Who are your potential consumers and how to find them. Potential clients Gathering your audience in one place

How to sell more to current customers? A question that concerns all entrepreneurs. There are more than 30 ways to encourage customers to leave more money in your cash register or checking account. However, first we advise assessing the buyer's potential or power. To do this, calculate your company's share in the client. The penetration formula will help with this.

Formula for calculating the share of a client’s purchases

Penetration = the share of your products in the total volume of customer purchases for this product

This indicator is very important to measure in those companies that customers contact regularly, for example, if you sell drinking water, auto parts, equipment, or provide maintenance services. And for companies with a large range of products for one target audience.

How to find out the potential of each client?

What is important to understand about each client:

• Your share in the client. You need to know how many products the client buys from you and how many from competitors.
• Your share of up-sale and cross-sale potential for current clients. Up-Sale - selling the same products. Cross-sale - selling cross-products to the same client.

How to get this information?

There are three methods:

1. Statistical (you analyze available data on the size of your market, the number of players, the number of consumers)
2. Customer survey
3. Market research service survey results.

When using these methods, it is important to understand not only your share, but also what to do to get more of the same and cross-product purchased from you. So ask:

• What can your company do to ensure that the client buys 15 - 20% more?
• What else does the client buy from your competitors that he could buy from you?
• What are the benefits for the client of working with your competitors?

Most likely, clients will be reluctant to answer these questions. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the correct conversation scripts. Then your managers will be able to correctly approach it and overcome all the client’s objections.

In any case, you will probably be able to obtain information on at least 60-70% of clients. Improve your work with them, and then, using the same methods, try to change your relationships with others. Therefore, do not immediately despair when you receive a refusal to discuss this topic. Get to the end by working with the entire base.

Each manager should draw up a table approximately like this for each client:

After filling it out, you will be able to immediately assess the potential of each client:

How to increase the average check and sales for each client?

• Set individual sales plans for each client.
• Take into account all the comments of a particular client and make a new commercial offer.
• Work with your marketing department on tools that will stimulate an increase in purchases from you.
• Conduct such surveys on a regular basis.

How to assess sales potential for current clients, in addition to penetration measurements?

It is important to constantly segment the current base and engage in niche development.

You can identify potentially profitable niches using several tools that Oy-li experts teach you to use.

1. SWOT analysis. Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the business, as well as external threats and opportunities.

2. ABCXYZ analysis. Ranking of the current database according to the criteria of volume and regularity of purchases by counterparties and assortment.

The survey can be launched via SMS, chatbot, email, telephone, using a questionnaire in the sales area, etc.

As a result, respondents should be divided into 3 groups:

• Promoters who gave 9-10 points
• Neutral - gave 7-8 points
• Critics gave it 0-6 points

Hello! In this article we will talk about the process of determining client needs.

Today you will learn:

• What is a need;
• How to properly build a dialogue with a client in order to identify his needs;
• What types of questions exist and how to use them correctly;
• What mistakes should not be made when determining client needs.

As the number of companies on the market increases, so does the power of the consumer. Screens are full of advertising messages, promoters entice customers with discounts, and supermarkets hold tastings to increase sales. But all your customer acquisition efforts may be in vain if you don't know what your customer wants.

What is “need”

Identifying customer needs is the second stage of sales, but in fact, you need to think about identifying needs much earlier. But let’s first understand the very concept of “need”.

Need – needs embodied in specific goods and services. This leads to another concept – needs. Unlike needs, needs are innate in nature; these are all those things without which a person cannot continue his life. Need manifests itself in human needs.

Needs are:

• In safety;
• In belonging to any group (class);
• In comfort;
• In reliability;
• In novelty.

In addition, needs can be coupled and uncoupled. Associated need - its satisfaction entails the birth of another need. For example, you bought a blouse, but now you need a skirt to go with it. The consultant’s task is to discover both needs (even before the second one arises) and satisfy them.

As mentioned earlier, identifying needs is the basis of the sales organization. But for the first time, it is necessary to think about what our potential consumers need at the planning stage, that is, marketing, as a process of identifying the needs of the target audience, should come before production (or purchasing, if).

