You're not selling the product; you're selling what the product can do.

Have you ever seen a product online or on television, been intrigued and excited about it but after you make that all important visit to the store selling it, the salesperson manages to put you off purchasing. Instead of having the product presented to you based on the reasons you actually wanted to buy it, you are told a whole host of features which mean nothing to you and that little voice in you head says, "do I actually need this?".

Many salespeople when presenting their product to a customer forget that the product itself is not the sale; it is the use of it or the problem or desire it is solving. It is very easy as a salesperson to fall into feature dumping, where by you start listing a whole host of features of the product but unless they connect with the customer for their specific need, they will ultimately be unheard.

So how can you avoid this small but potentially costly mistake?

My overriding advice is to LISTEN. The customer has made the effort and taken their much valued time to take a closer look at what you are selling. This shows they are half way or more to the purchase. Your job now is to guide them through the sale, answering any potential objections to the purchase they may have and asking questions specific to what need or desire they are looking to fulfil.

How can this work in reality?

Let's take the hypothetical example of selling a suitcase. Our first thought here may be the purchaser is going on holiday and needs to carry their belongings. You wouldn't be wrong in jumping to this rational decision however get this assumption incorrect and your customer may very well be on their way to the next shop. Open questions have a great impact. You are not looking for closed answers such as "yes " or "no". Examples could be, "where did you buy your last suitcase?", "what did you like about your last suitcase?", "what one thing would you change about the luggage you have previously owned?". These kind of questions can of course be tailored to any product or service you are selling however the main thing to note here is that they will open a conversation allowing you to hear the all important WHY the customer is in front of you in the first place.

Continuing with the above example, should the customer say they previously bought on the high street and were happy with the price point however the wheels fell off mid walk from the hotel causing much upheaval, you can lean in to a stronger, more heavy duty case than before. Perhaps with a higher price but by justifying this through the reliability of its design and therefore avoiding any breakages. Should you have straight away suggested a high end price without the above background information you wouldn't be able to justify the extra spend and potentially may not make the sale.

In keeping with the title of this article, for the above example you will see that the product in question is luggage however the actual "sale" is the solution to the customers previous inconvenience of none reliable luggage. Remember, you are selling solutions not just items.

The above process can apply for a service or product based business. Remember to listen, ask relevant, open questions and then apply the answers you have heard to resolving the customers need.

For any specific examples please contact me directly where we can discuss potential questions to help you generate more sales.

As always, good luck!