ATLANTA -- Honing sales skills and identifying the process customers go through when making purchasing decisions are critical factors in improving bottom-line results, according to a leading sales expert.
Rob Jolles encourages business managers, sales professionals and customer service representatives to become better listeners and to ask more questions of customers.
"Teach your people to ask questions and to listen. Get your customers on the phone and get them to talk. Do not let your sales force regurgitate product offerings," asserts Jolles.
Many sales people say they've had a lot of sales training but really what they learned was a lot about certain products, Jolles continues. "That's not sales training."
Jolles made his points during a session called "New Business Development: Learning from a Different Perspective" at this year's Motorcoach Expo 2004 in Atlanta.
The sales guru told attendees it takes practice to be smooth at selling. Sales techniques may be "robotic" at first, but after experience they will become much more natural, he contends.
During his session, Jolles cited a study by Technical Assistance Research Programs Inc. that showed an average business hears from 4 percent of its unhappy customers. Of those who do not bother to complain, 25 percent have "serious" problems.
A customer with a problem will tell 11 to 20 people about it, but a customer who has had a problem resolved by a company only will tell 3 to 5 people. "That is proof that bad news spreads fast," Jolles said.
And that's why "customer-centered selling" is critical, he contends. This process involves the sales representative asking questions to gather information. The questions should be both open- and closed-ended.
Open questions are used to get the customer talking, gather information, expand-on the information provided, and open up a conversation. These questions usually begin with who, what, when, where, why and how.
Closed questions are used to test, qualify, clarify and control the flow of information, said Jolles. These questions generally require a "yes" or "no" answer, and often begin with can, do, is, will, could or have.
Jolles also conducted a session called "Getting Off the Price Issue: Breaking Away from an Order-Taking Mentality." This workshop focused on the customer process when making a purchasing decision.
"Make price a non-issue before it comes up. Break away from your order- taking mentality," Jolles urged listeners. "Understanding how people buy is key to being an effective salesperson. Research has shown that buying involves a process on the part of the customer. That process is repeatable and predictable, and is essentially the same in every industry."
He said there are eight stages that a customer goes through: satisfied, acknowledge, decision, criteria, measure, investigate, selection and reconsider.
Only 4.5 percent of people are in the satisfied stage, Jolles said. They are totally content and perceive no problems with their current situation.
During the acknowledge stage, the customer is aware a problem exists but feels no sense of urgency to do anything about it. "This customer will whine to you about this and that but that doesn't mean they want to change," he explained.
Less than .5 percent of people fall into the decision stage where they are "fed up" and resolve to fix the existing problem.
During the criteria stage, "the problem shapes the need," Jolles said. The customer shifts focus away from the problems and attempts to determine what the buying criteria will be. "People don't fix little problems. They fix big ones," Jolles added.
During the measure stage, the customer better defines the list of criteria. In the investigate stage, the customer begins to compare various solutions to address the criteria.
Next, the customer chooses the solutions that best fit the criteria in the selection stage. The final stage, the reconsider stage, the customer reevaluates the decision made.
"Sales success is not solely determined by the salesperson's ability to convince the customer but rather relies on the salesperson's facilitation of this decision process," Jolles said.
The salesperson has to adopt certain steps to help make the sale. The research stage is a critical element necessary to build trust. By using background probes, a sales person can uncover information about the customer's current situation, qualify the customer and put the customer at ease. During this stage, keep questions open, avoid problems and play up your company's strengths, Jolles said. "You're selling the relationship. Begin with the end in mind."
During the analysis stage, you will probe for more information from the customer by using identifying, developing and impact probes. Identifying probes allow you to find the problem without using the word problem.
For example, ask "what are your concerns about this trip?" By using the developing probes you are encouraging the customer to tell you more. By asking certain types of questions you can help increase the customer's sense of urgency. "Build that problem up. If you are selling at a premium you have to open the wound." Impact probes should get them to see the consequences of that problem and get them to look down the road at the solution, Jolles said.
Finally, the salesperson will want to confirm their work through a two-step process. First, ask if there are any other concerns and then about commitment to change.
"Now you're ready to get the customer to make a decision to fix their existing problems by confirming with a closed question," Jolles said. This, he said, is the time to ask: "Would you like to look at some alternatives?" or "Are you committed to making a change?"
"Be a consultant - not an order taker."