Any one should be built around the needs of a specific target audience. Otherwise, you will produce (or purchase) goods that will gather dust on the shelves of a warehouse or store.

Take as a basis the main principle of marketing: “Do not sell what you have produced, but produce what you can definitely sell.” And for this, every decision of an entrepreneur must be supported by determining the needs of the target audience.

Now let's talk about the sales process itself.

The entire sales process consists of five stages:

• Search and evaluation of the buyer;
• Determining client needs and establishing contact with him;
• Product presentation;
• Resolving disagreements and objections;
• Conclusion and support of the transaction.

Why is it necessary to determine customer needs during the sales process?

In fact, if you have successfully completed the first two stages of the sale, you can be sure that the client will buy your product. At the same time, the process of searching and assessing a buyer should be treated as a preparatory stage before determining the client's needs. Let's find out why correctly identifying needs is so important in the process of selling a product.

Firstly, the client came to you to solve his problem. The same product can solve completely different problems.

Example. A man wants to buy curtains. The consultant asks the potential buyer about the design of the room for which curtains are being selected, finds out the acceptable price range and demonstrates the best options. But the visitor leaves without purchasing. What is the seller's mistake? The thing is that the consultant did not find out what benefit the client wants to get from the purchase; in other words, he did not identify the client’s problem. We specifically took curtains as an example to show that even the simplest product can solve several problems at once. For example, curtains can have two functions: decorating a room and protecting from the sun. In our example, the consultant was solving the problem of decorating a room, and the client wanted to protect himself from sunlight. This mistake led to the failure of the deal.

Secondly, without knowing the client's needs, you will not be able to fend off his objections, and this is the fourth stage of the sales process. Any customer objection is a doubt that your product can best solve his problem. You must rid him of these doubts, otherwise the client will simply leave you for competitors.

Third During the process, it is very important to make it clear to the client that you sincerely want to help solve their problem. This cannot be done without understanding the problem itself.

Methods for identifying needs

And now, the client is already in your store. How to understand what he wants? You need him to tell you about it himself; a better way has not yet been invented.

However, all people are different. Some people happily share their experiences with others, while others remain silent like partisans. An individual approach to building a dialogue should be applied to each client.

This leads to two methods for identifying customer needs:

• Questions;
• Listening.

Both tools must be used in the process of building a dialogue with both an open client and a guerrilla client. But in the first case, we must listen more, and in the second, we must ask.

I would like to immediately draw your attention to the fact that your dialogue with a client, regardless of his belonging to one type or another, should not resemble an interrogation. The consumer's speech should occupy the majority of your dialogue with him. A good salesperson is akin to a good psychologist. The task of these specialists is to identify and solve the client’s problem, and for this it is necessary to bring the “patient” to a frank conversation and listen to him.

How to identify client needs

Let's get back to sales. Where to start the conversation?

Let's remember the first stage of the sales process - finding and evaluating a buyer. You should not immediately approach a potential consumer and impose on him a product that he does not need.

Forget about the boring question: “Can I help you with anything?” At the time of your first contact with a client, you should already know how you can help the visitor. To do this, watch him for the first 30-40 seconds, this will allow you to determine the type of product the client came for.

Example. You are a salesperson in a women's clothing store. The visitor pays most attention to formal office-style trousers. Start your dialogue like this: “Good afternoon, my name is Anna. Today in our store there is a new arrival of the office collection, as well as discounts on the old arrival of this line up to 50%. Come along, I’ll show you.”

5 Questions to Identify Client Needs

Once the client has agreed to accept your help, you need to include questions in the dialogue.

