HOW TO DETECT NEEDS

It is believed that one of the essential skills of the seller is the ability to identify needs. It allows to correctly present the service, as well as to get in touch better — we are pleased when we are understood

In the sale of simple products and services (up to 10 fundamental differences in the choice), this burden does not fall on the line seller — it is not easy and not quickly to teach an employee to correctly identify needs.

And again, what to do with the identified needs afterwards and how to properly build further sales based on them? You need to educate and train the employee over again.

To teach a soldier to shoot effectively from a machine gun, it is not obligatory to make him design this machine and everything necessary himself, grow a tree, make paper from it for a target, and draw a target himself. It is more efficient and reliable to use what works, is tested and gives the desired outcome, rather than teaching every employee to reinvent the wheel.

A marketer or head of sales, a supervisor or an experienced salesperson having the necessary skills and experience will be able to write an effective speech script for the right target audience, which everyone needs to just memorize and use, getting the desired efficiency. As a rule, in 97% of cases there is not even an idea of identifying needs; at best, situational questions are asked to get in touch. Everyone transitions to the presentation, since the product is not so extensive — it will be easier and faster to tell all the advantages than to identify one of the 5, which is perhaps more important for the client. A properly designed presentation, based on the market situation, gives at least 50% of the result. And I’ll tell you a secret: the needs of subscribers do not change dramatically on a daily basis. Here are the main ones when working with a competitor:

1. Wants to pay less.

2. Wants to have no problems with the quality of the service.

3. Wants a service / product that is not available now.

4. The manager is a nice guy / girl, can give it a try.

5. I wanted to change a haircut but changing Internet services is also not bad.

When working with free (no ones, moving to another place) subscribers the following is added:

6. Wants a fast connection.

7. Doesn’t want to buy equipment.

The ability to identify needs is more needed for market analysis, for writing a speech script, for correcting a script written during a field work, or for complex objection working off. It makes little sense to use the identification of telecom needs when selling in the mass segment, it is easier to think and determine the needs of your target audience before the sale and prepare the best proposal for them.

But to prepare the best proposal, you need to know and understand how needs are identified. The SPIN sales technique helps very well. In short, it consists entirely of questions (SITUATION questions, PROBLEM questions, IMPLICATION questions, NEED-PAYOFF questions).

Firstly, let’s talk a bit about questions:

• Open-ended questions — imply a detailed answer. Open-ended questions often start with the words: how, how much, describe, tell, etc. As a rule, they are used when we want to learn more information about the client, for example, when identifying needs.

• Closed-ended questions — implies a “yes” or “no” answer. As a rule, they are used to confirm information, complete a dialogue, fix agreements or information.

• Alternative questions — the question contains possible answers. Typically used to limit the client’s choice of response. Example: is it convenient for you to have the master tomorrow or on the weekend?

SPIN

1. S — situation questions — are often used to establish contact with a client. Purpose: to find out the customer experience of usage the product / service that you intend to sell. Usually about 3–5 open questions and 1–3 clarifying questions are required.

Open-ended questions allow you to determine the direction of the need: “how much do you pay?”, “What is the speed?”, “What do you use?”, “Are there any drops in speed?” etc. After the client’s answer (the answer where the client is less satisfied with the current situation), we ask clarifying questions. As a rule, they help to determine the need: “how much would you like to pay?”, “What speed do you need?”, “What would you like to add first?” etc.

2. P — problem questions — we draw the client’s attention to the problem that we want to solve for him when selling a service / product. Examples: “do you agree that this product / service should be cheaper?”, “Should the quality correspond to the declared one?”, “It’s bad when one speed is promised, but in fact it is another, isn’t it?” etc. Purpose: to focus the client on the need that both we and him need and check if we have correctly identified it. Usually 1–2 questions are required, you can use closed-ended questions.

3. I — implication questions — partly exacerbate the problem and should make it clear that the client will benefit from solving the problem. It is necessary to establish a causal relationship for the client between the problem and its solution. You must form the question in such a way that in response the client himself says that he will help him solve the problem or understands that it needs to be solved now. Examples: “how much do you overpay for a year?”, “It turns out, you have no service when you need it?”, “So, you have to waste your time because speed is not enough?” etc. In general, 1–2 questions are needed, you can use closed-ended questions.

4. N — need-payoff questions, answering which he speaks out loud himself the benefits of the fact that he will buy your product / service. Typically, you need to ask what benefits the customer will get from your product, how it will help, and whether it will solve their problem. Examples: “which tariff is more profitable for you, how much would you like to save?”, “ Will new equipment and quality assurance (minimum speed threshold) ensure higher service availability?” etc. As a rule, 1–2 questions, you can use closed-ended questions.

An important part — at least 50% efficiency in identifying needs — as in objection working off, is the truth check. This is the only way to determine if we have identified the need correctly before telling about our super offer.

The truth check is simple:

we summarize the identified need after the phrases: “if”, “provided”, “when”, etc. We end with the question: “would you buy / connect / choose?” If the client says “yes, I am ready to purchase / connect”, the need is identified correctly, we present the offer. If the answer is no, you need to dig further and identify the right need.

Let me remind, as a rule, it is easier and more correct for an ordinary manager (b2c) when selling telecom services not to identify the needs of each client, but to use a prepared presentation for the desired target audience.