Tag Archives: needs

Want vs. Need

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Often in sales methodology training you are told to uncover the client’s needs, and sell to those needs.

This is sound advice – but it can also be a trap of sorts.

People and clients need a lot of things, but they don’t always buy based on their needs. If they have funds to spend, they will look at all their needs and make decisions on them, weighing them against what they want – converting needs to wants. And then, and only then, will they make a buying decision.

Let me give you an example. My daughter, Kristen, was 18 years old. She got her first car in Dallas and drove it fast. So fast, she picked up a couple of speeding tickets. Short on cash and motivation, she did not pay them off. In time, she had a warrant out for her arrest. Working part-time at Chick-Fil-A she got a paycheck. Now, she already needed to pay those tickets off. Need: high, very high. But, it was closing in on summer. GAP was having a sale on summer dresses and clothes. Kristen really wanted those new clothes. What to do? Need vs. Want. A Huge Need. A Compelling Want. And what won? WANT!

As marketers and salespeople, our job is to create Want. That can often come out of seeing our prospect’s needs, working with them, fanning them, making a bonfire out of them. But it won’t be a sale unless we make it a Want.

Want comes out of value creation. Not just financial value, not just business value, but personal value! What will this MEAN to that person? With Kristen, it guaranteed that pleasure beat out possible pain. Fundamentally you have to help prospects, not just understand your value – but feel your value! That is when they decide to do something.

If you make the Want strong enough they will get a sense of urgency to do it now. Of all the things they have to do, make your choice the Want. This is a distinction worth looking at.

By Chuck Laughlin, Founder, Corporate Visions Inc.

Simplifying the Team Sell

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Long gone are the days of simple salesman/client relationships. Today’s client is represented by a management team and/or buying committee, while the salesperson has their own management and sales team. Alliances, partners, and competitors extend the sales cycle and add to its complexity.

An inappropriate purchase can literally bankrupt a company. An extended period of implementation can cause a company to lose their competitive edge, or make them late to market. Either may be fatal to an organization.

Given this complexity, the prospect seeks simplicity from the sales team. However, what happens instead is they make the prospect’s life look even more complex by giving out too much information that doesn’t even relate to the needs of the prospect.

Why? Either the sales team doesn’t know the prospect’s needs, or they are so enamored with their own product they feel compelled to show every feature. There is no excuse for either mistake, and in today’s competitive environment, you’re only allowed one.

Recently in one of our messaging workshops, a participant mentioned he had a presentation scheduled Friday, but was not aware of his prospect’s specific pains. With the help of the group, we identified the top 10 reasons why most prospects consider buying this solution. Within minutes, he converted this list to a fax correspondence and called the prospect. He asked him to prioritize the list and add any other needs that may apply, to maximize the use of time available during Friday’s presentation and demo.

The next day he received a voicemail from the prospect stating how flattered he was by this concern for his needs, as opposed to a “typical” presentation focused on the sell. He added that he would be meeting with the team to ensure the list was a consensus of those who will attend Friday. What a great atmosphere for a salesperson to enter. And to think, all he had to do was ask.

An over abundance of irrelevant information will bore and discourage your prospect, because they are not interested in what the product is, they want to know what it does that will make their life easier.

What if you called a shuttle service for a ride from your hotel to the airport, and prior to scheduling your reservation, you had to listen to all the features of the shuttle vehicle, including; model and year, trunk capacity, wheel span, head room dimensions, sound system specifications, engine cubic inches, etc? Sound bizarre? Well, that’s how it sounds when salespeople recite features and functions that have no relevance to the prospects’ immediate need.The cure?

  1. Use “Big Pictures” to visually connect your prospects’ dilemma to your solution.
  2. Dramatize their pain. This emotional anxiety motivates people to take action.
  3. Articulate the benefits of your solution, highlighting financial, business, and personal value.
  4. Use Customer Stories that prove these benefits and values with added credibility.

In addition, be aware of your words, voice, and body language during your presentation, as well as the different learning channels present in the audience.

Keep it simple, valuable and engaging – and it will sell.

The Power of Questions

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There once was a traveler who, weary from the day’s journey, sought lodging for the night. He knew of an Inn where he could rest safe until morning. It was located in the Village of Truth where all the inhabitants were always truthful. He knew of another village on the road ahead, called the Village of Lies. The inhabitants of this village could only tell lies. The village was known for its danger to travelers, for it was filled with thieves. As the traveler trudged along he came to a fork in the road. One path lead to a night’s peaceful rest in Truth. The other would take him to certain peril in Lies.

Standing at the fork in the road was a lone villager. Anxiety filled the traveler’s heart, for he knew not whether this stranger was there to point his way to safety or to harm. The traveler was perplexed as to which way to go.

What one question could the traveler ask the villager to be certain of making the right choice for the path ahead?

Are your prospects ever perplexed as to which way to go? Do you think they might worry about who is telling them the truth? Are they afraid to make the wrong decision that might cost them their job or career?

What about you as a salesperson? Have you ever wondered what the best approach should be for a specific sales presentation?

Effective salespeople understand the power of questions. Leading prospects to discovery through carefully articulated questions is powerful!

This point is critical! Why? Because, at the end of the day, you own what you create. The right questions lead prospects to a “buying vision.” That vision is not yours, but theirs. They own it because they, not you, created it. At the end of the day, you own what you create and what you create and own has value to you.

We often refer to being Samurai in sales. Samurai literally translated means to be “in service.” Being “Samurai” means that you’re in service to your prospective customers. How can you truly be in service if you don’t understand their wants, pains or desires?

What was the one question the traveler asked to be certain he took the right path? “Down which of these paths do you live?” He knew the liar would lie and the person of truth would tell the truth, so either way he would get to the Village of Truth. And that is the path the traveler took.

- Dean Schantz

Senior Consultant

Needs, Pains and Desires

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Implied needs are general statements by prospects about their problems, their difficulties, and their dissatisfaction…frequently called “pains, needs, and desires.”

Explicit needs are specific prospect statements about their wants and desires. Successful selling in larger accounts depends on how you develop implied needs and convert them with effective questioning/messaging into explicit needs.

The impact your solution has on your customer’s needs determines perceived value. Value is based on many factors, but includes increased revenue (financial), increased market (business) and individual gain (personal). Sales effectiveness is to get buyers to acknowledge the value your solution provides in each of these areas, and connect that value to something they need now to receive the goals, benefits and objectives they are looking for. Aside from financial/business value, what other “value-based” statements can you make about your solution/product/service?

The more value-based statements you have and the better you get at translating implied needs into explicit needs… the more business you will WIN!