67. How can you put customers on a magic carpet?
This is the secret of a highly successful sales person. Your average sales person talks about the price, the competition or the product, always in the present tense. The consultative sales person looks at their product or service from a different view point.
The first question you should ask when putting together your sales strategy is: What does my prospect or customer want? What are the pictures they have of their future? What are their goals? Where do they want to be next year, the year after, and five years from now?
You have to go beyond the money and find out what they are going to do with it once they have it. Once you get this information you can move on to the next step in building your sales presentation.
The second question you ask is how can the benefits of my products and services enhance my clients' future? When we begin to think in these terms we have crossed the bridge from sales person to a true "Consultative Sales Person". Once you begin to think in these terms, your prospects turn into customers and your customers turn into clients. You have set yourself apart from the average "peddler" who merely has a sales pitch, and put yourself in the position of a partner who is working for the same goals and objectives as your client.
Your customers will know that you "understand where they are coming from." They will know that you understand their problems and have an insight into what they are trying to accomplish.
I spent 2 years living full time in an RV traveling throughout North America. I became hooked on stopping at RV dealers and talking with sales people. Most of them talked about the features of their products and very seldom about my traveling experiences and future dreams. They were simply tour guides pointing out the table and the stove.
However, every now and then I would come across a real pro who asked me questions about my future plans. What a treat it was to climb on the magic carpet and visit my future. Even though I no longer own an RV, it is still fun to get on that magic carpet and revisit the care free lifestyle.
Comments:
Being part of the here & now is fine if the service or product offered is beneficial to the customer at the present time, but to establish a long term partnership with the customer in the future is to look beyond the here & now. You have to be able to see their future & future goals & show how you can be a valued asset to their vision. Once you’ve accomplished that then you can become a partner instead of a one time sales person.
Carla McCrea
Gathering information on a prospect's wants, needs, short and long term goals are a perfect start to preparing the magic carpet. Customizing your presentation with emphasis on features or benefits you offer that can contribute to the success of the prospect. Think of yourself as a partner to their business instead of the sales representative.
Brooke Knight
A consultative sales person using the future is the best way to move forward with a customer.
James L. Craft, Jr.
With my portfolio of accounts, my biggest sales pitch for the end user customer is how being compliant with what their head office puts into place will help them in the future. The local operators tend to be in the "now" frame of mind, whereas the head office is in the "future" frame of mind. Supporting the head office, and helping the stores to become compliant about "showing" them the future is the key aspect to my line of selling.
JoAnne Welch
"I have found that it seems to depend on the customer. Some customers have no idea, at least it seems that way, of where they want to be next week let alone in five years. They seem to be only interested in the here and now. After thinking about this statement perhaps...
1 They are not the type of customer that I would want or...
2 Perhaps they have never been shown the future so it would be up to me to take them for a tour to see if I can take them to the next level ??"
Alex McQueen
"This was the lesson I was looking for--re the consultative sale. It's going to help me a lot becuase it will require re-planned and thought out benefits before I talk to the next prospect. Very helpful!"
Mike Rohan
"This is the whole idea of selling. "
Ronda Kennesaw
"In the staffing business I have learned that we play a vital role in our company’s future goals. Helping them achieve these goals becomes as important to us as it is to them. The more they thrive and grow the bigger the role we will play. Our survival depends on how we assist our clients with their future goals and concerns. I believe that we do this through our ability to be flexible. If it is possible we try to meet all of our different clients needs on an individual level. If a client needs something done differently we can tailor our business model to their desires along as we do not jeopardize integrity and go beyond the boundsries set forth by the corporate office. I would like to think we are fast, fluid and flexible."
Jeffrey Mole
"In order to sell a product or service you must be able to show how it will improve their business. The most effective way to do this is to find out exactly what the customer’s ambitions are and how he plans to implement these ambitions. If you can show how your product or service can improve their goals you will gain new business for sure. After reading this article, I see just how important it is to be a guide on how to improve business rather than just a salesman. There is no such thing as just a salesman. We have a responsibility to take care of our customers in every aspect that they see fit. A customer service business consultant is a better title for successful people in sales."
Cullin Hamm
"Put your customers on the "magic carpet" and take them to a place where their future becomes a possible reality. You won't have to sell, you will only have to help them buy!"