In Marketing Your Product or Service, it Helps to Remember That Customers Want You to Solve a Problem.
By Steve Johnson
You will never achieve lasting success and peace of mind in your business until you understand this most fundamental outlook on your customers. They don't want you to sell them something. They want you to solve a problem. So don't sell--solve!
"Solve what?" you may ask.
Solve their problem of not having enough money. Solve their problem of not being loved. Solve their problem of having dandruff, their fear of being mugged, robbed, beaten, their problem of weighing too much and dreaming of losing those extra pounds. Their problem could mean handsome profits for you--or somebody else--who can solve it.
Solve it easily, quickly, painlessly, cheaply.
But don't sell it.
Solve it
The problem of trying to sell when we should be trying to solve stems from the simple fact that most of us don't know what business we're actually in:
We're not selling books--we're selling information, guidance, help.We're not selling ice cream--we're selling cool, comfortable, satisfying indulgence.
We're not selling expensive garments--we're selling the envy of one's friends.
We're not selling perfume--we're selling love, affection, sex.
We're not selling a business opportunity--we're selling the end-all solution to one's financial worries.
In the end, we are all only one product. We're selling solutions. Here are five tips to help you learn to make more sales by becoming a problem-solver, rather than playing the role of the typical sales person:
1. Listen to What Your Customer Really Wants--I'm reminded of the guy who went from one hardware store to the next. The clerks in each store would politely and cheerfully ask him what he wanted.
"I want a round hole," he replied.
Every clerk quietly dismissed the odd fellow as a pest, and sent him on his way. Finally, the old guy wandered into the last hardware shop in town.
"I need a round hole," he said.
"We're all out of those today," the clerk replied. "But I've got some great deals on drill bits." And a tidy sum was exchanged for a high quality set of electric drill bits.
A silly story? Yes, but it's important to keep in mind what the final clerk knew deep in his heart. This customer had a problem--he needed to find a way to drill a round hole--and he was willing to spend hard-earned cash to find someone who could help him solve it. It happens every day in every town in America. Somebody's looking for somebody to take their money and solve their problem. You'll get rich when you learn how to do it, too.
2. Make Your Product or Service Fill a Customer's Wants, Not His Needs--There's an interesting anecdote about Thomas Edison. Young Tom's first invention was a vote counting machine. This bright young boy reasoned that his device would shave hours of needless bickering and wrangling from the political process. But the legislature disapproved the purchase. A disappointed Edison was consoled in private by an old-fashioned political boss, who wrapped his big arm lazily around Tom's drooping shoulders and explained without apology, "Nobody wants that machine here because then they wouldn't be able to get away with selling their votes."
Years later, Edison recalled that he decided right then and there that he would never invent something people need. He'd invent only products people wanted to buy. And he did. Hundreds of them. And he became rich by providing something people wanted. Not what they needed.
There's a valuable lesson to be learned from Thomas Edison's mistake and from his second invention (which was wildly successful)--the stock market ticker.
3. Find Out if Your Customer is Experiencing Pain or Pleasure--You're not interested if they have heartburn after that spicy tamale plate or if their bursitis is acting up, or all the ills and ailments they're experiencing. You're interested in why they are or are not buying from you. There are two simple words which will explain all action (or inaction) in this world--pain and pleasure.
To paraphrase the great Anthony Robbins, author of "The Power to Succeed," you've got to remember that people do things to "avoid pain or gain pleasure." This is likened to the "carrot and the stick" philosophy. Try to understand exactly what the problem is. Your customer may be trying to avoid the pain of saying "No" to you or may be relishing the pleasure of saving money by not buying your offer. If you understand the problem, you'll be in the driver's seat to (a) state the problem clearly, then (b) show how your offer solves that problem. Again, apply the previous two tips--listen carefully to what your customer is really telling you and make sure your product or service fills a want, not a need.
4. Neutralize Customer Cynicism--Harvey MacKay, author of SWIM WITH THE SHARKS WITHOUT BEING EATEN ALIVE, notes that buyers "come pre-wired to regard your proposition with suspicion and cynicism. That's their job. It's your job as a salesperson to neutralize these feelings so your product can get the fair hearing it deserves."
By listening and learning and knowing just as much about your customer's basic problem--why he really needs your product or service--as you do about your own business, then you become the "problem solver" in your customer's mind, not "that damn salesman." You become the one they call to get things done.
5. Never Stop Selling Solutions Because People Will Never Run Out of Problems--Robert Ringer, author of LIVING WITHOUT LIMITS, LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE, and WINNING THROUGH INTIMIDATION, sees problems as "an integral, ongoing part of the living experience."
By accepting that there will be problems--even going to great lengths to seek them out--you will be able to turn negative events into positive outcomes. Waiting for events to be in perfect harmony and for all the pieces of the puzzle to come together before taking action will only serve to doom you to a life of inaction.
Says Ringer, "The understatement of the century was made by the guy who said 'Life isn't perfect.' Life isn't perfect? Life is not full of problems, folks. Life IS problems. I kind of look at life as a perpetual attempt to fit square pegs into round holes."
So the next time you get ready to sell, stop it. Stop right where you are and think to yourself, "How can I solve this person's problem?" Pull out your pocket knife to whittle down the edges of those square pegs so they'll finally fit into the round holes. Find the solution to your customer's problem and you'll make the sale, because selling is nothing short of solving--then collecting for a job well done.
Steve Johnson is president of Johnson Publishing Company, which specializes in publishing and distributing informational books, tapes, and manuals that help businesses increase their bottom-line profits. The company also offers free reports to help you increase your income. Rush a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
Johnson Publishing Company P.O. Box 135 Alpena, AR 72611
Previous Index
Idea Help
Next
