Before you try to sell your products to a customer you must understand what problem the customer thinks they are trying to solve by meeting you. If they don’t have a need, you are not going to make the sale! Trying to sell to others can be very stressful so here we show you a process that enables your customer to sell to themselves.

Take all the pressure off yourself and use the following process to enable each customer to sell to themselves. It is in four parts and if by the end of the process you have not established a customer problem that needs your product solution then say so, and try to think of someone else in your network who does have solutions for their issues. They will respect your honesty and integrity and come back to you when they do have a need for your product.

We were given two ears and one mouth for a purpose. To listen far more than we speak. When you are talking you are not learning anything. When you are listening to your customer you are learning critical information about them, and their business.

The 4 part process to enable each customer to sell to themselves:

1. Open probing questions – Ask them open probing questions beginning with Why, What, Where, When or How, to which the customer must give a detailed answer. Do NOT ask closed questions which only require a yes / no answer. These questions are designed to establish two or three problems in the customer’s eyes that your product can solve.

2. Consequences – Now ask the customer what the consequences of not solving the problem will be. It could be a career threatening consequence, in which case you know the buyer will be very interested in solving the problem. The buyer may not be too bothered about solving the problem so will be unlikely to want to pay much for a solution. That’s why you keep questioning until you find a problem with significant consequences to the buyer personally.

3. Solution value – What is the buyer willing to pay for your product to solve their problem? If it is in the area you need to achieve your product selling price then BINGO!

4. Close the sale - If the buyer is showing buying signals then try to close the sale. There are many ways of achieving this. It may be as simple as asking for an order. A more subtle approach would be to ask which day the buyer would like your product delivered, Monday or Thursday?

Mike Ellacott worked in ICI for 32 years in senior management positions. He maintained brand leadership for ICI Perspex for many years across Europe. He has advised many companies on how to sell effectively. He has been an Enterprise Advisor in schools and colleges in the UK for 8 years.

With two colleagues he set up E4A Ltd ( http://www.e4a-uk.co.uk ) to help the next generation develop their entrepreneurial skills. E4A has worked with more than 20,000 young people on activity based enterprise challenges across a wide range of schools.

For more ideas on how to increase your sales and increase profits go to http://profitplanner.co.uk

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