It is not enough to think you’ve understood the customer’s problem. No. Repeat the problem back to him to confirm. Miscommunication costs, not just immediate, but future sales and, unfortunately, trust. “I want a kioo in my cars (lifts),” so the mzungu prospect told the lift selling company salesperson. They had a good laugh at
Read More
Are you engaged in problem identification or problem solving? Are you identifying problems, or solving problems identified? Confused? Well, if you are selling in a hardware shop and a customer comes in stating, “I want a drill,” do you sell him one, or do you find out why (or what for)? If you do the
A good sales person will answer a question with a question. For example, completely out of the blue, the buyer says, “Can you give us a discount?” The seasoned seller curiously but firmly asks, “Why?” Here’s another non-sales example: “Should we hold the Parents Day in the afternoon or morning?” the principal asks the School’s
Differentiating yourself on price is a race for the bottom. Who hits bottom first, wins. And be dammed the cost. All else lose. Differentiating yourself by ethically selling doubt is more productive. But how to sell doubt, you wonder? Well, read on. First off, doubt triggers pause. Doubt triggers introspection. Doubt triggers attention. And all
How important is it to build trust in selling? Changing hastily made commitments raises eyebrows, and breaks trust. Understand the scope of work before pricing it. The more if you are In the B2B (Business-to-Business) industry, where tip-of-the iceberg symptoms are verbalized as the iceberg problem by the potential buyer (prospect). Take the institution (a
Plumbers, doctors, carpenters, auditors, electricians, accountants all benefit from knowing how to sell professional services First, let’s take a break from matters disease and talk about my plumber. The man is living testimony of how professionals and technical staff can deepen the sale. Now then. Sellers initiate the sale’s relationship; technical staff deepen it. When
Even when a buyer comes demanding, “I want this solar panel; my neighbour told me he bought it here,” be cautious as seeing it as an open and shut sale. Customers don’t know what they want. There; I’ve said it. It therefore behoves the salesperson to show them. More accurately, guide them to what they
The unfortunate thing is that many times buyers say yes to put you off and not because they know anything about the product. Whereas a measure of assumption is inevitable in selling, there are instances where it can cost you the sale. Here are three such. Assumption One When opening the sale you ask the
How can you accelerate the sale? By establishing early in the sale, through asking insightful questions, the buyer’s real pain point. We buy a product or service to solve a problem. However, we rarely articulate the problem to the seller which makes his job that bit more complicated. For instance, we ask for a drill
Sales people that buy into this, “Bado mapema” mantra struggle with jumpstarting their selling batteries, the more post their holidaying. Buyers have the luxury of excuses for not getting into the thick of (business) things in January but you don’t. The favourite ones include, “Bado mapema, boss” (It’s still too early in the year) and