Questions come in the following types:

• Closed questions- all those questions that can be answered unambiguously. You should not overuse them, otherwise you will not receive the amount of information that you need. Example: “Do you like dress pants?”
• Open questions– questions that require a detailed answer. But here too there is danger. If the client is not interested in continuing the dialogue, then he will try to quickly escape from the store. Example: “Which pants do you prefer?”
• Alternative questions– these questions already contain several answer options. Example: “Do you prefer tapered or dress pants?”
• Suggestive questions– are necessary when the client does not yet recognize the need for himself. Example: “When choosing trousers, it is very important to determine what time of year you will wear them; if you are buying them for the summer, then light natural materials will suit you, what do you think?”
• Rhetorical questions– atmospheric issues. They serve to maintain a conversation and form friendly relations with the client. “You want your pants to fit you perfectly, right?”

The advantages and disadvantages of each type of question are shown in the table.

	Advantages	Flaws	Tasks
Closed questions	It is easy for the client to answer them	Turn dialogue into interrogation; Provide insufficient information	Obtaining additional information; Obtaining basic information when working with guerrilla clients
Open questions	Allows you to obtain the most complete information from the client; Allow the client to talk	They can do a “disservice” and scare off the client; The seller does not always decode the answers correctly, which can cause the client to leave forever; Take a lot of time	Start of dialogue
Alternative questions	Allows you to obtain sufficient information about the basic need; Not as intrusive as open-ended questions	Prevents the identification of related needs	Determination of basic need; Encouraging the client to take action; End of dialogue
Rhetorical questions	Contributes to the formation of a friendly atmosphere	Take up time	Formation of the atmosphere
Suggestive questions	Contribute to the formation of needs; Pushed to action	May confuse the client	Formation of need

In addition to those listed, you can use clarifying questions. This is especially true if you are working with open-ended questions.

As a result, you should receive a certain client questionnaire, which will contain all the necessary information.

Listen correctly

Now I would like to turn our attention to the process of listening. It would seem that there is nothing difficult about listening to a potential client’s answer, but this is not so. If a potential buyer sees your disinterest, then you will lose him forever.

Dialogue is a kind of game with a client in which you must adhere to the following rules:

• Don't interrupt your interlocutor. First, let them speak and only then ask clarifying questions;
• Maintain eye contact. This will allow you to understand the client’s mood regarding the further continuation of the dialogue;
• Give up the idea of ​​questioning the client. If a person does not want to make contact, he is closed, then you should leave him alone;
• Offer options. This will make it possible to interest the client in further continuation of the dialogue, because they really want to help him;
• Keep the conversation going. The main techniques for maintaining a conversation with clients are given in the table.

Spend time on the client's needs

When you have suggested a suitable option for trousers, start the dialogue again and offer a product that satisfies the associated first need.

For example, our customer just started a job that requires an office dress code. This means that you can offer her a blouse, jacket and accessories. But you must understand whether your client needs this product while still working to identify and satisfy the first need.

Thus, the process of identifying needs consists of four stages:

• First contact with the client;
• Identifying the problem using questions;
• Listening to the client and offering options;
• Satisfying related needs.

Needs Determination Exercises

To be confident in your abilities, you need to practice. To do this, gather in a small group (from three people) and play the game “Who am I?”

Its rules are simple: you write the names of famous characters on stickers (literary heroes, famous personalities, cartoon characters) and stick them on each other’s foreheads, so that the one to whom you pasted the sticker does not know the name of which character you wrote.

Then everyone tries to guess whose name is written on their piece of paper. He does this with the help of questions to which the other participants in the game can only answer “yes” or “no.” If the questioner receives a negative answer, then the move is passed to the next participant.

Mistakes in identifying needs

Let's summarize and list the most common mistakes that salespeople make in the process of determining client needs:

• Don't focus on closed questions. If the client does not make contact, then it is better to leave him alone rather than interrogate him;
• You should discover several needs. Always look for related needs, this will allow you to build customer loyalty and double your sales;
• Do not present the product during the needs identification process.. You can offer an option, but there is no need to praise it. This will only create the illusion of imposition and lack of choice on the client;
• Be educated. Interrupting a client is the worst mistake a consultant can make when selling and identifying client needs;
• Stick to your mission – selling the product.. Don't let the client get sidetracked and turn the sales process into a session with a psychologist. Your task is to solve the client's problem, but only with the help of your product.

