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Hub You - Are Your Customers Lying to You?
Armed with knowledge of your industry, market and audience, a media plan and schedule, your product or service's most important benefits and measurable goals in terms of sales volume (number of units sold), revenue generated or other criteria, you are ready for action. The first step is to establish the theme and, if appropriate, the specific tagline that identifies your product or service in all of your advertising. The theme of your advertising reflects your special identity or personality as well as the particular benefits of your product or service. For example, cosmetics ads almost always rely on a
How do your questions rate?
Write down the questions that you typically ask your prospective buyers. Do they accomplish the objectives of a great question?
Ask yourself if they:
1. Get a response beyond a simple “yes” or “no” answer?
2. Make the buyer seriously think before responding?
3. Help you better understand your buyer’s current situation?
4. Uncover your buyer’s past problems and past successes?
5. Reveal the wants, needs, dreams and passions of your customer?
6. Uncover the buyer’s real feelings; the emotional reasons for their prospective purchase?
7. Elicit truths and motives?
8. Separate you from your competition?
It is your responsibility as a salesperson to discover the true needs of your customers an
In the article Getting Involved in the Global Development Market (available in full in Latest News at www.globizdev.com) I commented that while tendering skills are critical, in isolation of other key activities success is a lottery.Preparation must remain as a key and ongoing activity if organisations and individuals are to expect success from their tendering involvement.While there is no doubt that some of this preparation may require investment if site visits and the like are to occur, as they need to, not all preparation is costly.So often, when working with some of the smaller organisations that seek acti
Maybe you’ve used this phrase to describe customers who have “cheated” you out of a sale. The customer says they want one thing, and it turns out that they really wanted another. Before you could figure it out, the sale was gone. You complain and whine about the lost sale. It was the customer’s fault! Right?!
Sob Story
It goes something like this:
A young couple walks into your furniture store, looking for a new couch. They want a cream colored loveseat with a hideaway bed. You show them all of the couches that come close to their requirements, but they don’t like any of them.
You are expecting a new shipment of furniture to arrive at your store in the next few weeks, so you ask the couple for their contact information.
When the shipment arrives, you see a couch that you think the couple will love. When you call them, you’re surprised to hear that they have already found a new couch. You’re even more surprised to hear the couch’s description: a full-sized blue couch with built in recliners.
You hang up the phone angry. You had plenty of the couches like the one that the couple eventually bought, but you never thought to show those types of couches to them.
“They lied to me! If I had known what they really wanted, I could have gotten the sale!”
Well, you’re almost right – if you had known what they really wanted, you could have gotten the sale; but you’re wrong to blame this on the customer.
“But, Tom, my customers weren’t telling me the truth!”
But YOU weren’t doing your job!
YOU are the Reason Your Customer “Lies”
You are NEVER entitled to a sale – no matter how much time and energy you have invested into it. As a professional salesperson, you are only compensated when you successfully deliver value to your customer. It is YOUR job to convince the customer that your company and product are worth their business. The customer owes you NOTHING.
Sales aren’t lost when buyers don’t fully explain what they really need; sales are lost when the salesperson fails to ask intelligent, engaging questions to discover what the customer needs.
Instead of blaming customers and whining over lost sales, take responsibility and make some changes! You could get the sales you want if you learned how to ask smart questions that identify your customer’s needs and help you connect with your customers on a personal level. If you don’t understand why your customers are really buying, how can you present them with the answers and solutions they are looking for?
What makes a great question?
Get over your belief that customers need to be educated. Buyers don’t want to be educated; they want answers and solutions. Your questions should allow your customers to educate YOU on why they buy.
Asking limiting questions like, “What color couch are you looking for?” will lead to responses that are just as limited. A great, intelligent question is one that is followed by a pause. It makes the buyer stop and think before answering. These types of questions let the customer answer on their own terms, instead of yours, and will reveal their motivation for buying.
Smart questions also separate you from your competition. It makes your buyers say, “Wow, nobody has ever asked me that before!” Unique, thought-provoking questions give your customers a great reason to respect you. When customers respect you and your sales practices, they’ll be more truthful, giving you insight into the determining factors that will lead to the sale.
Ultimately, a great question helps you understand and connect with your customers. It helps you discover your customers’ true motives so that you can find the perfect solution for them. Finally, it saves you from the frustration and misunderstanding that comes from a lost sale.
How do your questions rate?
Write down the questions that you typically ask your prospective buyers. Do they accomplish the objectives of a great question?
