Our clients usually don’t buy what they don’t want. Most of them research what they want to buy on the Internet prior to visiting our organizations. More folks every day look at social media ratings (like Yelp) in order to make decisions on where they want to shop. Finally, price is important, but client-experience trumps price.
When a client gives you the ability to meet them face-to-face, you should feel honored, and focus on three mutual emotional connections. They are a deep emotional connection with YOU, your PRODUCT, and your ORGANIZATION. These connections should happen before you ask the client to own your product or service at a price. That timing is critical to allow your client to evaluate what is being offered before making a final commitment.
Simply stated, make the three emotional connections more often, and sell more of what you offer.
- Deep Emotional Connection to YOU: This has to do with the client’s perception of who you are as a person. To help this relationship grow, you need to enhance your communication skills. The three simplest areas to learn are: Listening, Questioning, and Summarizing.
- Listening: Active listening with the intent to understand the client’s complete point of view. In addition, you have to sell the fact that you are listening. It is not what you say or do, it is how you say or do it.
- Questioning: The questions are with the intent to clarify the client’s point of view. If you gain clarification, you were listening with the intent to understand. You also now have more wants, needs, and motives to utilize in your client dialogue.
- Summarization: When your client conversation is over, provide a summary, ending with the simple words, “Did I miss anything?” This acknowledges to the client that you understand their position.
- Deep Emotional Connection to YOUR PRODUCT: When you know your client’s wants, needs, and motives, it allows you to custom-design your approach. Your presentation and demonstration will focus on what is most important to that client. This drives a special emotional feeling that the client wants your product. You, as a professional sales consultant, must make that emotional connection occur first, before moving on to other features or benefits you value.
- Deep Emotional Connection to YOUR ORGANIZATION: As with connection to your product, connection to your organization is based on our dialogue with our clients. Our approach is also similar because we do a feature presentation on what the client will receive during their ownership experience. Ownership experience trumps purchase experience only after the commitment has been fully made. Both are really important to our client’s ability to make a non-pressured decision to proceed.
In conclusion, before you ask a closing question, make sure you earned the right to ask it. Do you have a deep emotional connection?