Thus, we became familiar with the basic principles of determining client needs in the sales process. These principles apply to both personal and telephone selling.

The latter is open for publication and is intended both for the administration of the enterprise and for external users of state tax authorities, exchanges, banks, others, suppliers, buyers, and potential investors. Maintaining financial records is mandatory for a business entity.

When modeling the situation in the Kiosk problem, it has so far been assumed that a more profitable product can only be sold by direct contact from the seller to the buyer. The salesperson's potential should be focused on achieving the profit goal. The means for this are the choice of arguments in favor of a particular product and a more appropriate sequence of their presentation. These methods of implementing a sales strategy do not require additional costs. We are talking about more efficient covering of already incurred costs. Profit will now increase only due to an increase in the sales volume of products that are more profitable according to the criterion of coverage amount per piece or coverage amount per minute.

All Buyers Potentially Profitable Buyers

As shown in the diagram, the initial stage of pre-contractual preparation for the seller and buyer consists of working out the market (1). During this period, the seller studies the market, actively influences it in order to arouse interest in his product, identifies demand and looks for a buyer. The potential importer, in turn, studies the products offered in the industry, tries to influence the market in order to increase competition between exporters, intensify the supply of goods, encourage sellers to reduce prices and choose the most suitable partner. The next step of the exporter is to submit an initiative proposal for the product (2). Having familiarized the future consumer of the product with this proposal and making sure that the parameters of the product meet the customer’s requirements, the importer sends a request (3) to the exporter, where he asks to send a detailed commercial proposal for the product (offer), containing the information necessary to make a decision on the advisability of concluding a transaction. The exporter carefully studies the request,, if necessary, works out (4) the possibility of satisfying it with the manufacturer of the goods, with functional services and departments (monetary, financial, transport, marketing, market conditions and prices, legal, etc.), prepares an offer (5) and sends it to the buyer. Having received the offer, the importer agrees (6) with the consumer of the goods on the feasibility of concluding a transaction on the proposed terms and sends the exporter an acceptance of the offer (7), i.e., informs the exporter of his firm readiness to conclude an agreement. This is usually where it ends

Very rarely can a bond be purchased to provide a given rate of interest. In most cases, bonds are purchased from a bond exchange, where they are sold through a higher bid auction. This is done through agents acting in the interests of the seller and buyer. A potential seller instructs his agent as to the minimum acceptable selling price, while a potential buyer instructs his agent as to the maximum price he can pay. Agents work on commission and naturally try to get the best price possible for their clients.

External clients are buyers, potential buyers, partners, journalists, suppliers.

The company actively “serves” 10% of buyers of the potential market, who have the opportunity to make a choice from the entire variety of products offered, including competing companies

The consumers of this information are mainly users external to the enterprise: state tax authorities, banks and other financial organizations, suppliers and buyers, and potential investors. Financial statements are not a commercial secret of the enterprise; they are open to the public and are certified by an independent auditing firm. Maintaining financial records is mandatory for businesses. International accounting standards and basic accounting principles relate specifically to financial accounting systems.

Sometimes the buyer is potentially ready to buy a product even at a smaller discount than is beneficial to the seller. What does this mean? Let's show it with an example. Let, for example, for definiteness, the capacity of batteries of the first type is 300 tAh hour, of the second type - 600 tAh hour. The service life of elements of the first type is 3 years, of the second - 6 years. The price of elements of the first type is 145 rubles. Let the ruble discount rate be 94% per annum for the seller, and 36% per annum for the average buyer (Sberbank deposit rate). Under these conditions, the retail price of elements of the second type will be profitable for the seller at a price not lower than 164.5 rubles, and for the buyer - no higher than 203 rubles. As you can see, in this case there is a consensus between the seller and the buyer without any particular problems - for the successful sale of batteries of the second type, it is enough to set the price intermediate between 164.5 and 203 rubles. (the upper limit may be determined by competitors' prices).

IBM must become a customer-centric company, meaning that every element of its activities must be related to the requirements of the customer. Every instruction given to an IBM employee in some way relates to its goal of providing customers, prospects and sellers with the best possible service.

