Be it a product, a solution or service the salesman knows it all about them and hence proceeds to talk about them most of the time during the interface with the customer. Although there is a little probing initially to understand the customer’s needs and wants, the discussion leads into a monologue with the salesman speaks all the way through. This gives enough room for the customer to know more about the product/ service as well as the psychological states of the salesman. Thus preparing to stonewall the sale and turn the deal in his favour.
It would now be appropriate if the salesman discards this approach and gets into a dialogue with the customer to
1. Uncover the needs
(a) the actual need – from the problem perspective;
(b) personal need – from his benefit perspective and
(c) the Psychological need – from his fears, concerns and apprehensions perspective.
2. Identify his decision enablers;
3. Deliver the satisfiers and finally
4. Staying connected even after - what I call handholding.
Using probing techniques such as SPIN will possibly unwind a lot of the customer’s actual need with regard to the situation or causes that have led to the problem and what implications are being experienced or are anticipated by him. The unfurling of the actual needs can further lead to revealing the tangible and the intangible benefits that the customer craves for, these can be – seeking visibility or being the most dependable/ reliable or achieve self satisfaction or prove it to others that I can… etc. etc. Finally uncovering the hidden fears/ concerns/ apprehensions of the customer becomes all the more essential to evolve psychological as well as emotional security satisfiers. Majorly there are 3 kinds of threats that rule the customers mind instilling fear in him – 1. Threat to my job/ position; 2. Threat to my identity/ personality; and finally 3. Threat to my dreams.
The salesman needs to be alert and sensitive to all that the customer says during the dialogue. Research says that people are categorized into 3 major segments called VAK. Some are extremely Visual (have clarity in vision/ what they see), some Auditory (Sharp at Listening) and Kinesthetic (believe through experiences/ touch & feel). Although all the three are present in each individual one is however dominant and acts as an enabler in Decision making. A visual customer believes the graphics/ pictures and all what is mentioned in the corporate dossier whereas the Autitory customer needs an oral explanation to reinforce his belief. The Kinesthetic customer is more of a practical kind who wishes to see it in reality and not in books/ dossiers – know the experiences/ case studies needs to know the back up plan etc so as to make a decision. Once this technique is mastered it will save time in choosing the best right way to enter into the customer's mind and then it is time to use the appropriate Satisfiers to close in on the customer towards closing the deal.
Satisfiers are those enablers that lend clarity or solace to the customers mind. The customer's mind needs to be aligned with the right satisfier and presented to the customer using the FAB technique – Features Advantages Benefits. Features as the satisfier to a visual person and likewise the advantages to the solution/ products to the Auditory and Benefits entice the Kinesthetic to make decisions quickly. While doing this it is essential to avoid negative triggers be it in the way one dresses, presents, the language used or mannerisms employed or hurried-ness to close that can jeopardize the deal.
Delivering the expected along with the unexpected (without a monetary loss or loss of brand or anything that would damage the organization/ company) is the most worthy satisfier to any customer. More so if delivered in the most unexpected manner it remains etched in the minds of a customer for a long long time. Research has shown that it takes the brain 21 days to forget an event and hence it would be healthy to keep in touch regularly with a customer but not hound him. One can sometimes call for feedback on the functionality, sometimes to seek further inputs into serving him better, sometimes to let them know about future products, sometimes to send them coupons and vouchers for some events that they relish (as a psychological satisfier) etc. This builds rapport and keeps the mind of the customer occupied with only that salesman. The reason being the salesman has taken care of the customers' needs; delivers in a manners the client loves it; alleviates all the fears and keeps client comfortable; acts as a provider of relevant information that is useful from time to time; guides him on this pathway and above all he is always visible, reachable, approachable and reliable when the customer needs help. The salesman now transforms himself into a trusted advisor to the customer and the customer becomes his Client for an entire lifetime. Thus, a change in the focus is needed to ensure that the salesman becomes a major stakeholder in the buyout of the customer’s mindshare and thus ruling his mind always. Hence its better to get the customer on your side rather than selling products to him.
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