In order to succeed in business you need E.S.P. These steps will unlock the keys to reading the customer’s mind and closing a lot more business. They work for any type of sale.
What’s the magic?
E-xploring what the prospect wants and needs,
S-howing how you can help to get it and
P-roposing how you get paid to do it
Exploring what a prospective customer wants is the most important element in the equation
Ask questions and listen without offering solutions. Engage in a dialog and help the prospect clarify what they need. Once a prospect knows that you are sincerely trying to help, they will naturally guide you to the right proposal. The biggest challenge is that salespeople from retail to the highest ticket items are trained to present. Most are eager to present features, benefits and advantages. Fight it!
Start presenting before you know what is important to the prospect and you are seen as pushy. It affects credibility because you have not earned the right to make a recommendation. You can tell if you are doing this, because resistance walls go up and serial objections creep in. The prospect is trying to say: I don’t trust you yet.
Ask questions about the prospects’ problems, wants and needs to understand what is on his mind. This is the basis for all that follows and the key to success.
Motto: Ask, don’t tell.
Role Model: Stephen Covey: “Seek first to understand and then to be understood”
Show how you can help
Now you can present staying focused on the prospect’s problem. Don’t use a standard sales pitch. One size does not fit all.
Present your solution to his specific needs in four sections. Why four? Because almost everyone can remember only three points and I will show you what to do with the fourth point a little later.
Categorize the prospect’s needs into three sections. Revisit each of them and your proposed solutions. Answer objections as they come up. Ask for agreement that you are solving each concern as you present it.
Motto: Focus on what the prospect wants.
Role Model: Frank Bettger: “The secret of selling is to find out what the other fellow wants and help him get it”
Propose how you get paid and connect the dots
Your proposal is the fourth point of your presentation. It ties the prospect’s stated problems, your solutions and adds your compensation. Make it easy for the prospect to connect your success and his.
Complicated business propositions introduce tension. Tension breeds indecision. Strive for a simple flow chart or check-list that shows how you solve each concern, how you are paid and when. Remember how much we all hate fine print. Be easy to buy from.
Don’t forget to ask for the order!
Motto: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple…)
Role Model: Winston Churchill: “All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words…”
When you understand the prospects business and functional needs and you have his agreement on how to solve them, your proposal is easy to create and sales are easier to close.
Global Business the Mo Casas Way 