The action of a seller in direct interaction with a potential buyer.

Any form of communication used by a firm to inform, persuade, or remind potential customers to purchase its products or services.

P.t. - all forms of activity aimed at informing (explaining, reminding) potential buyers about their goods, services, ideas, public (charitable) activities, brand names, packaging, organizing exhibitions, demonstrations, holding competitions, lotteries, quizzes, advertising in the media, etc.

An advertisement must be structured in such a way as to a) catch the reader’s eye b) force him to read what is written to the end c) evoke positive emotions d) motivate him to action e) be remembered. It is necessary to ensure that the advertisement answers the possible questions of the potential buyer as much as possible. For this purpose, company specialists are involved in working on the text.

When the advertisement is ready, it is necessary to select a distribution channel so that it falls into the hands of a potential buyer. In other words, it is necessary to publish an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine (more than once, but preferably at least 7 times), which the average buyer or potential partner likes to read.

There is also a more effective and less expensive channel - “direct mail” - direct mail advertising (see “Direct mail” [D 56]), when, by printing an advertisement in the form of a letter and duplicating it, you send it to the addresses of your potential partners or buyers.

A special section is devoted to the peculiarities of consumer behavior in relation to new products. The author introduces readers to individual differences in people's readiness to accept innovation (Kotler uses the word perception in this situation, interpreting it as an individual's decision to become a regular user of a product), dividing all consumers into innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. In addition, the success of a new product largely depends on such characteristics of the product itself as comparative advantage, compatibility, complexity, divisibility of the acquaintance process and communicative visibility. It seems that such an assessment of a new product can clarify a lot in the behavior of potential buyers.

Market is a collection of existing and potential buyers of a product.

The concept of intensifying commercial efforts is used especially aggressively in relation to goods of passive demand, i.e. goods that the buyer usually does not think about purchasing, for example, insurance, encyclopedic dictionaries, grave plots. In these industries, various techniques for identifying potential buyers and hard selling them a product have been developed and perfected.

Now we will look at how buyers approach purchasing new products. By new we mean a product, service or idea that some potential customers perceive as something new. A new product may have been on the market for some time, but we are interested in how consumers first learn about it and decide whether to adopt it. In this case, we mean by perception the thought process that an individual goes through from the moment he first hears about a new product until the moment he finally accepts it. 25 We define perception as the individual's decision to become a regular user of the product.

Suppose the company finds out that buyers in the target segment are primarily interested in two parameters of snowmobiles: size and speed. Potential customers and dealers can be asked how they perceive competitors' snowmobiles in terms of these parameters. The survey results are presented in the product positioning diagram in Fig. 48. Competitor A is considered a manufacturer of small high-speed snowmobiles, competitor B is a manufacturer of medium-sized and medium-speed snowmobiles, competitor B is a manufacturer of low-speed small and medium-sized snowmobiles, and competitor D is a manufacturer of large low-speed snowmobiles. The areas of the circles in the diagram are proportional to the sales volumes of each of these competitors 16.

Suppose, however, that management believes that the profit potential will be higher and the risk less if the firm undertakes a small, fast machine that competes with Manufacturer A's products. In this case, the firm will need to study Competitor A's snowmobile and find a way to differentiate its offering. in the eyes of potential buyers. You can ensure competitive positioning based on the properties of the product, its design, quality, price and other characteristics.

This is a kind of “language” with the help of which a company (enterprise) designates its products, as well as everything that is somehow related to them. Problem S.f. is to ensure that the broadest masses of people (and not just potential buyers) from afar, at a great distance, recognize the machines, equipment, devices, vehicles of the enterprise, as well as buildings, factories, etc. belonging to the company, clearly distinguishing them from similar ones facilities of competing companies. In the system of S. f. includes the following elements 1.

Hundreds of customers pass through the stores every day, sometimes more. And they go to some store again, and to some store they never set foot again! Why is that? What needs to be done so that customers come a second and a third time, and so that they become regulars? Read about this in this article; we will talk in detail about the types of buyers and how to attract them.

