Nov 30 2009
Every Prospect & Customer Is Unique
Yes, it’s true, every prospect and customer is indeed unique.
They have their needs, their own set of problems and their own motives for choosing a particular supplier.
That’s why if they receive a ‘bulk standard’ pitch they will feel less compelled to properly evaluate it. A consultative approach seeks to fully appreciate each prospects needs and gain agreement to those needs, before presenting products/services in a way that demonstrates how their needs can be met.
As I suggest in my first “Twelve Golden Principles Of Selling”
“It is important to remember that all people are different, so you cannot sell the same way to everyone.
Second, no two sales are the same, even if they are made to the same company under similar circumstances.
To become a good salesperson, it isn’t enough to know how to sell. You must aim to become a people expert. It may sound shocking, but the best professional salespeople actually like people!
Remember, people buy from people — they always will.”
There are a number of positive benefits gained by using this approach that includes:
• Improved sales results because the whole sales process becomes easier
• Less objections because your proposals are aligned to their requirements that they have already agreed to
• Better relationships because the prospect feels that you have a good understanding of what they want
• Easier negotiations because you have agreed their requirements with them that you can refer back to at a later date
• Price becomes less of an issue because you have identified all their requirements not just the price one.
The more requirements they have helps you to build a case for why they should choose you.
Prospects feel listened to because a consultative approach has more contribution and input from the prospect.
More leverage because the offer is more compelling to the individual as it has been tailored to what they said they wanted
During each of the 4 steps of a consultative approach there are a number of areas of competence that sales people should be excellent at demonstrating:
1. Finding out the prospect’s requirements
• Good questioning skills
• Ability to probe for problems/the prospect’s pain
• Rapport to ensure that the prospect feels comfortable answering the questions
• Active listening skills•
2. Agreeing the prospect’s requirements
• Ability to summarise requirements in the prospect’s own words
• Asking checking questions to flush out any other requirements that have not been mentioned
• Maintaining good levels of rapport
3. Presenting solutions tailored to the prospect’s agreed requirements
• Taking each requirement in turn and linking to a relevant feature of your product/service and highlighting the benefits gained from that feature
• Using the prospect’s own words
• Looking for non-verbal signs of agreement and if not seen, asking checking questions such as “How does that sound?”
• Using the sensory communication type that the prospect has shown a preference for using. For example, if the prospect is very visual, then using visual aids will help them to better understand your proposition
4. Agreeing the solutions
• Summarising your proposed solutions
• Maintaining rapport
• Being vigilant to buying signals
• Asking checking questions to flush out any hidden objections
Do you know, I think you might also enjoy “How To Develop A Consultative Sales Approach”
Today’s News: I know many of you are members over at LinkedIn and equally many of you are Webex and Cisco fans, so in case you haven’t heard about this, I am faithfully re-printing the press release, because I am a huge LinkedIn fan.
LinkedIn launches European Business Awards in association with Cisco WebEx
• First awards to recognise success as a result of business collaboration
• Win the chance to be mentored by a global business expert
LinkedIn, the professional networking site, is partnering with Cisco WebEx online collaboration, the web conferencing and collaboration solutions specialist, to launch the inaugural LinkedIn European Business Awards. The awards will recognise exceptional business success both on a personal and company wide level, specifically rewarding innovation and collaboration in business.
The European Business Awards are open to all members of LinkedIn across Europe, with individuals and companies of any size eligible to enter. Entrants can either nominate themselves or others for the awards online at www.linkedinbusinessawards.eu.
The awards will be judged by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, PY Gerbeau, the famous French entrepreneur and business consultant, and James Campanini, the head of Cisco WebEx for EMEA and Latin America. The winner of each category will be awarded a live WebEx session with one of the judges, with the final overall winner receiving an expenses-paid trip to travel to London for their personal meeting with PY Gerbeau.
The award categories include:
• Best Business Startup – from idea to success, this award goes to a company that started trading after September 2008, has beaten its original forecasts, and can demonstrate outstanding long-term potential
• Business Leader of the Year – for creating an outstanding workplace based on a set of values that has led to a committed, effective and motivated workforce
• Best Business Innovation – this award will go to the organisation that can best demonstrate a proven ability to create, grow and develop innovations or processes that substantially improve the commercial performance or prospects of the company
• Rising Star – recognises a non-board level individual whose initiative and determination has made an exceptional contribution to the success of the business and has demonstrated exceptional ability in working with clients, suppliers, colleagues and stakeholders to make a difference.
To win, professionals and businesses will have to demonstrate how they have found exceptional business success as a result of collaboration and sharing ideas and provide tangible proof of achievement.
Kevin Eyres, European MD at LinkedIn, commented: “LinkedIn and Cisco WebEx share common goals in helping professionals to be more productive, share information and work smarter through collaboration. The aim of the awards is to recognise which professionals in Europe are striving to achieve this every day. For the winners of each category is the chance to get time with highly successful entrepreneurs to learn how they do it.“
James Campanini of Cisco WebEx added: “When so many businesspeople are focused on minimising the effects of the recession and looking forward to economic recovery, it’s easy to forget the hard work being done day-in and day-out by professionals everywhere. With these awards, we want to recognise and give credit to the individuals who are making new business happen and making existing businesses work smarter and be more successful.”
The deadline for entries is Friday December 31st 2009. The winners will be announced in April 2010 in an awards presentation via a live Cisco WebEx.
To enter, businesses will need to complete the online entry form for their specific category at www.linkedinbusinessawards.cu
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About LinkedIn
LinkedIn has 2.5m members in the UK and one in every three professionals in the capital is a member. LinkedIn continues to be the network of choice for UK professionals looking to stay in touch, to gather information and seek business opinions from other peers. LinkedIn currently adds one new user every two seconds and is the number one networking site in Europe.
About Cisco WebEx
WebEx, a Cisco company, is an acknowledged expert in the field of online collaboration. Our software solutions enable people to collaborate and work together online, no matter where they are. Our customers include businesses of all sizes from all over the world and every day we help them fulfil their most ambitious goals for marketing, sales, training, and support.
More than 7 million people use Cisco’s WebEx products every month. We are proud to be associated with the LinkedIn European Business Awards as we share the belief that business is better when people work together, innovation and progress depend on collaboration and that great things happen when you share ideas.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Vicky Perry; Lansons Communications – vickyp@Lansons.com / 0207 566 9708/ www.linkedin.com/in/vickyperry
Jennifer Comerford; Lansons Communications – jenniferc@lansons.com / +44 (0)207 294 http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifercomerford
Exciting times!
Finding customer specific requirements has long been a challenge. In fact, a survey of current automotive suppliers found that a significant number did not know where to go for the latest applicable customer specific requirements. For registrars and end users, this represents a serious problem. How can rules be followed and enforced if they are not readily available?
It is with these challenges in mind customerspecifics.com was created. Here you will find a community to access, share, and discuss customer specific requirements.
Please understand that the content of this site will take some time to develop as we work hand in hand with each of you to build a comprehensive database of the thousands of available customer specific requirements. We ask that you join us in our cause as we attempt to build something great for the common benefit of the quality community.