Selling Solutions: The "I" in Customer Expectations

Serving the needs for Agriculture, Associations and Corporations

Michele Payn-Knoper, Professional Speaker

The "I" in Customer Expectations
Michele Payn-Knoper, Professional Speaker & Marketing Consultant
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What do your customers expect? Great salespeople find those expectations and meet them as quickly as possible, while mediocre salespeople drone on about their company/product/service without even examining customer expectations.

Do you look at each interaction with your customers as an opportunity to learn? If not, it might be time to think more in terms of diagnosis. The "Selling Power Sales Question Book" offers a wealth of ideas for probing questions:

If I had a magic wand and could produce the ideal solution, what would it be?

How would you prioritize the features you�re looking for?

Considering some of the performance problems you�ve had in the past, what minimum requirements would you expect?

What are the compelling factors driving this decision? Is there a deadline?

Who else in your organization needs to be briefed on this decision? Should we bring them into the conversation?

Do you spend the majority of your pre-call time preparing to �wow �em� with your company/product information? Next time you find yourself falling into this trap, slam the brakes on. Spend at least half your prep time thinking of leading questions like those above and you�ll see your sales explode!

Your goal is to find what the customer is expecting, such as:

I need an problem solved!

I need service!

I need an answer to a question!

I need a better value.

I need technical assistance.

I need to place an order.

I need to speak to someone!

I need help!

Even if they can't recite the year your company was founded or how many departments you have waiting to serve them, you'll successfully connect with your customer every time you find a need and meet their expectation.

Michele Payn-Knoper founded Cause Matters to provide tools in sales, grassroots marketing, and championing agriculture. Learn more and review articles at www.mpk.info under Learning Resources. Receive her free monthly �Connections� e-newsletter filled with lively commentary on championing agriculture, grassroots marketing, and selling solutions by e-mailing newsletter@mpk.info.