Potential buyer

The potential buyer of your store is your target audience, these are representatives of your target group, that is, that part of the people that you would really like to influence in order to attract them to your trading or manufacturing enterprise. Potential buyers are also present in another niche that interests you - a secondary one. This is a part of the population that is inclined to make purchases from you or your competitors. And the third group of your potential buyers are those who have never purchased anything from your niche products and do not intend to do so yet.

Why is this happening?

People may not yet realize that they need your product. For example, older people cannot even imagine how much more enjoyable their life will be if they buy... a color printer! Only you can tell them what kind of photographs they can print of their grandchildren, girlfriends, friends, acquaintances. After all, it is older people who still love to store photographs on paper! Therefore, this category of people are also potential buyers of office equipment stores, as paradoxical as it may sound!

What are the goals and objectives of working with a group of potential buyers? An entrepreneur needs to draw their attention to his store, invite them to his place, show the sales area and products, provide services for them, even in a free demo version. In this way, you can convince a potential buyer to make a first trial purchase. Well, then everything will depend on the quality of goods, services, and the ease of receiving and using them.

How can you attract customers to your business or store?

The first thing your potential client sees is an advertisement. Think over the text, work it out on several clients, place it in the most popular media in your locality, or in those places where your target audience most often visits. The second important factor in attracting customers to your store is its sign and beautiful windows. It will be great if there is a promoter at the door of your store, whose goal is to invite as many customers as possible to the sales area. Only the promoter must be “alive”; it is best to hire a person who is associated with the theater, one who has creative abilities.

To attract customers from your target audience to your store, you need to offer products and services that your competitors do not yet offer. Buyers are generally satisfied with the traditional buying process, but new products are part of satisfying the demands of novelty and curiosity.

Also use unusual methods of promoting your product. For example, many marketers believe that rumors work great if they are generated correctly. For example, have you heard that the Metel store brought fur coats at a price of 30 thousand and a million? Want to see million-dollar fur coats? Many fashionistas will not react at all to fur coats worth 30 thousand and will come running to see what’s so great about a fur coat if it costs a million?

Technology for spreading such rumors: places are selected where representatives of the target audience most often appear. In our example, these are fashion salons, fur shops, expensive beauty salons, medical centers, beauty salons, sports and fitness rooms. It determines which employees communicate with clients. And they are invited to tell visitors of these places, as if as a joke, in secret, with surprise, or as if reading a newspaper with news, about million-dollar fur coats. Yes, you will have to work hard to come to an agreement with these people, but an additional fee has never bothered anyone.

What about social networks? Do you remember them? This is where rumors and news spread in three seconds! Find interest groups and participate in the discussion, tell the story! What to do then? Do you really need to bring a million-dollar fur coat to your store? Of course not! Come up with a joke to make everyone feel good and happy. A girl comes to the salon, and it says - if you are looking for a fur coat for a million, contact the seller! And the seller gives such a lady a gift, for example, a discount card or a souvenir.

The most active participants in spreading rumors are grannies who, with free passes, can ride buses all day long! They talk to each other, and so loudly that the whole bus can hear. What are they talking about? It's up to you to decide, because you're the one hiring these sweet older women! They get an increase in their pension, and you get a great, working advertisement.

You can attract customers to your store in another marketing way: come yourself and bring a friend, in which case you will receive a nice gift. For example, bring three friends and get a gift for four! And give a box with four items that these people need in life.

You can also attract attention to your store by using the help of those who are already your customers. If one customer recommends your product or service to another, and the person makes a purchase from you, then the person who recommended receives a gift. And it is fair that the new buyer should also receive something. This is where a discount card comes in handy again.

Advertising in which the seller asks the buyer to do something works great. For example, a gift has already been prepared for you because you saw our advertisement. Come and pick up your gift! A person comes to you, you give him a tour of the store, he buys more, receives a gift, and then he will definitely come to you again if he likes the quality of your product.

