You walk into a meeting with a customer and create just the right impression. You now need to discuss his problems and offer your solutions. There are, however, some pitfalls to watch out for at this part of the sale and today we are looking at some common but disastrous mistakes we make.

As you know we don't sell features, we sell benefits, but what are the real benefits to that customer at this time? How will the customer ultimately benefit from our products or service? By using the little phrase "... and the benefit to you, Mr. Customer, is......." we focus our sale on their ultimate needs.

Customers have three types of need. Presumed Needs; Actual Needs and Unknown Needs. If the customer buys your product or service based on their presumed needs and it doesn't work, they will not blame themselves for buying the wrong product, they will blame you for selling them the wrong product and never come back

To be really good at sales we have to consider the customer's focus to be way beyond simple needs. Customer's wants have to be considered and even their desires if we really want to make that sale. Buying decisions are made emotionally and if we can concentrate on the emotional reasons why the customer is buying right now you are in a much better position to close that sale.

To understand what will motivate the customer to buy, we will have to get them to open up in the conversation. This is achieved by using a series of open and closed questions. An Open Question starts with the words: Who, What, When, Why, Where and How. If you ask a question that starts with any of those words it would be difficult to answer with a yes or no answer. Closed questions, on the other hand, will expect a yes or no answer.

Once you have uncovered a logical or emotional need you have to satisfy that need if you want to close the sale. The process is not difficult but mistakes are often made at this point and there are three steps to go through. The support statement will give the customer confidence that you can do what you say you can do, You then offer your benefit and get the customer to agree that your solution actually does solve his problem.

Earlier we discussed the importance that emotions play in buying decisions. This session we are going to expand on that principle, and see why people have to buy the dream before they buy the product or service.

We have covered a lot over the last few weeks and most of it is to do with the way we communicate with our customers. By now you should be using both Open and Closed questions to uncover the customers needs and making sure you are solving those needs. The dialogue between sales person and customer is critical and you won't get it right straight away. The temptation, however, is to fall back on what you are used to saying and the mistakes you are used to making. This will not help your sales development. It takes 21 days to form a new habit and you need to keep up the pressure on yourself to ensure that you create new habits out of the skills we are discussing.