4) Discover the Real Motivation
When asking questions, listen and acknowledge the responses. This approach creates a true dialogue with a customer and allows us to build relationship, rapport, and trust while learning what matters most to the customer. You are essentially solving a mystery. What is their real motivation? What are they really looking for and why are they really talking to you.
If you were selling hand tools, like drills for example, you would want to realize that ultimately the customer doesn’t what the drill; they want the hole that the drill will create. By staying focused on the benefit or the end result, the customer is seeking; you will find solutions to their needs more readily.
Open-ended questions are used to get your customer to open up and talk to you. These types of questions also help prevent us from making assumptions. Open-ended questions also expose sales opportunities and create more openings for familiarity and rapport with your customer.
Probing questions are a tool used for extracting more information about a topic. They show you are not only hearing your customer’s response, but that you also understand and care. Are you interrogating or confronting? Remember to put a smile in your voice and mind your tone. How you ask a question makes the difference between sounding helpful and curious or like an interrogator.
If you have truly grasped the concept of leading the conversation (the Second Key to Highly Effective Selling)you will be able to use this as a key to discovering the motivation of the customer. So let’s recap from the beginning. Your first interactions should be poised and professional. Remember to use their name. You should demonstrate how to generate customer comfort and familiarity. Asking some basic questions also provides you with a direction when looking for the motivation. Ask clarifying questions and restate. Finally, always remember your TONE! Creating a friendly rapport with the customer is key.
When a customer approaches a sales person about a product, this is when the discovery for the real motivation happens. As they ask questions, think to yourself, why would they want to know that specifically about the product? What are their priorities? Once you have identified the priorities for information they are seeking you can piece together the puzzle for their motivation.
Another way to be sure you are in tune with you customer is to simply ask. Are they looking for a specific product and is their motivation related to a projects or specific need? Using the 5 w’s, ask some clarifying questions. Sometimes this guess-and-check method can be more effective because we are ensuring that our assumptions are correct.
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