Recently, it has become fashionable to carry out affiliate promotions. This is when stores advertise each other. Did you buy 1000 rubles in our store? Then you will receive a bonus check for 250 rubles if you buy something at the store across the street. Oddly enough, this promotion works; people often give coupons to acquaintances, friends, and family. But precisely for those who need such goods. Why not targeting? And even completely free! Precise hit on target.

Email newsletters also don’t need to be discounted if your target audience is constantly online. To organize it, it is necessary to constantly, when giving a discount, a discount, a gift, ask to fill out a form that contains an item - e-mail. Then all addresses are entered into a single file database, and a mailing is sent out inviting you to visit the store, take part in a promotion, etc.

Constantly expand your target audience, place products for other ages, for other social groups. In this case, targeted advertising will significantly increase sales. For example, introducing social products at low prices to your line will attract an audience that has never visited you at all and will not visit you at normal times, only during promotions and discounts! And not because there is no money, because the fact that there are discounts is simply needed.

Random buyer - how to win his heart in one store visit

In order to make casual customers regular, it is necessary to take care of the convenience of being in the store, the benefits of customers, and ensuring that the assortment is amazing. You can come up with anything on this topic, the main thing is that the buyer, when visiting your store, is charged with positivity, so that he only has pleasant emotions. Use original service techniques, the beauty of the interior, the efficiency of a comprehensive purchase, the convenience of the purchase process itself, the sellers must be trained perfectly, and each of them must demonstrate a good mood, with a smile on their face.

Which store attracts and retains customers:

• convenient, with clear signs
• where affordable goods, an adequate combination of price and quality
• where in one place there is a whole range of goods and services
• a huge number of ready-made ideas for using goods and services
• bonus points or discounts, gifts are given for purchases
• competent and friendly sellers who understand the product, do not skimp on positive emotions and attention to the buyer and his problems
• elements that provide a positive attitude. Recently I saw a huge cage with a squirrel in one of the beauty salons; it funnyly offered its sides to visitors to pet and scratch, and begged for cookies. Women began to go for procedures more often; according to the salon manager, sales increased. There are also aquariums, jukeboxes, original mimes, and theater promoters.

So, in order to retain a new client, you need to convince him that you will do a lot for him, and even more, which your competitors do not.

Why your customer may never come to you again

There can actually be a great many reasons for such a buyer reaction. For example, waiting always has a negative impact on customers. A person came, chose a product, but the seller was not there, or the cashier “moved away.” The need to wait has long since sunk into Soviet oblivion, so now it causes nothing but violent irritation. Avoid the need for clients to wait, and encourage staff that they have enough time to do their own thing.

The second extreme is that sellers are too intrusive; many buyers may leave because of this. So teach trade ethics to your staff!

A negative feature of many stores is that it is not clear what is where, where to look for this or that product. The too large assortment and the huge number of price tags are frightening that it is even impossible to understand how much a certain product costs. A sales area that is too narrow or small, where it is difficult to move around and look at the goods, is also a nuisance for the buyer. The inability to try on, or when you cannot touch, twist, or hold the product in your hands, also plays a negative role.

Another factor that works very unpleasantly is when “a product with a 20% discount” is indicated on the shelf, and its full cost is calculated at the checkout. You need to go, prove it, take the price tag from the counter, call a senior manager for investigation. And there’s a line of buyers lining up behind you! This will definitely prevent you from further visiting the store!

E. Shchugoreva

Elena Shchugoreva is a business consultant, a trainer in public speaking and speech techniques, and the head of the online school “Orator Master”. She can be contacted by email [email protected] or through a group on Facebook

July 17, 2018

And we need to work with them (clients) in different ways. But how and with whom, let’s figure it out today. In 4 steps...

Step 1: Understand how many clients you need.

Not theoretically, not from the “it would be nice” category, not for the next decades, but within a month. For the month of August, to make it completely realistic. How many clients do you need? The math is very simple. You need to divide your sales plan (in rubles) by the average bill. We will not deal with the frequency of purchases and other nuances. Enough for a first approximation.

