Imagine, for a moment, that you are watching a couple in a car dealership as they closely examine the fanciest and most expensive car on the floor. You walk over to them and . . . what do you say? Do you immediately tell them of all the benefits of luxury cards today? Do you talk about how rich they’ll feel sitting inside this miracle of technology? Do you hand them the keys to take test drive?

Before you do anything, stop and ask yourself the following questions. How do I know what they really need? Do they know what they really want? They may really be shopping for a pick up truck. So why waste your time and theirs, on a fancy, expensive car that they have no need for or intention to buy.

We all have needs. Customers are no different. High performance salespeople recognize customers’ needs and they advance to the head of the pack by practicing “need-fulfillment” selling. By focusing on the customer’s needs for pride, profit, pleasure, or peace, they solve problems and meet needs. This is customer oriented selling. In the case of our couple, the salesperson must first isolate what the needs are by asking them “Need Development Questions” – open-ended, indirect questions which give information in return.

For instance, in the automotive industry, the traditional way to sell tires is to explain each model, tell its features and benefits, give the customer lots of information, then see which one he or she will buy.

Working with Jim Brown, director of manpower training for Western Auto Supply Co., in Kansas, I took a different – a more professional and profitable – approach. I trained store managers in the first step of need fulfillment selling to ask need-development questions like:

– What kind of car are you driving?

– What kind of tires have you bought before?

– How have you liked them?

– How many miles have you got on them?

– How much longer do you plan to keep your car?
– How many miles per year do you drive?

– Who else besides you drives your car?
– What road conditions do you often encounter?

The salesperson feeds the answers to these questions into a mental computer, then responds, “Based on the information you have given me, here’s the tire that I’d recommend as the best value for YOU.”

He or she then demonstrates by explaining why that tire would be the best value, based on price, service, safety and other considerations.

When we analyze this transaction we find that:

1. The salesperson asked questions and listened, instead of flooding the prospects with information.
2. Showed interest and concern for the prospects’ needs.
3. Treated the prospects as important individuals.
4. Demonstrated professional concern rather than simply being an order taker.
5. Demonstrated a very high level of integrity.

You can do the same thing regardless of what you’re selling.

Asking need-development questions sets up a situation where the customers talk and you listen. By talking, they verbalize their needs, clarify, admit, and then commit.

With active listening, you can give positive feedback like nodding approval, verbalizing understanding, paraphrasing, gesturing to show that you’re listening and that you understood.

More actual selling is done in this interviewing process than in any other step of selling.

It gets people selling themselves. It’s powerful persuasion . . . without pressure from you.

The next step is to DETERMINE DOMINANT WANTS OR NEEDS.

A dominant need is the main reason why people will buy. It’s what they really want granted – what they want satisfied.

Usually, people buy things for two reasons:

1. What the product or service will do for them.
2. How it will make them look to others.

This is where pride, profit, pleasure or peace, along with fear of loss, come into play.

Understanding dominant-buying motives takes the guesswork out of selling. Knowing the dominant motive, we now know what product or service, features or benefits, to demonstrate.

After this come ACTION GUIDES FOR EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWING.

Following are four action guides, which when practiced, will help you have an effective interview:

1. Ask open-ended, indirect questions that draw out wants or needs.
2. Listen to and paraphrase all points – write them down.
3. Identify dominant wants or needs – get prospects’ agreement.
4. Assure them that you want to help them select the product or service that is right for them.

NEED-FULFILLMENT SELLING REQUIRES CHANGING SELLING HABITS.

In a stimulus-response selling, a salesperson hopes to stimulate a positive response from the prospects – hit their hot buttons. The purpose is to get attention and arouse interest.

If prospects show interest, the salesperson zeros in and tries for a close.

Although this hip-shooting method of selling does work, it’s not nearly as effective as need-fulfillment selling.

When I train salespeople to use need-fulfillment selling, and they do it, sales increases are almost always immediate.

But it requires a change of habit, and a change of style.

Instead of dominating the talking, immediately demonstrating, or flooding prospects with information, we first:

1. Gain rapport, and then
2. Interview to find out wants and/or needs.

In both these steps, the salesperson does 15 to 20% of the talking – the prospect does 80 to 85%. But the salesperson retains control by asking questions.

The salesperson asks questions . . . need-development questions . . . and actively listens.

Here’s how EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWING can increase your sales.

To develop the habit of effective interviewing, begin asking questions and listening.

Give your prospects a chance to tell you what they want or need.

Listen to what they say, and how they say it. Watch body language and expressions. Identify dominant wants or needs.

Practice the four action guides for the next couple of months. Write them on a card. Carry it and refer to it daily. Inspect your performance daily.

After three or four weeks of practice, you’ll begin to notice slight changes in your habits.

Keep on practicing these guides, and you’ll soon cement them into your automatic responses. When you do them instinctively, your earnings will increase, trust level will climb, integrity will show through and your confidence will soar. And the next time you see our couple hovering around a high priced car, you’ll know how to use need-fulfillment selling to sell them what they really want.