Two reason customers choose your product

I WOULD like to share a secret that I discovered and have grown to understand in my years in business. It is a sales secret that has taken me many years to master but also one that has transformed my bottom line like few other individual tactics could.

It is a secret I have passed on to every person I have ever employed whether they worked in sales, accounting or the kitchen. I value it so highly I have handed it down to every partner and organisation that has passed through my sales academy. It holds true whether you are work as a vendor, in a small to medium enterprise or a large multi-national organisation.
I have no doubt that, if applied faithfully, it will work for you too and transform your sales fortunes. This secret is that your consumers buy for only two reasons. Yes, only two! The first reason is they need to solve a problem. The second is they want to feel good.
Put another way we buy to avoid pain or increase pleasure. With this in mind a good sales person will always emphasise asking quality questions to extract the real drive behind the purchase.

Consumers buy for only two reasons. Yes, only two! The first reason is they need to solve a problem. The second is they want to feel good.

Further still, great sales people ask quality questions and spend more time listening to the responses than they do talking. When they interact with their prospects great sales persons do not rush to sell but are eager to question so as to understand what the prospective purchaser of their goods or services really needs to achieve.
It is very important to take the time to understand how your product or service can solve a customer’s problem or make them feel good. I recall a few years ago buying an iPhone 11 Pro Max. This was at a time I was aggressively marketing the first book I authored and the sole reason I bought the phone was to enable me to take quality pictures with everyone who purchased my book: The Chartered Vendor. I bought the phone to solve a problem of picture quality. That is what I cared about. If a sales person had tried to pitch me on its superior brand appeal or exclusivity how successful do you think they would have been?
At the same time I was in the store, a young lady also purchased the same device. Let’s assume the purchase was a feel good purchase, an increase on perceived pleasure. She was drawn to the expense and exclusivity. If the sales person had utilised the pitch that had worked on me, how successful do you reckon he might have been with the young lady?
This is why it is crucial for a salesperson to understand and concentrate more on the needs of the customer than on the features of the product they are selling. The regular customer rarely cares about the tangible product and its inherent features. They want to know how your product or service will solve their problems and make their life easier.

Remember customers listen to one radio station: WIIFM. What is in it for me? They only care about themselves and rightfully so. As such if you do not care enough to ask quality questions and listen intently to the responses you receive you will, more often than not, find yourself on a different wavelength to your customers. Keep in mind that if you find yourself speaking more than your prospective customer chances are high you will lose the sale. Customers don’t care about what you know until they know how much you care.  By Jerry  Nyazungu. 

Nyazungu is the Founder and Chief Executive of M&J.