Don’t Sell, Let Them Buy!

Srini was in a meeting with his sales team, his phone rings, Srini was visually upset as soon as he looked at his phone. Disconnecting the phone, Srini said why don’t these people understand that the product they are selling is not my requirement and on top of it they have audacity to tell me that what they are selling is exactly what I am looking for. He continued venting out his frustration and expressed his discomfort with the way this Sales Manager of a reputed company called him to sell that TV which Srini just saw at a showroom last weekend.

 Discussion starts in the room and most of the team members were trying to find out the reason, why Srini is upset with the sales person…….

 Srini wanted his sales team to know the whole scenario and explained what exactly happened…

 Srini along with his family had gone out last Sunday for lunch to DLF Mall. As he is looking for a TV for his bedroom, he decided to explore some option which caught his eyes in the display window. He liked one TV in display window and asked more information about the TV. Sales Person explained all the 17 features listed there and tried to sell the same TV to Srini. Srini asked his team what went wrong in it, poor fellow had explained all the features and also offered a cash back of 5% if bought on ABC Bank Card.

• Some said it was costlier than your budget.
• Some said it was not of your preferred company.
• Some said it did not have the feature you were looking for.
• Some said may be the size of the TV was not apt for your bedroom.

 Srini started smiling and showed some kind of pain and said “friends we too are doing the same mistake”. He asked 4 questions to his team…..

 How will you know about …..

1.  What is my budget?
2. My preferred company?
3. The features I am looking for?
4. The apt size of TV for my Bedroom?

 Spontaneously and instantly everyone in the room said…. “YOU NEED TO TELL US, SRINI”.

 Srini, yes that’s what is the pain point, you know that what might be the reason of my disappointment and you also know that I am the person who will tell you what exactly I need, But.. but.. did not ask. His product has it all but he is not able to tell me how I will be benefited by it.

 Team instantly asked, how will we know this?

 Srini….. it's simple!

 1.   Ask questions

 It’s of utmost importance that you before start selling understand, not only the needs/wants of the customer but also try to understand the person himself, his preferences and his priorities. To you do this, ASK QUESTIONS. Any question you ask has to be RELEVANT QUESTION. Asking question is important and asking right question is even more important.

 2.  Listen Carefully

 Mere asking the questions will not help if you fail to listen. Listening what….Words? No, you need to listen to the logics behind his preferences and you need to listen to emotions behind his preferences, liking or disliking. Not all the decisions are logical, quite often emotions too drive the decision. Listen to those…. Emotions & Fact and logics & likes.

 3.  Focus on pain points/desires

Without understanding the drivers of the decision making of a particular person in a particular situation, it will be difficult for you to focus. Therefore, if you understand the pain point or the desire, focus on that. Let the customer know that you have understood his need/wants and take his acknowledgement on it. He is not going to buy your product but he is surly going to address his pain points or desires.

 4.  Provide the solution

Don’t Sell, try to help the customer in buying. Buying a solution to the situation, problem, desire or anything else. Let him see the benefit he is going to get out of “HIS DECISION TO BUY” rather you try to sell. Show him how your product fulfills his needs/wants. Remember, it’s easy for customers if they are able to see the solution. Value Proposition matters.

 Srini’s Sales Team was bit puzzled and mentioned about sales numbers’ pressure, always. That’s where it is even more important to follow this and yes it does need…..

• Patience
• Practice
• Perseverance

 Happy Selling, ohh, Happy Solving!