By Joe Smith
Special to the Record
Questions and answers, or rather how you deal with them, will make or break a sale.
In every sales situation whether you are marketing a product or service your success will be determined not only by how you respond to customers’ questions but also by the questions you ask your customers.
It may seem simple, but often enough by not paying attention to the real reason why someone has contacted you or dropped into your store, the outcome may not be to your liking.
It is worth keeping in mind the five Ws every journalist, interrogator, researcher and others gather to make informed decisions or to answer questions. They are simply who, what, where, when, and why.
While these questions may seem open-ended, they can help you get to the heart of the matter. For example, they can help you identify the customer’s needs. They can also help you overcome any objections and help build rapport, and trust, and make the customer’s decision-making that much easier. Above all, they help create a healthy dialogue and help you learn more about your customer and how you can deal with them in future sales opportunities.
One of the first questions you have to get an answer for is why did the customer come into your store or contacted you? That might seem obvious but in many cases the customer is not exactly sure of what they need.
For example, on a personal level, we needed a new thermostat for our furnace. I visited a local store and was confronted with a display that featured more options than I had imagined were possible. Without a knowledgeable sales rep available, I purchased the wrong model for our particular furnace. Having gone back to the store for a replacement I again bought the wrong one. While I should have done this in the first place, I finally contacted a professional, who, after a few basic questions, figured out our exact needs and within an hour had solved our problem, including providing the installation.
One of the best exercises in marketing is to anticipate what kinds of questions you might be asked about your product or service. By doing a little research you can discover and address any problems or needs a customer may have ahead of time.
The bottom line is that by asking and answering customer questions successfully it is often the difference between winning or losing a sale.
Joe Smith is a communications consultant and an accomplished fine artist. He can be reached via email at joesmith@shaw.ca