Know the right answer
Often times as a salesperson you’ll find yourself not knowing how to answer a question which isn’t yours to answer. Nonetheless, you’re in a predicament and have to answer back something while keeping in mind that the way you answer depends on many circumstances or at what point in the sales cycle you are engaged in.
Understanding the customer on a deeper level and knowing which answer works (not lying) could change the dynamic of the whole sales process. Let me present a scenario here:
You represent a technical product and facing a team of techs when all of a sudden you’re posed with a technical question. To which, you can reply in three different ways.
a) You can wing it as much as you can until it sticks.
b) Reference their question with another case study.
c) Tell them you’ll get a real tier 3 tech person to answer their question.
This, naturally, puts you out of your element for a few seconds but your sales intuition kicks in and you either pick one of the three or dodge. So the real insight would be what to answer that would keep you relevant and in control of the conversation, which is equally important. A major factor in the sales process that a lot of sales folks nowadays are losing their grip on is keeping control of conversation. Whether they’re getting lost in something trivial unrelated to the customer or they think they’re above it all, not controlling the conversation can be detrimental and will lose your focus on the prize. Another factor is listening with the intent of presenting a value added solution that directly addresses a pain point head on - meaning at least one of the pain points. Nothing impresses a customer more, even if you don’t have the “right” answer, is if you can present a solution or a part of your solution that will absolutely solve one of their major problems. And you only figure that out by intently listening and by that I mean listening to the tone and body language as they describe their pain or problem to you. But this is another subject to discuss later.
Combination of having discipline, understanding your product and match price points keep you away from the prejudgment of being just another sales rep in the eyes of the customer.
Bottom line, the importance of conveying the right answer can sometimes be tricky but if you keep focus by staying in control and providing an answer that is honest with something the customer can chew on, you will remain interesting. And if you remain interesting to the customer then you’re product, or service, will as well.
Jameel Saqib, Co-Founder – McCord Solutions (www.mccordsolutions.com), July 15, 2016 |
