How many sales opportunities have you lost to competitors who seemed to have the inside track? It’s likely your prospect purchased from their emotional favourite.

    Selling goes beyond communicating the value of your products and services. Selling is about communicating the value of doing business with you. It is about connecting with your customer and becoming their emotional favourite. Success in sales requires three things: a viable product that addresses a need, credibility, and timing.

    Some claim that sales timing is everything. However, experienced sales professionals know timing is the ONLY thing. There is a plethora of credible businesses with viable products. To be truly successful at selling you need to be the first or second person your customer talks to when they need something. There are three simple ways to get timing:
    1) Sheer numbers - if you contact enough prospects, you will
    eventually find opportunities.
    2) Referrals - someone tells you the customer has a need for
    your product or service.
    3) Become your customer’s emotional favourite - the customer calls
    you first.

    Value of Being First - Being one of the first suppliers in front of your customer at the time they need what you sell is key to getting the business. Once the customer begins to shape a solution around a vendor’s product or service, they become emotionally tied to that solution. People tend to make decisions and move on to the next problem.

    What is the Emotional Favourite? - Think about the last time you purchased a product or service. When you picked up the phone, did you call the person who helped you in the past? Was it the person who added value to your business or career every time you asked for their assistance? Chances are you did. The fact of the matter is most people do.

    It used to be that people bought from those they knew, liked and trusted. To be successful in sales today, you need to go one step further and connect with your customers to become the person your customers know, like, trust…and want to see succeed. The emotional favourite is the person your customers call first, regardless of what they need.

    Becoming the Emotional Favourite - So, if being the emotional favourite means helping your customers fulfill their needs, how do you create this relationship where your customers think of you as their one-stop resource? Start by asking questions about your customer when you meet for the very first time and at the end of EVERY sales call.

    Think about the last time you encountered a ‘stereotypical’ salesperson, the one who immediately launched into a sales pitch. How did you react? After a minute or two, did your eyes glaze over? As the salesperson droned on, did you stop listening and waited for an opportunity to end the conversation? Ultimately, that salesperson fell to the bottom of the list of people you call when you need something. This is not where you want to be if you are looking to become the emotional favourite.

    Asking the Right Questions - Obviously, you’re not going to start with, “Hi, I’m Craig. What’s your greatest challenge?” Start with open-ended questions; ask about how the latest government policy changes or shifts in technology has impacted their business. Relate their business to your other industry contacts and share some of your own insights. Then you can ask about their greatest challenges and you will likely get the answers you are looking for.

    Frame your questions outside your existing ‘sales professional to prospect’ relationship because, by default, your customer will answer in terms of your products or services. Start with, “Let’s forget about what I do for ABC Company for a minute,” and ask:
    - What is the biggest issue you have that you just can’t get
    to? or,
    - What is the one thing you are looking for but can’t seem to
    find? or,
    - What issue have you tried to solve but can’t find a
    satisfactory solution to?

    Now shut up and listen! When your customer stops talking, wait six seconds and listen to what they tell you next. First, they’ll tell you about the problem. If you don’t interrupt them, they will tell you how the problem impacts them and the rest of their organization.

    Now you have the enough information to connect your customer with a solution, and if it’s not available through you, perhaps you know a colleague who can solve the problem.

   What are the Benefits of Asking the Right Questions? - Asking the right questions will give you: a better under-standing of your customers and their organization; an improved customer relationship during a time when they do not need what you sell; more time with your customers; and an insight into opportunities to sell.

    Most customers don’t tell you of needs they think are unrelated to what you sell. When you ask the above questions, you will learn of additional needs that may provide you with new opportunities to sell your products or services.

    In the next issue of RWM, we will cover first call effectiveness and how to prevent your customers from calling your competition.

    Craig Elias is a professional speaker, networking guru, & founder of InnerSell, an online sales tool used by sales professionals to ensure that no matter what their customer needs, they can get it through them. Contact Craig by phone 403.874.2998 or visit www.InnerSell.com