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11Determining Customer Needs with a Consultative Questioning Strategy

MANNING AHEARNE REECE© Pearson Education Limited 2014

Learning Objectives

• Outline the benefits of the consultative sales process

• Describe the four parts of the need-satisfaction model

• Discuss the use of questions to discover customer needs

• Describe the importance of active listening and the use of confirmation questions

• Select solutions that match customer needs

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• Approach

• Need discovery

• Presentation

• Negotiation

• Close

• Servicing the sale

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Recall the 6-Step Presentation Plan

• Increased customer satisfaction

• More sales closed

• Fewer order cancellations

• Fewer returns

• Increased repeat business

• Increased referrals

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Consultative Sales and Value

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Figure 11.2 Consultative Sales Process Guide

• It depends on a variety of factors• Sophistication of product• Selling price• Customer’s knowledge• Product applications• Time available

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How Much Time on Need Discovery?

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• Need discovery begins with precall preparation when the salesperson is acquiring background information

• It requires the effective use of questions

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Figure 11.3 Dimensions of Need Discovery

• Situation questions

• Problem questions

• Implication questions

• Need-payoff questions

Questions help clarify the exact dimensions of the

problem, help the customer evaluate a range of solutions,

and assist the customer in evaluating the potential

outcome of the solution that is implemented

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SPIN Selling

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• Use effective questions to gather information about customer needs

• Use open and closed questions to guide the direction of a sales call

• Use questioning strategy to facilitate an open exchange of information

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Question Strategies of Effective Salespeople

Type Definition Use When

Survey Discover basic facts Beginning of sale

Probing Clarify situation When you need more information

Confirmation Verify accuracy After information exchange

Need-Satisfaction Move sales process forward

When shifting to solution

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Table 11.1 Types of Questions

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• Survey questions reveal customer problems

• Probing questions reveal customer pain

• Confirmation questions reveal mutual understanding

• Need-satisfaction questions reveal pleasure

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Need Discovery Questions

• General survey questions

• “Tell me about the new challenges you are facing in the area of data storage.”

• Specific survey questions

• “How do you feel about installing another server to your system?”

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Survey Questions

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Need-Discovery Worksheet

• Active listening is the process of sending back to the prospect what you as a listener think the person meant, both in terms of content and feelings

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Active Listening

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• Focus full attention

• Paraphrase customer’s meaning

• Take notes

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Practices to Learn Active Listening

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Figure 11.4 Three Dimensions of Product Selection

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Figure 11.5 Time Used During Process

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Figure 11.6 Creating Value

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• What are the benefits of the consultative sales process?

• What are the four parts of the need-satisfaction model?

• How can questions be used to customer needs?

• What is active listening?

• How can a salesperson select solutions for customer needs?

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