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How To Increase Sales By Becoming An Insider To The Customer

How to Get Inside Information for Solution Selling. Selling software used to be deemed a "technical sale" where the primary goal of the sales rep was to provide information to the customer. [Selling Power, Software Sales Newsletter]

The more you know about a customer's unique situation, the easier it is to sell.? So how do you find out the dirt (details) necessary to close large opportunities?? A recent Selling Power, Software Sales Newsletter, tells you how...

But is just having information about your target prospects enough?? Gathering information is easy; turning it into knowledge is the hard part that you'll need to build strong business relationships.

Remember, prospects don't care what you know until they know how it will help them. Here is how to approach background research to turn selling encounters into profitable opportunities for all involved:

1. Research with a purpose.? Determine the specific opportunity you wish to pursue, why this prospect, and what results you hope to achieve. Your purpose should go beyond just "making a sale" and touch the value you create for a buyer.
2. Don't make assumptions.? You'll see lots of information from many sources, some of which will not be accurate. Before making assumptions, check your facts either with testing or a second solid source. Remember, when you "assume", you make an "ass" of "u" and "me".
3. Write down questions to answer.? Instead of jumping in blind, create a list of 10 to 15 questions you want answered that support your overall purpose. These questions identify deficiencies in your current knowledge and create a guide for your efforts.
4. Start with public sources.? Nothing is sacred today, you can find out just about anything on anyone from public sources. Visit the local library, use a service, but get started with those items most readily available.
5. Mine your customer relationship management system.? What you already know about customers may surprise you. Use all your research efforts to enhance information in your customer relationship management system. Look for buying trends of similar customers, products selected, and other indicators of habits.
6. Understand your customers industry.? It's not enough to know the prospect, but you must also be keenly aware of happenings in their industry. This can be hard for the business to business provider who serves multiple industries, but it's critical to really connecting with buyers interests.

To learn a simple strategy to know what is important about customers desires, so that you sell more, send a SASE to UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER DESIRES, Dept GI-0603B, PMB 6618, 2711 Centerville Rd., Ste 120, Wilmington, DE 19808.

An advance skill presented here, is to know enough about prospects and customers situations to be a valuable trusted advisor. But no matter what, remember ...

It doesn't matter what you know about customers, it only matters what you do with that information. Use this new knowledge to improve credibility, to provide realistic solutions, and address expectations. Do this, and prospects will appreciate your efforts enough to become customers.

By Justin Hitt at February 22, 2006 2:43 PM  Subscribe in a reader