Originally published in: MASS High Tech
When Harold Hill roared into town in the musical, The Music Man, he
found the youth hanging out in the pool hall and the adults oblivious
to the kind of trouble such activities can lead to.
"There's a problem in this town," he told the parents. "Where do you think muggers, perverts and thieves come from?"
His statement jolted the parents from their complacency, creating an opening for Harold Hill's solution to the problem: to form a band.
When the parents pointed out the kids didn't have instruments, Harold Hill was ready with the answer: "You're in luck! I have 76 trombones!" he said.
Harold Hill did what all salespeople should do, he sold his customers their dream. He discovered their needs and wants, created demand, then fulfilled that desire.
By using the sales techniques of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) and POM (Peace Of Mind) he shook up the parents, then offered them a solution to their problem.
Most companies focus on increasing their sales reps' product knowledge when they should be teaching them to do what Harold Hill did: practice demand creation selling.
Demand creation selling is based on the assumption that what motivates a customer to buy often has less to do with the product than what that product can do for them. It answers the customer's question, "So what? What's in it for me?"
Typically, a customer will make a purchasing decision to either:
- attain desirable results, or,
- gain relief from pain.
The salesperson's job then is to establish FUD in the customer's mind; then move that customer to POM.
In "The Music Man," Harold Hill created FUD in the minds of the parents by pointing out their children were heading toward juvenile delinquency. Then he offered them POM with the solution of teaching them to make music.
In demand creation selling, everything starts and ends with the customer. Sometimes, the salesperson helps to formulate the dream; sometimes the dream already exists.
Frequently, a sales rep meets resistance. Customers won't change just for the sake of change. The sales rep's failure to illustrate the benefits of change is a primary reason for customer resistance. The challenge is to move them to the desired results.
When Harold Hill came to town, he didn't immediately pull out his trombones and start rhapsodizing about their benefits. Rather, he watched, he listened, and consequently, discovered a need to fulfill. Then he sold the townspeople a solution, rather than a product.
When a company teaches its salespeople the skill of demand creation, it is teaching them to sell, not tell.
The goals of demand creation selling are:
- To navigate the sales-customer relationship process.
- To learn how to sell a relationship, not tell about a product.
- To realize the close is only the beginning of the relationship.
Salespeople often assume they know the reason a customer will buy a product or service. Often, they're either totally incorrect or they're missing part of the story.
In my first job, I worked with Art, a sheet metal vendor. Art had a million dollar business and a sterling reputation for high quality, on-time delivery. Most salespeople, assuming Art wanted to expand, would show him how their product or service could help him grow his business.
But Art had no interest in increasing his business. His true passion was gliding. Nothing made Art happier than hopping in his glider and riding the air currents. If his business got too big and unwieldy, Art wouldn't have time to glide. He would lose control, not only jeopardizing what he had, but what he wanted.
The salespeople who put aside their own assumptions and got to know Art, were able to tailor their sales pitch to his dream -- to have more time to glide. That was his decision-making criteria. The salespeople who showed Art how their product or service would make his business more efficient were the ones who won Art as a customer.
Establishing a profitable business relationship may not come easily to some, especially to those of us in high tech, who find it easier to talk bits and bytes than to get to know our customers.
But customers are less interested in a product's specs than they are in how it can help them achieve the desired results. Usually, the perceived value exceeds the actual cost. Time is more important than money because you can't replace it.
To establish rapport with their customers, sales reps should remember the three C's of world class customer relationships:
- Candor...Be honest;
- Competence...Know your products, your business, but most importantly, your customer's dream;
- Concern...Build a trust which endures because relationships are a result of time;
Once the Three C's are accomplished, the sales rep can begin building and maintaining a successful relationship based on the following eight steps:
- Prepare...Prepare yourself thoroughly before you make customer contact;
- Probe...Get all the information that you need to know to determine if there is a fit;
- Qualify...Make sure the customer meets your profile of criteria;
- Agree...Verify that both of you agree that it is a fit;
- Close...If done correctly, it's only the beginning of a relationship;
- Execute...Execute flawlessly when the customer takes delivery;
- Follow-up...Make sure all of the after-sale elements are in place for repeat business
- Reinforce...Reinforce the fact that the client made a good decision to buy from you;
A strong sales-customer relationship is built on the knowledge that the salesperson must resist the urge to talk up their product or service, and instead listen to their customers' dreams. After all, no great idea ever entered the brain through an open mouth.
It's by demonstrating how the product or service can satisfy their customers' dreams, can deliver the desired results, that the salesperson creates demand, and it's demand that closes sales. The salesperson who is in tune with the customer is the salesperson who marches to the music of booming sales.
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