Articles - Snippits

You must understand the product that you are selling to be successful at selling it, no matter what it is. If I were to ask you right now what goods or services your business sells, how would you answer? You would think that there would be millions of possible ways to answer that question, depending on the exact nature of your company. And you would be wrong.

There is only one answer and it applies no matter what business you are in. Your product is solving the need that led the customer to your door!

Customer service is your product!

Do not be fooled into thinking that customers come to you just to buy a particular item. To think this is to fail to understand the necessity of building a relationship. The reason that they came to you is because they have a problem or a need and you may be able to supply something to help them. Customers often feel that they know what they want and may not be aware that you have a better solution for them. If your attitude is that your aim is just to sell them something you will never know if you have sold the right thing. If a customer comes to you with a need, you can only satisfy that need if you try and find out what brought them to you. To do this you must treat your customers as people and not just potential profit. This means that you have to talk to them to establish what their need is and only then can you suggest the right solution for them.

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.