Paul addresses different techniques to help you uncover buyers’ needs.
Show Notes
“Asking better questions will force the prospect to think deeper.”
Remind the customer of the cost of sticking with the status quo.
Identify what the customer will gain from making a change, not what they sacrifice.
Remove barriers and make the change as easy as possible.
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How do I expose the buyer’s need?
(Transcribed from podcast)
So just the other day, I ran into just a sales guy who I’ve worked with in the past, and we were just talking all things sales. And one thing that came up—. We started talking about prospects who just, they see no reason to change. They don’t believe they need to change. They don’t want to go through the hassle of it. And so, what we’re talking about is how do you convince them to change? And the goal when you’re trying to convince someone to change is really, you must first expose a need that they are unaware of. You’ve got to expose a need that helps drive demand for your solution. So, we’re going to talk about that specific technique on today’s episode: How do you expose a customer’s need that they are unaware of? So that’s what we’re going to get into.
Now, before we get into that, pick up your copy of Selling Through Tough Times. In fact, in Selling Through Tough Times, we have a technique; it’s called self-discovery. This is where we help our prospects—we help our customers discover their own needs versus us telling them what their needs are. It’s a very powerful tool in persuasion because with self-discovery, you’re invoking that endowment effect. So please pick up your copy. You’re going to get so much value from it. And also, make sure you visit toughtimer.com. On the website, we’ve got so many resources available for you, so check it out.
Now let’s get back to this. So, customers don’t change. They see no reason to change. They won’t change. They’re unaware of their needs. The best way to overcome this challenge is to expose a need that the buyer is unaware of. So, here’s how we can do this.
Number one: we have to ask better questions. Asking better questions will force the prospect to think deeper, to look for information, to seek out information. We need to ask questions that cause them to think deeper. So, one technique we call targeted probing. Targeted probing is about asking questions that call attention to your solution’s strengths and at the same time, highlighting a potential competitive weakness. And ideally, what you’re doing here is you’re not talking bad about your competition, but you’re simply asking questions that highlight your strengths. Once the customer is aware of your strengths, then they’re going to be more open to hearing about your solution. Not only that, but they’re going to create a— almost like a level of dissatisfaction with what they’re currently doing. So, with targeted probing, I would encourage you to do a side-by-side comparison between you and whoever the prospect is currently using, and identify where you are better, where you’re different, and then ask questions that draw attention to those strengths.
The next thing. We call this projective probing. Projective probing is about selling the prospect on the dream. And with projective probing, we’re trying to identify, okay, what does the ideal solution look like? We’re giving the buyer a vision into a better solution, and we’re asking them, “Hey what would you change?” “What would you improve?” “How would you enhance your current process, your current solution?” And these questions will force the buyer to think about ways that they would improve.
And you can ask these questions in clever ways. One of my favorite questions to ask prospects or for salespeople to ask prospects is to simply ask, “If you ran our business, what would you offer customers like yourself that just isn’t available right now?” It’s a great question because it forces the customer to think in terms of what they would improve, what they would offer, what they would change. And it’s really an interesting question that will spark some good conversation. Again, you’ve got to ask better questions. That begins with targeted probing and also, projective probing.
The second tip: we need to highlight the true cost of their current decision or the status quo. What is it really costing them? Not just the price, but the total cost. I’ll give you an example of this. There was a group we were working with. They sell in the agricultural world, so they’re selling to farmers, and they were selling seed. And the salesperson said, “I had a competitor come in who just did something completely stupid. He gave away his product for free. They told the farmer, ‘Look, I’m going to give you free seed to plant in your field. All you’ve got to do is give it a try, let us know what you think.’” And so the salesperson said, “How could I compete with free?” He said, “What I did, though, is after the growing season, I went back and I met with that farmer. And I asked him, I said, ‘How did it go?’ And the farmer said, ‘That free seed was the most expensive seed that I ever planted because it failed to perform.’”
Think about it, the free seed was the most expensive because it failed to perform. That’s an example of exposing the true cost. So, when you’re talking to your customers, use this as an opportunity to generate a dialogue. Ask the customer, “Have you ever considered the true cost of what you’re currently doing. Beyond just the price that you’re paying, let’s look at the true cost.” And then you can start talking about labor costs. You can talk about engineering costs, design costs, maintenance costs, energy costs, any form of cost. Cost is what they really sacrifice. When they start thinking in terms of total cost, you have a greater opportunity to expose a need. So, keep that in mind.
And the third and final tip: we need to emphasize the gain, not what they’re sacrificing. When you’re trying to expose a need—when you’re trying to expose a need—you’re better off identifying what they stand to gain versus what they have to sacrifice to attain that gain. It’s more important that people get past what they sacrifice today, and we put them in a better future state where we emphasize what they’re going to fully gain. So people get stuck on what they sacrifice. That’s natural; that’s human nature—to just focus more on what we sacrifice versus what we gain.
So if you’re trying to expose a need, if you’re trying to get that buyer to make a change, it’s more important to focus on what they gain versus what they have to sacrifice. So I would list out all of the potential outcomes that your customers will gain when they experience your solution. And by listing out all of those outcomes, you’re going to put the emphasis more on gain versus what they sacrifice.
And another tip here: just in general, when you’re trying to get someone to change, make that change as easy as possible. Remove barriers. Make it a smooth and seamless transition. So once you expose that need, you get the buyer ready to move forward, they’re all excited, make sure that you make the transition as easy as possible for them. In doing that, it’s going to enhance the experience. Also, it’s going to increase the likelihood that they actually do change.
Make it a big day.
