“There are already several providers like yours that give me excellent service. So why should I buy from you instead?”
cj Ng 黄常捷 - Sales Leadership Team Coach
I help B2B companies generate sustainable sales success | Singapore Chapter Lead, IAC | Certified Shared Leadership Team Coach| PCC | CSP | Co-Creator, Sales Map | Sales Author "Winning the B2B Sale in China"
“There are already several providers like yours that give me excellent service.?So why should I buy from you instead?”
Many salespeople might have heard this from prospective customers.?A significant number would go on the offensive and list how they are better than the competition.?Some may even scoff at the idea of being compared with lesser providers.?However, the customer just will NOT buy from the salesperson.
Customers are not convinced about the so-called “competitive advantages” or “unique selling propositions” that many salespeople are trained and indoctrinated to tell their customers because the salesperson has not fully grasped what matters most to the customer yet.?So instead of falling into the trap of bombarding customers with all your key selling points, here’s what you can say instead.
Salesperson:??????“Wow, great to know that you have several providers providing excellent service.?When you say they provide you with excellent service, what services are important to you?”
Customer:??????????“On-time delivery.?Responsive after-sales support.”
Salesperson: ?????“And what makes you feel that they are excellent?”
Customer:??????????“Oh, they are punctual with their delivery schedules, and when there are any issues, they respond in person within 24-hours”
Salesperson:??????“And why is this important to you?”
Customer:??????????“Of course it’s important.?We need the materials for production, and we need them on time, or a quick turn-around time.”
Salesperson:??????“And what else could be important besides punctual delivery and responsive sales support?”
Customer:??????????“Hmmm….I think that’s about it…”
Salesperson:??????“You sounded a bit hesitant….what’s on your mind?”
Customer:??????????“Oh well, sometimes we need pre-sales technical support to help us with innovative new products.?But this does not happen very often.”
Salesperson:??????“I see.?And what other aspects are important as well?”
Customer:??????????“Ummm…..sometimes we have blips or spikes in the forecasts, and we would need some flexibility in delivery to meet sudden increases in production demand.”
Salesperson:??????“So….pre-sales technical support and flexibility in delivery.?Why are these important to you?”
Customer:??????????“Oh, they don’t happen very frequently, so ah….it’s not very often.”
Salesperson:??????“So they don’t happen frequently.?And when such situations do happen, what happens next?”
Customer:??????????“Oh well….when these happen, we try to ask our current providers to support us as much as possible.”
Salesperson:??????“You mentioned ‘try’….how would you rate the responses given by your current providers?”
Customer:??????????“Oh, they tried their best.”
Salesperson:??????“That’s good to know.?What else would you like to see improved even when they tried their best?”
Customer:??????????“Oh yes, they could be more innovative and flexible despite their efforts.?But as I said, these only happen occasionally.”
Salesperson:??????“So you are saying that occasionally, you might need your providers to be more innovative and flexible beyond what they are doing for you?”
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Customer:??????????“That’s right.”
Salesperson:??????“What if there could be a provider who could occasionally provide the innovation and flexibility when you need it??How does that work out for you?”
Customer:??????????“Oh, this will be helpful during those times.”
Salesperson:??????“So, if we could help you innovate better and be more flexible when needed, how would you like to explore such possibilities?”
Customer:??????????“That, you’d have to discuss with our Heads of Product Development and Production.”
Salesperson:??????“Thank you.?Would you be kind enough to introduce me to them so that we can all explore further?”
Customer:??????????“Can you send me some information first on those areas first?”
Salesperson:??????“I will be happy to do so.?What else would I need to provide so that we can explore these possibilities with them?”
Customer:??????????“Well, I’m not sure if they are keen to explore things with you yet.”
Salesperson:??????“I see.?Would a 15-30 minute online call be good for them to assess if they want to discuss further?”
Customer:??????????“Yes, I think I can arrange that.”
Salesperson:??????“So what I’ll do is I’ll send you some information on how we help customers innovate and be flexible in our deliveries.?Would you be OK to help schedule an online call based on that?”
Customer:??????????“That should be OK.?Looking forward to receiving your information soon.”
Many times, salespeople merely want to push ahead and gain acceptance.?Based on the above conversation, here are some things we can learn:
These are some examples of how salespeople can use coaching techniques to address the “why should I buy from you” challenge.?While it seems like a long answer for a very short question, the key is to leverage the opportunity to build trust and find out what else matters to the customer.?Unless the customer has some unfulfilled need somewhere, he/ she will not be interested in the various “competitive advantages” you have.
My name is c.j., and I’m the co-author of Sales Map, a sales proficiency assessment tool that allows you to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of each person on your sales team, throughout your sales cycle.? I'm also the author of "Winning the B2B Sale in China", which is available on Amazon.
Please connect with me on LinkedIn?https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/cydj001/?or e-mail [email protected] to find out more!Want to find out more about how my team and I can do for you!
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2 年Our (then) vendor, now technology partner once asked me, "Why would people want YOUR service? Why you guys?" My answer was, "We have the infrastructure (system, manpower & knowledge), hands-on experience running the service and most importantly, an established on-the-ground network of providers." They instantly GOT IT, and want to join in on the action ??. Now, 2 successful deployments later, we really have people lining up to talk to us about using OUR SERVICE, and being pleasantly surprised to discover we tick ?? the right boxes on their expectations list. ??
First thing to grasp is this is NOT an objection - that turns it into an adversarial discussion that the salesperson feels they have to win because of the way they are trained (and NOT trained). Second thing is to recognise how the customer buys. "does the customer understand the problem or opportunity?" From having existing providers, the answer would seem to be yes, so you are in a Value Offered sales style. Therefore you have to establish what the differentiators are - for the customer, not for you - and that requires further questioning to find out what value the customer puts on service and how that impacts his business (as elaborated in the example dialogue). You can then assess if you are able to differentiate in terms of the outcome the customer expects - but only if you ask him what his expectations are. He has mentioned one - there will very likely be more. At this stage you can only hope to get enough information to arouse his curiosity and to build a basis on which the outcome you might offer him, compared to existing suppliers, has sufficient value to him to continue the discussion. Make no assumptions about what is important to him based on how good you think your product is. Help him make the decision.
Certified Performance Technologist, ISPI. Advisory - Leadership and Organizational Performance
2 年The company's Competitive Advantage may not be the Relevant Advantage to this customer. Need to find out what really matters to the customer and where the company can meet them better than the competition
Performance Breakthrough Leader | Best-selling Author | International Speaker | Founder & Master Facilitator of A.D.O.R.E(??) Leadership | Listed in Successful People in Malaysia III by Britishpedia
2 年Good pointers, c.j. Ng.