A few months back, I contacted a leading association for small and medium businesses to inquire about becoming a member. The person on the other end replied that she could meet me in half an hour to give me a presentation on how everything worked. I was so impressed by this level of service that I brought my checkbook to the meeting, ready to sign up. However, about an hour after our meeting, I walked out of the coffee shop, blank check in hand, and somewhat disappointed. So what happened?
Few would disagree that sales is one of, if not the most important function of a company. I believe this also holds true for the non-profit sector. The problem is that many businesses (especially small businesses), associations, etc., continue to use an outdated sales model.
The overall sales process can be broken down into 4 steps:
- Needs analysis.
- Resolution of the problem.
- The offer.
- The conclusion.
I recently attended a workshop by a marketing expert who outlined two approaches to sales: the traditional and relational. In the traditional approach, salespeople spend about 5% of total time analyzing the problem or the needs of a customer. They spend another 10% discussing the variety of solutions to the problem. The remainder, a full 85% is spent on the offer and the conclusion (35% and 50% respectively).
In the relational approach, the numbers are reversed. Only 15% of total time is spent on the offer, 5% on the conclusion, and 80% is spent on needs analysis and resolutions (50% and 30% respectively). Who would you choose to give your hard earned dollars to? Someone who spends 85% of the time trying to get you to buy their product or service or someone who spends an almost equal amount of time trying to identify your needs and the exact nature of your problem?
There are a number of benefits to turning the traditional sales model upside down, three key ones being:
- We change the nature of the exchange from transactional to relational. People tend to do business with someone they like and trust. When a someone takes the time to really listen to a client’s needs, it establishes trust. He or she is also more receptive to information at later stages.
- It forces the seller to really learn their product or service. Why would someone need it? Equally important, who wouldn’t need it? What kind of needs does it address, etc.?
- It encourages repeat business. I still remember an encounter I had when I was 17, looking to purchase a pair of sneakers. Even though I didn’t purchase anything the first time around, the service was so exceptional that I went back to the same store over and over again for future purchases. In his classic book on marketing, Duct Tape Marketing, author John Jantsch writes that for most businesses, the greatest opportunity comes from selling to existing clients and from referrals. The relational approach to selling facilitates success on both fronts.
Going back to my meeting with the representative, she spent a full 45 minutes of our 1 hour meeting explaining all the positive things about her association. She explained some of their key accomplishments, which were very impressive. She went on to talk about the size of their membership and specific cases of how a member directly benefited from their intervention.
It wasn’t until after 45 minutes when I mentioned I had to leave that she asked me if I had any questions. I said that it was great that so many business owners were a part of their association. I had just finished developing my language training product and I was now looking for clients. Since I was targeting the corporate sector, I naturally wanted to join associations and local chambers of commerce where I could come into contact with key decision makers. I asked her if her association held periodic events (e.g. networking events, workshops, seminars, etc.) where I would have the chance to meet other members? She replied no. The bulk of their efforts focused on lobbying the government for regulatory changes (something they were exceptionally good at). They didn’t offer much in terms of networking activities.
I replied that being at the start up phase of my business, I wanted to direct my limited marketing budget to things that would get me sales. Although I believed in the importance of lobbying for the small business community, it wasn’t my priority at the time being.
Naturally, she was disappointed, especially after all the effort she put into her presentation. However, if she had spent more time in the beginning trying to understand my motivations for joining, she would have been able to assess that their was a mismatch between what I wanted and what she had to offer. She could have also done this over the phone and saved 1 hour of her time.
Too often, we get so caught up with all the great things about our product that we forget the client in the process. The whole reason behind its existence is that it meets a particular need.
How can you sell me something if you don’t know what I need?
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