To achieve success in business you must truly understand what you sell. You may think this is an easy answer, like "I sell hardware" or "I sell candy", but it is not that simple. If you met in person with me and actually thought about all of the products you sold then you might answer differently. There might be lots of answers about what you sell. But that is wrong!
Without regard to the item you are marketing, there is exactly one acceptable response. The answer is that this merchandise will do whatever the client wants done!
What You Sell Is Service!
If you think that customers come to you because of the some specific 'thing' that you sell, you really do not understand the nature of building a business based upon relationships with your customers. They didn't come to you for a 'thing', they came to you because they have a need and hope that some 'thing' you have can either bring them pleasure or solve some problem they have. They might think that they know what 'thing' they want, and not even realize that some other 'thing' you have would better solve the underlying need that brought them there. But neither of you will ever know unless you try to find out what they really want. If you are going to go beyond the mediocrity of most businesses the first thing you must do is to take the mindset that no matter what 'thing' they may buy from you, the goal is to service the need that brought them to you. In order to learn what what need they had that brought them to you, it becomes essential that you begin the process of interacting with them as individuals, not as lines on a ledger sheet!
Selling a product need not entail an intrusion into the life or a probing of the personal history of a customer. Instead, the primary goal of the seller should be to understand something about the mindset which motivated the customer to seek him or her out. Such an understanding may lead to the sale of a higher ticket item or a sense of empathy could produce a bargain for the buyer. It may also lead to the customer exiting the store with a sense of trust yet empty handed. Regardless of the immediate result, the seller will take a great step towards the creation of a long-term relationship with a customer which is built on a solid foundation of trust.
The point this section is trying to make is that your products are not the things you sell. Your company's "product" is meeting the need that customers have when they come to your business. People don't care too much about the features of the things you sell. They care about whether your business can meet all of their needs, including their emotional needs.
Without regard to the item you are marketing, there is exactly one acceptable response. The answer is that this merchandise will do whatever the client wants done!
What You Sell Is Service!
If you think that customers come to you because of the some specific 'thing' that you sell, you really do not understand the nature of building a business based upon relationships with your customers. They didn't come to you for a 'thing', they came to you because they have a need and hope that some 'thing' you have can either bring them pleasure or solve some problem they have. They might think that they know what 'thing' they want, and not even realize that some other 'thing' you have would better solve the underlying need that brought them there. But neither of you will ever know unless you try to find out what they really want. If you are going to go beyond the mediocrity of most businesses the first thing you must do is to take the mindset that no matter what 'thing' they may buy from you, the goal is to service the need that brought them to you. In order to learn what what need they had that brought them to you, it becomes essential that you begin the process of interacting with them as individuals, not as lines on a ledger sheet!
Selling a product need not entail an intrusion into the life or a probing of the personal history of a customer. Instead, the primary goal of the seller should be to understand something about the mindset which motivated the customer to seek him or her out. Such an understanding may lead to the sale of a higher ticket item or a sense of empathy could produce a bargain for the buyer. It may also lead to the customer exiting the store with a sense of trust yet empty handed. Regardless of the immediate result, the seller will take a great step towards the creation of a long-term relationship with a customer which is built on a solid foundation of trust.
The point this section is trying to make is that your products are not the things you sell. Your company's "product" is meeting the need that customers have when they come to your business. People don't care too much about the features of the things you sell. They care about whether your business can meet all of their needs, including their emotional needs.
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