Ask yourself if they:
1. Get a response beyond a simple “yes” or “no” answer?
2. Make the buyer seriously think before responding?
3. Help you better understand your buyer’s current situation?
4. Uncover your buyer’s past problems and past successes?
5. Reveal the wants, needs, dreams and passions of your customer?
6. Uncover the buyer’s real feelings; the emotional reasons for their prospective purchase?
7. Elicit truths and motives?
8. Separate you from your competition?
It is your responsibility as a salesperson to discover the true needs of your customers and
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many businesses are hesitating to keep clients apprised of new offerings, perhaps afraid that they will appear insensitive to the enormous human suffering that is going on along the United States Gulf coast. The impact of this devastation will undoubtedly continue for years to come, so many business owners are understandably nervous.But of course, life, as well as business, goes on and you must continue to contact existing and potential customers, or risk stormy weather of your own. How can you continue to promote your business, and at the same time, remain sensitive to disastrous e
You hang up the phone angry. You had plenty of the couches like the one that the couple eventually bought, but you never thought to show those types of couches to them.
“They lied to me! If I had known what they really wanted, I could have gotten the sale!”
Well, you’re almost right – if you had known what they really wanted, you could have gotten the sale; but you’re wrong to blame this on the customer.
“But, Tom, my customers weren’t telling me the truth!”
But YOU weren’t doing your job!
YOU are the Reason Your Customer “Lies”
You are NEVER entitled to a sale – no matter how much time and energy you have invested into it. As a professional salesperson, you are only compensated when you successfully deliver value to your customer. It is YOUR job to convince the customer that your company and product are worth their business. The customer owes you NOTHING.
Sales aren’t lost when buyers don’t fully explain what they really need; sales are lost when the salesperson fails to ask intelligent, engaging questions to discover what the customer needs.
Instead of blaming customers and whining over lost sales, take responsibility and make some changes! You could get the sales you want if you learned how to ask smart questions that identify your customer’s needs and help you connect with your customers on a personal level. If you don’t understand why your customers are really buying, how can you present them with the answers and solutions they are looking for?
What makes a great question?
Get over your belief that customers need to be educated. Buyers don’t want to be educated; they want answers and solutions. Your questions should allow your customers to educate YOU on why they buy.
Asking limiting questions like, “What color couch are you looking for?” will lead to responses that are just as limited. A great, intelligent question is one that is followed by a pause. It makes the buyer stop and think before answering. These types of questions let the customer answer on their own terms, instead of yours, and will reveal their motivation for buying.
Smart questions also separate you from your competition. It makes your buyers say, “Wow, nobody has ever asked me that before!” Unique, thought-provoking questions give your customers a great reason to respect you. When customers respect you and your sales practices, they’ll be more truthful, giving you insight into the determining factors that will lead to the sale.
Ultimately, a great question helps you understand and connect with your customers. It helps you discover your customers’ true motives so that you can find the perfect solution for them. Finally, it saves you from the frustration and misunderstanding that comes from a lost sale.
How do your questions rate?
Write down the questions that you typically ask your prospective buyers. Do they accomplish the objectives of a great question?
Ask yourself if they:
1. Get a response beyond a simple “yes” or “no” answer?
2. Make the buyer seriously think before responding?
3. Help you better understand your buyer’s current situation?
4. Uncover your buyer’s past problems and past successes?
5. Reveal the wants, needs, dreams and passions of your customer?
6. Uncover the buyer’s real feelings; the emotional reasons for their prospective purchase?
7. Elicit truths and motives?
8. Separate you from your competition?
It is your responsibility as a salesperson to discover the true needs of your customers an
Good chemistry in an office can make all the difference in the world. Whether it’s employees forming friendships that go beyond the monthly happy hour or blurring the dividing lines between upper management and employee base, a happy and cooperative office can change the way you do business in several positive ways, especially in times of transition and change. Take for example when you want to launch a new product or update your current logo and tagline. If you start your launch with a strong internal marketing campaign you can get your employees excited and prepared so that the overall transition can succeed. And what better way to pump
Sales aren’t lost when buyers don’t fully explain what they really need; sales are lost when the salesperson fails to ask intelligent, engaging questions to discover what the customer needs.
Instead of blaming customers and whining over lost sales, take responsibility and make some changes! You could get the sales you want if you learned how to ask smart questions that identify your customer’s needs and help you connect with your customers on a personal level. If you don’t understand why your customers are really buying, how can you present them with the answers and solutions they are looking for?
What makes a great question?
Get over your belief that customers need to be educated. Buyers don’t want to be educated; they want answers and solutions. Your questions should allow your customers to educate YOU on why they buy.
