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Relationships Selling| Article #120 :RELATIONSHIP SELLING – PART 7

In this installment of relationship selling, we're going to focus on assessing needs. If you're going to sell to somebody based on the relationship that you're hoping to develop with them, you have to be able to assess the needs of this person if you're going to be able to effectively show them how your product or service can be of benefit to them. Hopefully, the following tips will give you enough info to be able to do just that.

True story. I was sitting talking with a friend of mine one day. This was many years ago. He noticed I was a little down. He asked me what was wrong. I told him that I was looking for a school that would teach me web design because I really wanted to get into the field but I couldn't find anything in this area. He suggested I look on the Internet. I said to him how is that going to help me? The Internet could have schools in Tibet and that won't help me none. He then suggested to just look up "Web Design Schools" + "New Jersey" and that I was sure to find something. Please understand, this was before I really knew anything about the Internet. Well, I did what he said and not only did I find a great school, but I ended up meeting somebody who I would ultimately do business with in designing web sites.

What's the point? By my friend simply asking me what my problem was, he was able to give me a solution that not only worked but worked very well. Had he not cared that I was moping around that day, he would have never asked what was wrong and who knows how long it would have been until I found a good web design school.

You have to ask your prospect questions. You have to get to the heart of his needs. Find out not only what he's looking for but what it is about what he currently has or his current situation that is not satisfactory. Don't make any assumptions. Get as much info as you can.

After you've discovered what it is that the prospect is looking for, look at your own product or service and see how it fits in with what the prospect is looking for. If it doesn't, don't try to make it fit. This is one of the biggest mistakes people make. They try to make a sale even though they know their product or service is something the prospect has no need for. Be honest and your honesty and integrity will show. By doing that, you have more of a chance of making the sale.

Also, make sure you go over any technical aspects of the problem. For example, let's say the prospect is unhappy with his current web hosting company. Find out all you can about the service he is getting, including disk storage, bandwidth restrictions, etc. See where your service is better. Point out the advantages. You won't even have to ask the prospect if he's interested. After you show him how YOUR service is better, he'll ASK you how he can get it because you've earned his trust by taking the time to go over his needs with him.

By finding out a prospect's needs you get that much closer to making the sale.

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