Step 2: Decide who you don't need to sell to.

Cut off low potential. Customers who are not able to buy your product (service). Or the costs of selling it (for this group of clients) will not cover the financial result “at the finish line”. Of course, you can try to offer a student a brand new Lexus. And even conduct 3-4 unsuccessful presentations, 7 test drives, hand over 8 sets of selling materials, make 9 clarification calls. But with a male leader aged 32-55, the same number could bear fruit in 1-2 approaches. The second question arises...

How to quickly assess a client's potential?

After all, not every male executive aged 32-55 is able to buy a Lexus. One has no money, the second is being fired from his job, the third bought a car a year ago and just came into your showroom during his lunch break to pass the time. And the fifth one has been very fond of Mercedes since childhood. And here appearance alone is not enough. It is necessary to assess the client’s potential in the first third of the question funnel (there is such a tool). Good for this

Marker questions:

There should be from 2 to 4. What’s so complicated about that, you say. Nothing if all people were honest, and buyers and sellers were not afraid of each other like fire. You could simply and calmly ask: “Tell me, are your plans to buy a brand new Lexus?” And then: “In the next 2-3 weeks?” But in real life everything is far from being like that. Marker questions should essentially be “from afar.” At the same time, based on the answers to them, you can clearly identify the client into one of three groups:

• Low client potential. Solution: don’t develop it further and don’t make any efforts.
• Standard potential. Solution: develop the client according to the standard structure of deal No. 1.
• Big deal. Solution: work according to an enhanced special scheme (deal structure No. 2).

A story from the life of my company

For the service area, we decided to choose the following as one of the marker questions: “Tell me, how many personnel do you employ in the operation and maintenance of the building’s engineering systems?” All answer options were divided into 3 groups. Low potential, standard and high. And even a beginner in sales, using this and 2 other questions in the needs identification area, could “sort” clients into target groups. What to do next, having realized that the client’s potential is “passing” (standard or high)?

Step 3: Define the client development strategy for the standard potential.

What will you try to offer first? How will you build a touch system? What negotiation strategies will you use? At what point would you decide to stop trying if all X attempts fail? When will you resume trying to “lift” a client after an unsuccessful first approach? These are just some of the questions that need to be answered. Important point! In the standard potential zone, any sales employee can work independently without involving experts. Experts are experienced employees of the sales department (and not only) of your company. You will need them for large transactions, but more on that later...

Step 4: Develop a strategy for developing the “dream client”.

For the case of high potential. Here, higher stakes are at stake and your task is to place heavyweight pieces on the “game board”. Expert! There are at least two reasons for this:

1. “Dream clients” do not tolerate amateurs and beginners. And randomly: “Well, are you going to ride like a breeze?” Like an invitation to test drive a Lexus with a sharp transition to “you”... It can forever ruin the prospect of your rosy and mutually beneficial relationship.
2. The result of 1 large transaction can cost 10 standard ones. Compare the volume of shipments to the best customer with the company’s average receipt. In my companies this is order!

There remain 2 important questions.

Who should be the expert?

In my opinion, this could be the head of the sales department, heads of technical departments, experienced members of commercial departments, or the director of the company (as an option). For our “commercial special forces” we created in 2009 the “Employment Schedule for Experts in Commercial Work” and obliged them to help businessmen. Only within allocated windows (2-3 hours per week in total). Please do not forget and think over the motivation system for your heavy artillery.

Question two. Is it possible not to call an expert to help with a major transaction?

Here it’s up to you to decide and you need to look at the specifics of the business. I would oblige beginners to work with an expert (in large transactions) without reasoning. And then I looked at the seller’s “combat experience” and past achievements.

Think for yourself technology for assessing client potential and further development strategy options (see above).

1. Create 2-4 marker questions to assess potential.
2. Describe the criteria for low potential.
3. Highlight the zone of standard potential and development strategy for client No. 1.
4. Decide from what potential you will work according to the enhanced special scheme (development strategy No. 2).
5. Discuss with key personnel and draft a standard.
6. Test in “trial operation” mode.

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