Asking limiting questions like, “What color couch are you looking for?” will lead to responses that are just as limited. A great, intelligent question is one that is followed by a pause. It makes the buyer stop and think before answering. These types of questions let the customer answer on their own terms, instead of yours, and will reveal their motivation for buying.
Smart questions also separate you from your competition. It makes your buyers say, “Wow, nobody has ever asked me that before!” Unique, thought-provoking questions give your customers a great reason to respect you. When customers respect you and your sales practices, they’ll be more truthful, giving you insight into the determining factors that will lead to the sale.
Ultimately, a great question helps you understand and connect with your customers. It helps you discover your customers’ true motives so that you can find the perfect solution for them. Finally, it saves you from the frustration and misunderstanding that comes from a lost sale.
How do your questions rate?
Write down the questions that you typically ask your prospective buyers. Do they accomplish the objectives of a great question?
Ask yourself if they:
1. Get a response beyond a simple “yes” or “no” answer?
2. Make the buyer seriously think before responding?
3. Help you better understand your buyer’s current situation?
4. Uncover your buyer’s past problems and past successes?
5. Reveal the wants, needs, dreams and passions of your customer?
6. Uncover the buyer’s real feelings; the emotional reasons for their prospective purchase?
7. Elicit truths and motives?
8. Separate you from your competition?
It is your responsibility as a salesperson to discover the true needs of your customers an
Is it possible to find legitimate work from home jobs or are they all, to put it simply, scams. Most of us would love the opportunity to earn our incomes from the comfort of our own homes but we are put off because we are afraid of taking the risk of falling for a scam, but believe me when I say there are legitimate work from home jobs out there if you know where to look.Don't be of the mindset that if you have to pay for something it must be a con, this simply isn't true. Even legitimate work from home jobs will have people to pay and costs of their own. A perfect example is paid surveys, it takes the owners of these sites time an
Asking limiting questions like, “What color couch are you looking for?” will lead to responses that are just as limited. A great, intelligent question is one that is followed by a pause. It makes the buyer stop and think before answering. These types of questions let the customer answer on their own terms, instead of yours, and will reveal their motivation for buying.
Smart questions also separate you from your competition. It makes your buyers say, “Wow, nobody has ever asked me that before!” Unique, thought-provoking questions give your customers a great reason to respect you. When customers respect you and your sales practices, they’ll be more truthful, giving you insight into the determining factors that will lead to the sale.
Ultimately, a great question helps you understand and connect with your customers. It helps you discover your customers’ true motives so that you can find the perfect solution for them. Finally, it saves you from the frustration and misunderstanding that comes from a lost sale.
How do your questions rate?
Write down the questions that you typically ask your prospective buyers. Do they accomplish the objectives of a great question?
Ask yourself if they:
1. Get a response beyond a simple “yes” or “no” answer?
2. Make the buyer seriously think before responding?
3. Help you better understand your buyer’s current situation?
4. Uncover your buyer’s past problems and past successes?
5. Reveal the wants, needs, dreams and passions of your customer?
6. Uncover the buyer’s real feelings; the emotional reasons for their prospective purchase?
7. Elicit truths and motives?
8. Separate you from your competition?
It is your responsibility as a salesperson to discover the true needs of your customers an
Now here is a function that has got the hackles of nearly everyone up at some time or the other. For all of us have had a bad experience with customer service.Let me show you what I mean.We do not have that item. Up front it is understood that a store has the right to stock and sell what it chooses. What is frustrating is when you go to favorite large store, or a large discount store, or any full service store, who give the impression that they have whatever you want, and you go in looking for a particular item you need, and hear those words "we do not have it'" They are not merely out of it, which is understandable, but the
How do your questions rate?
Write down the questions that you typically ask your prospective buyers. Do they accomplish the objectives of a great question?
Ask yourself if they:
1. Get a response beyond a simple “yes” or “no” answer?
2. Make the buyer seriously think before responding?
3. Help you better understand your buyer’s current situation?
4. Uncover your buyer’s past problems and past successes?
5. Reveal the wants, needs, dreams and passions of your customer?
6. Uncover the buyer’s real feelings; the emotional reasons for their prospective purchase?
7. Elicit truths and motives?
8. Separate you from your competition?
It is your responsibility as a salesperson to discover the true needs of your customers and help them find the solutions to their problems. This task is impossible without the use of great questions. With the right question, you can understand your customers’ motives, create an atmosphere that is unmatched by your competition, and, thankfully, never have to whine about your customers’ lying again!
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