Sales 101: NEEDS vs WANTS

A lot of Sales people struggle to close the deal. They are very good to do a needs analysis of a potential client, to establish their needs. It's unfortunately not the end of the sales process, as the real SALE starts when you have established your client’s needs.

They say Sales is an art.

The process you normally should follow in short is the following:

1. Establish the needs of the customer – The more questions you ask, the more information you get in order to satisfy the customer’s banking/financial needs. Upon completion of the analysis, present your solutions to the client.

2. Unfortunately the process does not stop here. Although you identified the needs, it is not to say that the customer will take up the product/s that you offer. You need to skilfully change that need into a WANT. It is easier said then done, because the customer will tell you that he/she will come to you somewhere in the future or want to think about it first. This is basically because they realised that they need it, but as a human being are, they will postpone the need due to the fact that it might cost money and or are a little bit difficult/complex. People can walk around for years with a NEED, and not go over to the next stage which is the WANT.

I believe the WANT is more important then a NEED, as when a client wants something they will do almost anything to get it.

A simple example is:
A person has an old fridge and it does not look nice and new anymore, they know that they need a new one for various reasons. The old one, however still works and there is not really a hurry and he/she will postpone the whole time.
Reasons could be the following:
- It costs money.
- It is an effort to take off from work to shop around, etc.


If the fridge breaks then it becomes a crisis and they will immediately have to do something about it.

However, consider the following. They had guests over and one of the guests made a comment about the fridge, what do you think will happen?

That guest unknowingly changed the NEED into a WANT.

You therefore should assist the customer in changing that NEED into a WANT, by creating uneasiness with the client to make him/her realise that they actually WANT it right now.

There is a lot of ways to do it, and I list a few questions that you can use below:

a) What will happen if you walk out of here and get runover?
b) What will happen to your wife and children if you are not there anymore?
c) The longer you postpone upgrading your transmission account to a cheque account, the longer you will have to wait to qualify for an overdraft, what if you urgently need money next week. You will not automatically qualify for an overdraft, etc, etc, etc.

These types of comments and or questions will create uneasiness with the current status quo of the customer and will create the realisation that they needs to do something immediately to their situation and not postpone.

I believe that when a Manager can get this message over to his/her sales people they won’t have to struggle for sales anymore. The success ratio with regards to successful sales appointments will sky rocket....

How to Develop Strategic Thinking Skills in Business

I was recently assisted by Dr. Debri van Wyk and Ms. Lisa Shane, Industrial Psychologists, with my Personal Development Plan. The plan was derived from the results of a HOGAN ASSESSMENT done during October 2008.

One of the areas which I should put my focus on for developing purposes is “Developing Strategic Thinking Skills”. I thought it prudent to share the 8 (eight) steps to focus on with you, as it is a quick and easy way to understand Strategy.

Step 1
Examine the status quo. Strategic thinking skills require you to examine how things have always been done critically in order to determine if that is the way things should be done. Strategic thinkers are willing to look outside of the norm to find more efficient ways of doing things.

Step 2
Look at the forest, not the trees. Strategic thinkers are not mired down by the details of managing day-to-day issues. Strategic thinkers look at the organisation as a whole to assess attributes and areas of opportunity.

Step 3
Focus on the future. Strategic thinking is goal oriented and guided by a vision for the future of a company. When you are developing strategies for business growth, those strategies must have clearly defined goals that contribute to the overall vision for the company.

Step 4
Consider external forces when you develop a strategic plan. Governmental regulations, legal developments, market conditions, economic factors and technological developments can all affect how you plan for the future.

Step 5
Get feedback from within your industry. Market research, particularly in product-driven industries, can help you match the vision for your company to consumer expectations.

Step 6
Check the facts. Even though strategic thinking involves making predictions about the future, those predictions must be realistic. Gather hard data, including your organisations financial reports and analysis of your industry, to inform your predictions and help you develop goals based in reality.

Step 7
Consider the organisational structure of your business and assess how that team fits into your strategies for the future. You may have to reorganise your team to achieve your goals.

Step 8
Anticipate challenges. An important part of thinking strategically is being able to predict what issues will arise and devising a plan to confront those issues ahead of time.