Needs Based Selling

Get to understand the customer by letting them speak -- at length, if necessary.

Simply put, needs-based selling means determining a customer's needs before you start to propose solutions. Get to understand the customer by letting them speak -- at length, if necessary. When it's time to present, you'll do a better job than those who merely display their products and services and you'll be far better positioned to sustain a long-term customer relationship.

ACTION POINT: Don't propose solutions until you understand your customers needs.

Addressing Needs

The process of selling requires careful planning and management.

Selling isn't a moment of inspiration; it is not about force of argument or the strength of your personality. It is a process. the process is fairly easy to understand, but -- as you'll see -- hard to do. The techniques in this series are centered around a process called needs-based selling, so let's examine its principles and set the scene.

The process of selling requires careful planning and management. Beginning a relationship with a new client is the first phase of the process: you can't just walk into a customer's office and kick off a sales meeting -- it needs careful staging, and both you and your customers need to be prepared.

Next, you start the most important part of the sales process -- determining the customer's needs. During this phase, you ask the key questions, listen to what the customer has to say, identify both the obvious and less obvious needs, enter into a meaningful dialogue, and review what you have learned. Needs determination drives everything in selling, and it is only once you have listened to your customer that you move on to the phase of the process that most salespeople enjoy the most: presenting their products and services. This is when you get to explain how you and your company can address your customer's needs. You know your products and services inside-out, and your customers want to hear how you can help them.

Once you have determined the needs and made recommendations, it is time to think about gaining commitment. But something almost always gets in the way -- and you face resistance to commit. The customer needs to be allowed to object -- even when they seem ready to buy -- and you must resolve the client's objections if you are to close the sale.

ACTION POINT: Understand the key steps in the selling process.

Selling Profile

...salespeople share some characteristics that make them more likely to succeed

There's no formula for a great salesperson -- they come from all walks of life and levels of society. However, salespeople share some characteristics that make them more likely to succeed:

• Willingness to take risks -- putting their own necks on the line and entering uncharted waters to come up with unique ideas.
• Generosity -- giving credit to others where deserved without reservation, and sharing credit without fear of diminishing individual contribution.
• A thick skin -- knowing how to deal with failure and understanding that even the best lose more often than they win. With experience, salespeople learn how to deal with inevitable negative responses to their ideas, as well as their own innate emotional responses to knock-backs.
• A methodical approach -- understanding that planning and follow-up are the keys to success.
• Resourcefulness -- constantly innovating and challenging the existing approaches. Salespeople work well in groups and make the most of the talent around them.
• Tenacity -- knowing that daunting problems cannot be tackled without effort and determination.

ACTION POINT: Determine how many of the above traits you posses. Develop the ones you don't.

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Fear of the Lord

The first gift the apostles received (referenced in Isaiah 11:2) was fear of the Lord.

There are two reasons to fear: out of punishment or out of love. If you love someone deeply, you do not want to hurt them in any way. You will do anything to avoid offending them. That's what fear of the Lord is: a childlike fear, rooted in love.

This fear of the Lord gave the apostles a deep knowledge of God as Father. They had the experience, through the power of the Spirit, of being sons of God, and they would do nothing to offend their Father. It drove them, and hopefully will drive us, to imitate the Father's mercy and compassion.

This spiritual gift informs us that God is truly our Father and enables us to look upon all mankind as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. We have the same concern for our brothers and sisters as the Father has. Without taking this leap, taking this spiritual step, there can be no other. This gift enables us to rise above our human nature. It teaches us to love like God loves.

The fear of the Lord even elevates temptation. Temptation ceases to be negative, but becomes positive. You no longer think: I can't do this because I'll go to hell or I'll get caught. No. You now refrain from doing wrong because you love our Father and our Father would be displeased. It's about love and it frees you.

This gift of the fear of the Lord is like an aid to keeping the first commandment to love God the Father with our whole heart and mind and soul and strength.

Work Environment and People Development II

Unless a good work environment exists, good people will leave and mediocre will remain.

Good work environments are built by sincere positive encouragement and personal commitment. Absolute honesty and integrity must abound. We must get problems out in the open and solved. managers must be sincerely willing to listen to other people and willing to admit to being wrong when the facts show that is the case.

Unless a good work environment exists, good people will leave and mediocre will remain. An organization staffed with mediocrity is a certain loser.

Managers must ensure that people in the organization know exactly where they stand and what their career outlooks are at all times. This is very important.

ACTION POINT: Be a part of making the work environment good through personal commitment and positive encouragement.