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Originally Posted by Thomas
I wish I could identify that need. I think people just like to keep looking around to see all of their options. How do I stop that? What should I say?
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Thomas,
(1) Shoppers to like to keep looking around.
(2) Status Quo Paralysis grips many shoppers. Even when they need something and know it, the status quo can have a grip on their buying actions. The solution is to build sales momentum. Everything in the sales interaction should be designed to build momentum. Many salespeople have "random customer service" interactions instead of "focused sales interactions" with their prospects.
(3) All people buy for a reason: to meet needs. If the salesperson fully understands the prospect's needs (both the over arching needs which I call Macro Needs, and the needs of the moment I call Micro Needs), he is more likely to show his prospect how his product can meet those needs.
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A few suggestions for questions to build sales momentum:
1. "What have you looked at out there in the marketplace that you've liked or not liked?"
2. "That's great you found something you liked. So I can understand your situations, would you please tell me why you didn't go ahead and purchase it?"
3. "What are you looking for in a widget?" (prospect answers). "If I can find a widget that does those things, how would you feel about purchasing my widget?"
4. "Why are you looking for a widget today instead of last year, or next year?"
5. "On a scale of 1 to 10, with ten being the highest, how well would you say this widget meets your needs? (customer says "7"). Describe what changes we would have to make to this widget to make it a '10'".
6. "If we find a widget that you love, and the price is acceptable to you, when would you want to take possession of your new widget?"
7. "Based upon what you told me, I'm going to show you a widget. All you need to do is give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down. The only thing I ask is that if you give it a thumbs down, you tell me why...is that fair?"
8. "When shopping for a widget, every customer has a list of 'musts'. What is on your lists of 'musts'?"
9. "So you've been looking for a widget for six months. How come you haven't purchased one yet? Is it the money or is it something else?"
10. "Should we write it up?" (I recently spend 2.5 weeks with a client company doing ride-alongs with their salespeople on actual sales appointments. In only one interaction of the 20 did the salesperson actually ask the prospect to buy).
Thomas, I don't fully understand your situation, so I don't know how well the suggestions above fit it. It's a given that the questions above may not fit your situation exactly, but I'm just trying to give you some ideas to work with.
If you use questions like these, and you have a high degree of likability and helpfulness during your questioning, you should be able to get to the bottom of what your prospects need.