July 30, 2020
ISSN# 1545-2646
Are you selling or servicing a need
The economy is still trying to figure itself out. We have had starts, stops, pauses and peddle to the metal and all the jerking around might be getting both your business and customers sick. Not directly from a virus but all the happenings swirling around in the economy.
Early on in the current state of economic challenge there was essentials buying – toilet paper, hand sanitizer and the like. Then it moved to various food products like meat etc. As the time passed and the government injected cash into the economy in various forms from direct to citizens stimulus checks or through business via payroll protection programs etc., money began to work its way into the economy. Most of this was in the consumer marketplace.
As the various levels of re-opening the economy began to take place, the business world needed some of these same essentials for cleaning and providing a safe and sanitary environment for all (staff and patrons) who would enter their businesses. Most of these types of purchases would fall under a need to purchase. It was not a like to have. It was a requirement so the need was very high in the operational expense category.
Moving forward as you engage your customers and clients it is going to be critical that you distinguish whether you are providing a product or service to a need or a want. Businesses still have many wants. The challenge for the near future is they won’t have the money for wants, only for needs. So for your sales team, you will need to look at your customers through the lens of helping them resolve a need as opposed to selling them something they want.
You might say to yourself that you have always sold to a customer need. I would tend to agree with the general statement but coming out of this most recent economic challenge, the marketplace is very unstable/uncertain. This does not mean gloom or doom. What it means is that you MUST be far more attentive to the real needs of the customer and how you can help them effectively and efficiently remove their pain by serving them rather than just selling them a product or service. The justification process has gone way up and although a need may have existed prior to the economic change, the priorities have changed and new assessment criteria is in place to define need vs. want.
Are your sale people listening at the level they need to be to hear the customers’ pain? Do you need to engage them in a more immersive listening and understanding effort to generate sales? Give JKL Associates a call at (313) 527-7945 in Michigan or (407) 984-7246 in Florida and lets discuss your NEEDS!