-coated cookies consumed than bran muffins. A
lot of 4-wheel drive vehicles are sold in West Texas. A place
where people certainly don't Need 4-wheel drives...they just Want
them.
Let me ask you a perplexing question. One that lots of people have
difficulty answering. And here it is: What is the real difference
between what a prospect Needs and what that person Wants?
In observing over 7,000 sales interactions, we discovered that prospects
actually verbalized what they wanted less than .01% of the time. The
reason for it is simple. Most people don't know what they Want.
Here's why. Wants are below the surface while Needs are above the
surface. I know I Need a new car. However, I will ultimately buy the one
I Want! The feeling or emotion behind owning it is what I Want. Needs
are totally rational while Wants are purely emotional. Needs are based
on fact while Wants are grounded on perception. Needs are product or
service specific while Wants have very little, if anything, to do with
the product or service being offered.
A few good questions about what customers really Want...
·Do prospects like small
talk?
Fact: Over 74% of customers dislike unsolicited small talk by
salespeople.
Prospect Want: "We'll talk if I want to."
·Will prospects tell you
they don't want to engage in small talk?
Fact: Less than 0.8% will tell you that it bothers them.
Prospect Want: "I won't tell you I don't like you. I just won't
buy."
·Do customers trust
salespeople?
Fact: 64% of all buyers say they don't trust any of the salespeople
they've bought something from in the previous 24 month period.
Prospect Want: "Salespeople I can trust."
·Should salespeople change
their title to "consultant" or "advisor?"
Fact: 72% of prospects perceive words like "consultant" or
"advisor" to be slick or manipulative.
Prospect Want: "Straightforward, professional salespeople."
·What do prospects
remember?
Fact: When the average decision-maker doesn't buy, he or she remembers
fewer than 10 words (verbatim) spoken by a salesperson doing a
presentation.
Prospect Want: "Give me a presentation I can understand."
·How persistent should you
be?
Fact: 74% of decision-makers feel that persistence is not an admirable
trait for salespeople.
Prospect Want: "Leave me alone. I'll buy from you when and if I
want to."
·How "data dense"
are most sales presentations?
Fact: The average salesperson presents 6-8 features or benefits in a
sales presentation. Twenty-four hours later the average prospect
remembers one. In 39% of the cases they remember it incorrectly. In 49%
of the cases they remember something that wasn't mentioned at all!
Prospect Want: "A product that does what I want it to do, explained
in my terms."
What does all this mean? Quite simply this: prospects and customers are
far different from the way that most salespeople traditionally perceive
them as being. The secret is to make prospects feel good and then to be
there when they feel so good that they'll buy! When they feel like that
they'll buy again and again.
What kind of person talks too much?
Our survey of 1,311 decision-makers revealed one, singular answer. It
was simple and straightforward: salespeople! The solution to this is
simple. Talk less, ask more questions. Sell people what they
Want...offer them what they Need. And, as Frank Bettger wrote so well in
1949, "They will move heaven and earth to get it." |
