June 2009

REACH! – How Do You Gain Your Customer’s Commitment?

Wouldn't you like your prospects and customers to say ‘yes' to your ideas, suggestions and proposals? Of course, that's exactly what we all want, or is it? But have you ever agreed something with a person only to find that nothing happens and they don't do what they said they would? They said ‘yes' but you still seem to be chasing them and using your valuable energies following up. How many times has your proposal not been actioned and the benefits not been realised by either you or your customer? In these situations what you got was a ‘yes' but you didn't gain commitment. We want to avoid this.

So, what's the difference between a ‘yes' and commitment? To me, it's obvious when you've got it. It's about customer engagement, enthusiasm, confidence and belief. Our best client engagements are always with those clients who really ‘get' what we do. They are eager to know the next steps, they offer their own suggestions and they are convinced that they are doing the right thing. To be successful in selling you should aim to work together with your customers to find solutions and gain their commitment to your ideas and proposals. Notice that we don't use the word 'agreement' – we don't just want a 'yes', we want a commitment, we want action.

What we want to develop is your customer's commitment, demonstrated by the implementation of your proposal. Imagine if your customer rejected the suggestions of your competition because he or she was convinced that you offered the best solution?

Customer commitment is fundamental to all successful sales organisations, so this month we will look at how customer focused behaviour can gain their commitment and build strong and profitable business relationships.

Best wishes

Trese

Reaching Your Potential

Think for a moment about how you make decisions about whether to buy or commit to something.

You wouldn't if you didn't have a need or a problem to solve, would you?
You wouldn't if you didn't like or trust the person, would you?
You wouldn't if you didn't believe in the product or solution, would you?
You wouldn't if you didn't think the solution would work for you, would you?

Your prospects and customers are no different. They don't make instant decisions (and, even if they did, you might find that they didn't do what they had agreed to anyway!). They make a considered choice, based on information and relationship. They follow what we call The Road to Commitment. It's your job to lead them along this road so that they make the right decision for them and for you.

The Road to Commitment

Attention - Gain and maintain the customer's attention by asking questions and speaking their language. Identify and discuss what is important to them.

Interest - Ask the right questions and be attentive. Probe your customer's responses. Identify and confirm your customer's problems, opportunities, objectives and needs.

Desire - Define customer problems or opportunities and recommend solutions. Demonstrate to them that you understand their needs.

Conviction - Show your customer that you have the most compelling business solution and tie this to meaningful benefits. Reinforce your proposals with facts. Prove to your customer that your solution will work and illustrate it with examples.

Action - Follow-up and deliver on your promises. Evaluate and communicate to your customers the results of the actions they have or have not taken.

All of these steps might take place in one meeting, but it's unlikely. Sometimes, you will be asking your customers to take a small step, perhaps one that they are familiar with. At other times the step might be better described as a leap of faith. When this is the case, you may have to meet your customers several times before they make a decision.

How do you encourage your customer to take the leap of faith?

Your first job is to get the customer's attention, then build desire and so forth. Before each customer meeting you should ask yourself, "Where is the customer on the Road to Commitment? What must I do to move them to the next step?" Your meeting strategy is a sure course that will help you take the customer from Attention to Action. Adopting a consultative selling strategy will help you put your customers on the Road to Commitment. We'll address consultative selling in a later edition of REACH!

Reaching Further

For some practical support in helping your customers along the Road to Commitment and making more sales, you could of course join our Going for Growth programme of workshops for SMEs. The next programme of six monthly workshops starts on Wednesday 9 September, at The White Hart in Nettlebed.

In addition to acquiring new skills, you will have the opportunity to gain insights from practising and sharing experiences with others as well as identifying performance improvement actions to implement in between our workshops. From a revenue generating, personal development and networking point-of-view, I think you'd get a lot from it and I'd love to have you on the programme. This is an essential investment for you and your business. The programme is just £85 plus VAT per month, plus an initial joining fee of £85 plus VAT (materials and refreshments included). Join now by calling 01491 871 203 or e-mailing info@amplia.co.uk

Who else do you know who would benefit from reading REACH! every month? Please forward this issue to anyone who will find it useful. You can subcribe and receive your own, free copy by clicking here and sending us your details.