Selling is Solving Problems

All businesses are selling solutions to problems. If you sell doors and windows, the problem may be heat loss, lack of comfort, high air conditioning and heating bills, or simply that the customer wants his or her house to look better, or a combination of these problems. If you sell financial advice, the problem may be ensuring security after retirement, decreasing taxation, or staying ahead of inflation. If you sell web sites, the problem may be poor customer support, declining or non-existent brand awareness, an inability to expand into new markets or many other possibilities. These are general needs with available solutions in the open market. Your business can solve these needs for customers, but so can the competition. A company that focuses on solving the basic needs of customers, is in a commodity position. Price will dictate more than any other factor, whether the solution comes from your company or someone else's.

Many small businesses are unable to compete or generate a reasonable income if they hold a commodity position within the marketplace. Even though most large corporations deliver the weakest customer service and support, forget to return calls, transfer you from department to department, refuse to make a decision, and don’t care after the sale has been made, they are able to offer the best price. And for most consumers, that is the most important factor influencing their buying decision when shopping for a commodity.

So How Can Small Business Compete?
Solve Niche Problems with Customized Solutions

If you own a small business, it's essential that you offer customized, non-commodity solutions that meet your clients' specific niche needs. Niche needs are challenges faced by customers that are not readily solved in the open market. Your ability to solve niche needs is what will differentiate your company competitively while allowing you to better service and support customers. The ability to customize solutions also insulates your company from competition and allows you to charge premium prices for your products and services.

Sell Your Small Business Strengths

It is also important to play up the strength of small businesses. Make sure your clients are aware of the advantages your small business offers:

* Flexibility: Small businesses are better ability to serve customers and meet their specific needs.
* Personalized Customer Relationships: Small businesses have a genuine concern for customers and an understanding that business is about relationships.
* Customer Service: Small businesses care about their customers and have the ability to handle customer complaints and concerns immediately.
* Responsibility and Responsiveness: There is no “passing the buck” when it comes to small business. Small businesses are responsive and able to make immediate decisions to meet the requests of their clients.
It is no secret that large corporations are forever trying to design business processes that will give them the customer-service advantages they once held as small businesses.

Precision Selling

If sales people could read minds, they would easily identify the problems challenging their prospects. By knowing the problems a prospect may have and providing the specific means of resolving those problems for which they do not have a solution, the probability of making a sale is greatly increased. Since reading minds is not a viable option, the next best thing is to ask open-ended questions to uncover the answers. An open-end question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.

The advantages of open-ended questions in sales is that they allow you to control the conversation, qualify leads, establish rapport, and build an understanding of your clients and their business. Knowing how your products and services can solve specific problems is essential in creating opportunity and making a sale.

Open-End Questions

Learn About Needs

* What kinds of challenges are you facing?
* What would you like to see improved?
* What is it that you’d like to see accomplished?
* What solutions are you looking for specifically?
* I noticed that your company is [something new company is doing that relates to what you are selling]. What challenges have you faced?
* Where is your company headed over the next year? Do you have specific targets and goals?

Product and Service Expectations

* What are your expections and requirements when working with a company such as ours?
* What concerns might you have?
* What other issues are important to you?

Decisions and Budget

* (a) How much money would you save if you could resolve [insert specific need uncovered from previous questions]?
(b)What kind of budget would be available if I could a professional and effective solution to this problem?
* What would be your timeline?
* Who else is involved in the decision-making process?