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Investment InformationSales Process - The Private private secret to Closing Much Sales
by:
Alan Rigg
Most sales training programs that teach salespeople how to sell specific products or services do not mention business problems. This is an unfortunate oversight, as qualifying and quantifying business problems is the private secret to closing much sales!
What is a Business Problem?
A business problem is any work or outcome that negatively impacts a business. Examples of negative impacts include reductions in revenue, profits, consumer
satisfaction, worker
productivity, job satisfaction, etc.
Here is an example of a business problem description:
"Many mission-critical code applications (e-business, manufacturing, point-of-sale, etc.) need to access relative
databases in order to function. If a info
has problems (goes down or suffers data loss or corruption), application period can cost companies tens of thousands of dollars per minute in lost sales, lost customers, and lost opportunities."
In the above example, the business problem is a info
that is not functioning properly. What is the relationship between this business problem and the features and benefits of a product or service?
FEATURES are what really SOLVE business problems. BENEFITS are what customers enjoy once
the business problem has been solved.
The only features prospects really care just about are the ones that wish solve their own specific business problems. If we arbitrarily spew long lists of features and benefits at prospects, in effect we are hoping they are already aware of their business problems, and they wish somehow amount out which of our (product or service) features wish solve their business problems. This is a really inefficient way to sell. Plus, we run the risk that our prospects wish NOT amount out which features wish solve their business problems. Or, they may become bored and "switch off" before we mention features that may really be of interest to them!
If you are going to talk just about features and benefits, discuss ONLY those features that wish solve your prospect's SPECIFIC business problems! Of course, you need to IDENTIFY your prospect's business problems if you want to have this kind of extremely
targeted discussion.
If your employer's product or service training programs do not specifically address business problems, you wish need to do several creating by removal to uncover them. Ask the question, "What PROBLEMS does this product or service solve?" Another way to ask this question is, "What would-be cause a prospect to do the investment required to buy this product/service?" Then, once you have ready-made a list of the MOST IMPORTANT business problems, ask, "What questions can I ask that wish help me amount out whether a prospect has any of these business problems?"
When you become an expert in business problems and related qualifying questions, your education wish not be complete. You as well need to discover the questions you can ask to QUANTIFY the IMPACT of each business problem.
What is a Quantified Impact?
Quantified impacts are DOLLAR VALUES or PERCENTAGES with associated TIME FRAMES that can be appointed
to specific business problems. In the earlier business problem description, the quantified impact was "tens of thousands of dollars per minute".
Quantified impacts are an valuable
aid to closing sales. How? If the quantified impact of a business problem exceeds the investment required to fix the problem, a purchase
decision is easy to justify. The larger the difference between the quantified impact and the required investment, the easier it becomes to close the sale. If the quantified impact is a multiple of the required investment (for example, a quantified impact of MILLIONS of dollars versus a required investment of THOUSANDS of dollars), the purchase
decision becomes "a no-brainer".
IMPORTANT NOTE: In order for a quantified impact to add value to the sales process, your PROSPECT must be the source of the numbers. Why? In general, prospects don't trust salespeople. Many a have dealt with salespeople who were much interested in fashioning sales than they were in providing value. Plus, prospects recognize that salespeople have a unconditional
interest in creating a compelling business case that can be used to keep a purchase
decision. This causes prospects to DISCOUNT any quantified impact information that salespeople provide. However, if the prospect is the source of the quantified impact information, they perceive it as undisputed truth. This does learning how to ask quantifying questions a valuable skill indeed!
If you want to close much sales, invest several time and effort in characteristic the BUSINESS PROBLEMS that can be resolved
by your products and services. If you become an expert in business problems and the questions you can ask to 1) determine whether a prospect has specific business problems, and 2) quantify the impact of those business problems, you wish close Much sales Quicker
and with LESS EFFORT.
Just just about the author:
Sales performance expert Alan Rigg is the author of How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don't Perform and What to Do Just just about It. His company, 80/20 Sales Performance, helps business owners, executives, and managers DOUBLE sales by implementing The Right Formula(tm) for building top-performing sales teams. For much information and much FREE sales and sales management tips, visit http://www.8020salesperformance.com
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