SOLUTION 35
AIM TO SOLVE THE BUYER’S PROBLEMS
The majority of your prospects, buyers and customers meet with you to review your products and services in the hope of solving a problem for their employer or their customers. So learning how to identify problems and to find and sell solutions to them are valuable assets.
maintain your credibility as a problem solver to keep the buyer’s attention
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
From your pre-call planning you probably have a good idea of what the prospect’s problem is, at least in general terms – to increase profits, reduce costs, improve relationships with customers, etc. But before you can offer a solution, you need to know it explicitly, and more importantly you need to help the prospect recognize the exact nature of the problem they have.
Ask questions Develop relevant and knowledgeable questions to guide the transaction.
Listen to the response If you have prepared well, the chances are you already know the answers to the questions you pose, but listen carefully as new information may come to light.
Clarify the response Ask additional questions if clarification is necessary.
Analyze the information Summarize the relevant facts and make sure that both you and the prospect agree on them before moving forward to offer a solution.
SELLING THE SOLUTION
There may be more than one solution to the problem. You must select the most appropriate one based on your knowledge and experience, and help the buyer to come to the same conclusion by following these steps:
Summarize the need Restate the problem to get agreement on it before you continue.
Develop the need Explain how the problem can have far-reaching implications and may cause related problems, to prepare them to hear your recommended solution.
Offer the solution Present the features and their associated benefits (see Solution 48).
Summarize the solution Deliver your bottom line statement – the one you have been working towards since you first greeted the prospect. This is likely to be some variation on, ‘Our product can increase your productivity and quickly pay for itself.’
your job is to help the prospect solve the agreed-upon problem
QUICK FIX: ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
Until you’ve discovered the problem that your customer needs to solve and helped them to verbalize it, you don’t have a solution to sell.
• Begin with open-ended questions (what, why and how) that require more information from the customer than a simple yes or no answer
• Move on to closed-ended yes/no questions to focus the buyer on specific products and benefits