One of my coachee commented:
“You buy only those things that can get some job of yours done”
This, I found, is very relevant to sales. In all value based selling, this concept holds true.
Need Analysis, if done diligently, always signals to a ‘Gap’. This gap is the job that people want your product or service to fulfill. In most of the cases, a sales professional knows what he/she sells. Where he/she misses is the knowledge of what the customer wants to buy.
Eg: A shopkeeper could be selling a pen, but what a student could be buying is a good writing. A banker is selling Savings Account, the customer could be buying convenience to transact.
Therefore, it is important during sales to understand two things:
- What is the primary need of the customer i.e what is it that the customer is looking for in this product or service?
- Secondly, we should try to get an eventual connection with some emotional benefit – peace of mind, convenience, free from fear of losing something, self esteem, sense of pride, social belongingness etc.
These emotions are the ultimate driving forces that make a customer take that decision – to Buy or Not to Buy.
If we look at most adverts – detergent powder, health drink, insurance, banking, shampoo, cosmetics – the emphasis is laid more on the emotions that could drive the viewers of this adverts to buy the product.
Eg. We all know applying a deodorant keeps us fresh, keeps perspiration away, and saves us from smelling bad that can be a major roadblock to my success. And we all know how deodorants are advertised. Question is why? What is the stronger emotional driver – to be hygienic or to attract the opposite sex?
These emotional drivers are not easy to identify. A buyer may not explicitly voice out his/her emotions. Guided and the right questions help unravel this latent / implicit need.
Listen actively to the words used during the conversation – look for the words like painful, (in)convenience, gain/ profit, happy, disappointed etc and also note if they are associating these words with a product/service or person/organisation. You would know the GAP between what they wish to buy and what you are actually selling.
Happy Selling!
