AI and the Customer Needs

In this series (4 articles so far) we have paid credit where its due to AI abilities in the sales process. This is another area where AI can play a part, but the human being and its emotional capability will own this space! For the present time!

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AI ability to analyse our customers buying habits over time, current stock levels, and stock levels needed to cope with future market demands far outweigh the human mind in accurate computation skills. AI can optimise when to buy for customers to get best prices (or us if we chose) and where to stock product to sell first or the most and so on. It can predict a customers needs but can it predict the consequences of not placing the order?

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Perhaps we should hope not? Recently Open AI released GPT-4o a next generation chatbot that can read human emotions. Not just from text but via voice and facial clues if you interact via a video link. So could it read the hidden facial expressions that will tell it what the real reasons or consequences of not placing an order are. We have 43 muscles combining 10,000 expressions, 300 specific to our emotions without us thinking about it. So, to finish with the future and get back to the present.

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You can’t sell a customer something they don’t need.

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In training we spend significant time on this stage of a sales process. Understanding needs and wants is critical to establishing what exactly a prospective customer needs or wants. We should already have qualified the customer from their perspective and ours, so a need or desire to do business is already there. A quick reminder of a need versus a want. While it is not always accurate to say needs count more in B2B, while wants rule in B2C, it will do for now, because want is the more powerful emotion, but businesses are generally buying to reach a business objective.

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If the customer doesn’t have a problem, you can’t offer a solution.

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While a business may be buying to achieve a business goal it may be a there is a problem that is standing in the way. Does the business understand what the problem is? The answer is usually yes, or you wouldn’t be talking with them. Does the business understand the consequences of not taking action? Again, as above however we can all be a little guilty sometimes, of being the ostrich (with its head in the sand). To be fair to the ostrich it’s not fear and its usually for other purposes!

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We tend to see an obstacle and look for the solution to deal with it. What we tend not to do is look at the consequences of not acting sooner than later or realise what it is fully costing us to continue as we are. Waiting a day to get a cheaper part or a truck and save a few dollars does not compare to the cost of a truck that is idle for a day when it is normally generating thousands of dollars per day. So, do we point this out to our customer to get a sale? Only if we want to NOT get a sale.

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Questioning Techniques

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A good salesperson needs a strong questioning technique. One of the strongest developed from the 1980’s by Neil Rackman is called SPIN. The essential point of spin for this article is that the horse can be led to water but it will drink when its ready to do so. The journey there is what is of interest to the salesperson and AI in the future.

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By examining where the customer is and what they want to achieve with the product you are offering a good questioning technique will allow the customer to see a fair price for your solution not a sales inflated one. We are not saying you are offering an inflated sales price but its how the customer sees it, that matters. A solution offered before the customer sees the value will always give the inflated impression. That’s not good selling.

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The future

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For the present learning to understand a customers need, problem or issue, and presenting a solution at the right moment is a key requirement for a good salesperson. Using AI to build the knowledge to enable you to ask intelligent questions makes sense. Using AI to build a solution if required is also a smart move. But can AI get the timing right in leading the horse and not trying to drown it? Open AI and its latest GPT-4o may have something to say about that however in the meantime a good questioning technique used well is your best option to sell strategically and to show sincerity to create a long-term customer.

?#AI #Sales #Customer needs #marketing #sales copywriting

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