Knowing Your Product and Your Customer
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Selling is helping customers make satisfying buying decisions – the kind they will be happy with after the sale is done. Salespeople accomplish this by communicating how products and their features match customer’s needs and wants.
For example, one customer in a printing shop wants to have ordinary bookmarks because these will only be his giveaway material for his campaign; while another customer wants custom bookmarks or personalized bookmarks because he will sell it also to his shop. An alert salesperson will show all of the designs and colors or sizes if any and will personally assist the customer with his wants and needs. By doing this, you will give your customer satisfaction toward your service and products.
Why is customer satisfaction so important? Because companies want repeat business. They will get it, however, only if customers are happy enough with their purchases to return again and again.
The twin goals of selling then are being able to help customers decide on purchases, and to ensure customer satisfaction so the firm can count on repeat business. To accomplish these goals, a salesperson needs to match the features of each product to a customer’s needs and wants. This concept is called feature-benefit-selling.
It is often said that customers do not buy products. They buy what the products will do for them. Here are some of the products and the possible reasons people buy them:
Leather shoes are purchased for their appearance, easy care, comfort and long life.
A computer is purchased for increased productivity.
Insurance is purchased for emotional and financial security.
An automobile is purchased to travel safely and in comfort, as well as to impress others to express one’s good taste.
Here are the two elements of feature-benefit-selling:
First, product features. A salesperson needs to learn how a product’s features will benefit the customer. A product feature is a physical characteristic or quality of a product or service that explains what it is. The most basic feature of a product is its intended use. For example, a person buys an automobile for transportation; a watch to tell time.
Beyond that, consumers look for certain qualities in products that differentiate from competing brands and models. Those qualities are the physical characteristics of the product, or tangible product features. In a vehicle they might include color, price, automatic transmission, car stereo system, tires, air bags and snit-lock brakes.
Additional features usually add more value to a product. For example, an iron that turns itself off after a few minutes of non-use will cost more than a basic model that does not. Thus, physical features help provide the reasons for price differences among product models.
Second, customer benefits. When the features of a product are developed into customer-benefits, they become selling points. Customer benefits are the advantages or personal satisfaction a customer will get from a product or service. It is a salesperson’s job to analyze the product features from the customer’s point of view to determine the benefits.
As a salesperson, you will need to answer two questions about each product feature:
First, how does the feature help the product’s performance? The answer to this question represents the first step in developing a customer benefit.
Second, how does the performance information give the customer a personal reason to buy the product? In other words, of what value is it to the customer? In the case of the running shoe, the cushioning effect of the air pockets gives the wearer more comfort when running or walking and helps protect the foot from injury.
These are some of elements and factors you need to know to satisfy your customers’ wants and needs, and thus, contribute to an easy sale all the time.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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