The key for obtaining and keeping clients happy is to become a sales detective.
Learn as much as possible about them via a customer needs analysis or a client needs profile. The more you know, you’ll be more effective in helping them to reach their goals.
Why? All too often, it isn’t just a question of marketing expertise.
Unprofitable businesses have at least one or usually two issues:
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- Internal factors that impede profits — the control of costs, communication, employee performance and quality of service.
- Competition, missed sales opportunities and external marketplace forces.
So in effect, helping prospects entail becoming a sales detective. Help them by using a questionnaire to uncover relevant information. If you ask the right questions, you will help them attain their marketing and sales goals.
So in effect, helping prospects entail becoming a sales detective.
The mistake many salespeople make is making assumptions about their prospects’ needs and wants. Don’t rely on second-hand information or their web sites. Ask them direct questions.
This will enable you to confirm or correct your assumptions, and/or update information you’ve learned from other sources.
If you haven’t already, you’ll discover many prospects and clients aren’t knowledgeable or in denial about their marketing and employees.
Bear in mind that 50 percent or more of all potential profits are affected by the companies’ employees. Many times poor sales results don’t result from poor marketing. Quite often, sales are determined by ineffective employees in sales and customer service.
So it’s vital to learn about your target clients, devise solutions and to educate them.
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At the minimum, ask these questions of your prospects and clients:
1. What advertising and marketing tools have you used?
You need to learn how much money, as well as how and where the prospect spends money on advertising and on all forms of marketing.
2. What are your reasons for spending money in these ways?
Your prospect might be spending money in direct mail, online advertising, radio, or TV. Learn their thought processes, methods and budgets. (Rest assured they probably aren’t getting a desired profitable return on their investments.)
3. Whom are you trying to target? Why?
Ask them questions to profile their current book of business. Then, ask them to explain the type of prospects they want to target.
4. What do your targets know about you and your business?
This will reveal what they believe are their customers’ perceptions.
It will also reveal their sales challenges: It could lead to questions about their competition, pricing strategies and often about the effectiveness of their personnel.
5. What do you think customers should know about your business and offerings?
This will give you insights about their successful and unsuccessful endeavors.
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6. How do people discover your business?
This is important because it’s an open-ended question. Close-ended questions will only net you “yes” and “no” answers.
Open-ended questions will enable you to learn all you need to know about your target’s beliefs and marketing/sales approach. Note: Most if not all your questions should be open-ended.
7. What is your average dollar sale? Your peak sales hours, days and weeks?
An average dollar sale is easily determined by totalling sales in a day divided by the number of customers.
Learn the weaknesses and peak selling opportunities.
Then ask about spending on advertising, whether it’s a worthwhile investment and which of your employees are most effective.
8. What is your margin of profit?
This is the percentage and amount of profit after all costs. It’s important to determine the percentage of sales earmarked for marketing.
Is it too high or low? Different industries have suitable margins.
For example, high margins are in banking and financial services, software development, consulting, and entertainment software. Lowest margins are in grocery stores, green and renewable energy, consumer electronics, biotechnology, and broadcasting.
Also, be sure to ask questions about competitors and whether and why they’re successful.
9. What are your streams of revenue?
Your goal should be to determine how your prospects can maximize sales by creating additional sources of profits.
10. For research purposes, will you let me meet with some select customers?
Meet with multiple customers of your prospects. The goal is to learn what their customers think. Often, they’ll reveal some surprising assessments and thoughts about your prospective clients.
You’ll learn what they really think about your clients’ products, services, employees and competitors. In turn, such perceptions influence how much or little they’ll spend.
11. How do you feel about your employees? What do you like or dislike about them?
You’ll learn if they’re meeting their personal sales targets or if they’re properlycserving your customers.
All too often, you’ll learn your prospects’ employees need human resources training to maximize profits.
In conclusion: Use these questions or add any to your list. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to make recommendations and implement solutions.
From the Coach’s Corner, see these related topics:
10 Tips for Success in Talking with Clients about Money — Tips for consultants and financial advisors to communicate with current and prospective clients in money matters.
Consulting: Effective Management of Difficult Clients — Start with this premise: You should be focused on the continuous, improvement and performance of your firm. If you have difficult clients, here’s what you can do about it.
Tips for Building Long-Term Client Relationships with Effective Meetings — Signs you have good client relationships: They’ll thank you regularly, pay your invoices promptly, and will respond well to your recommendations. If you don’t have all three of these, here’s what to do.
5 Strategies to Build Trust with Clients — Tips for Consultants — The five strategies that enhance relationships between consultants and clients.
“Leave no stone unturned to help your clients realize maximum profits from their investment.”
-Arthur C. Nielsen
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