In the early days, the life of a seller was easy – the demand for a product far exceeded the supply. Then came the industrial revolution, and as supply for most products caught up with demand and then exceeded the demand, the sales process became more challenging. At different times, different strategies evolved, with focus on different aspects of the process. Throughout my career of close to four decades in selling, I have learned a few basic truths, which I believe, are the holy commandments for successful selling. I refer to these as the Five Fundamentals for Selling Value:
1. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER
What does this mean? You must have in-depth comprehensive knowledge about your Customer and his business. You must have detailed answers to the following questions:
a.The Customer:
- What is your customer’s business?
- What are his strengths?
- What are his challenges?
- Who are his competitors?
- What is his market?
- What is his market share?
- What is his current challenge that he is seeking a solution for?
- What is the specific product/service that he is looking for?
- Is there an opportunity for us to offer our product /service as a solution?
- If so, who is the user, the decision maker, the influencer?
b.The Gains:
- How does he hope to gain an advantage by using this product /service?
- What are the specific features that he is seeking in the product /service?
- Can we prioritize the features based on their importance to the customer?
- What are the features if any, that are not important to him?
c.The Pains:
- • What are the issues that he hopes the product / service will help him sort out?
- • What are the issues that he does not want to arise in the product /service?
2. YOUR PRODUCT / SERVICE
- What are the advantages your product /service offers the customer?
- What are its features?
- What are its weak points?
- How can the product/service serve the requirement of the customer?
- What are the features that the company should work on strengthening?
- What are the features that the company is now focusing on which are not important to the customer?
- Can the product’s features be tweaked to better address the concerns/requirements of the customer?
- How can we customize the product and demonstrate its suitability to the customer?
- Are there other commercial/service requirements that we can offer to make our product more suitable/attractive to them
3. THE MARKET SCENARIO
- How is the market for your industry?
- What are the technological transformations happening?
- What are your competitors concentrating on?
- How do your products/service compare vis a vis your competitors?
- What is your market share?
- Which segment of the market do you cater to – cost conscious, quality conscious, service conscious etc?
- Do you see the market undergoing any major transformation in the next 2 years?
- If so, is your company ready for the transformation? ahead of the curve or behind the curve?
- How can we present our standing in the market to strengthen the case for our product/service?
4. YOUR COMPETITION
- What are the competitors strengths vis a vis your product /service?
- Which segment of the market are the leaders focussing on?
- What are the technological advances that they are working on?
- Are they better prepared for the future?
- IF you are ceding customers to them what are the primary reasons?
- What are your strengths vis a vis the Competition and how do you present them in a convincing manner to your customer?
5. THE CUSTOMER’S MARKET
- What is the future that the customers Market is staring at?
- Are there any technological transformations the market is looking at?
- If so, what are the challenges for our product/service?
- Are we ready for these challenges?
- What are the steps we need to take to be prepared for these challenges?
- Can we help our customer get ready for the challenges that he is going to face?
In today’s world, where information is freely available, the customer is very well informed of the product that he is trying to source and the choices on offer. Hence, it is essential for the sales person to not only know his product inside out, but be very familiar with the potential customer’s business, the issue he is trying to address, the customer’s market, and his competition. He /she should also be in a position to offer valuable suggestions and insight as to ways and means by which they can grow their business.
The days of the slick talker “Can sell ice to an Eskimo” type salesman are long gone.
Today’s successful Sale leader is a person who is an extremely well-informed and honest – someone who is a trusted, reliable friend and guide to the customer, someone he turns to in a moment of trouble. To be successful, every Sales Leader must follow these five fundamentals for selling value.
EmergWay Academy has a unique Sales Leadership Training Program that focuses on building the “human skills” which will allow a sales professional to become a sales leader. You can visit www.emergway.com to learn more or contact me at Senthil.Kumar@emergway.com