Bev: (She doesnt see that a problem exists.) I think so, Joe.

Joe: (He recognizes that Bev may not realize that she has a problem.) Are you comfortable that your current image will still be attractive to your targeted customers three to five years from now?

Bev: What do you mean?

Joe: Buying patterns of customers are continually changing. You may want to have the image of your company stay abreast of these changes, such as lower prices and purchasing convenience. It often takes a company two or three years to change its image. Thats why I was wondering if that could be a potential problem.

Bev: Well, put that way, Joe, it might be. Tell me more.

Joe: Before I can explain much more, I need to ask you a few questions about your current image, your current targeted customers, and what changes you anticipate in your company and your customers three to five years from now. Would that be okay?

Bev: Yes.

Joe: For instance, how would you describe the image that you want your customers to have of Optimist?

Bev: Excellent question. Lets see, . . . EXAMPLE 2: THE CUSTOMER RECOGNIZES THE PROBLEM AND

WANTS TO FIX IT

In this scenario, the customer recognizes that he or she has a problem and wants to solve it. Here, the exchange between Bev and Joe might look like this.

Bev: Thanks for coming, Joe. We need to change ad agencies because we are just not happy with the sales results our ad

campaigns are generating. We also arent satisfied with the image that we are projecting to the marketplace. So, we thought we would explore some alternatives to our current ad agency. Thats where you come in. How do you think you could help us?

Joe: I hope we can. But Im going to need to ask you several questions to find out just how we might be able to offer the best solutions to your sales performance and image issues. Is that OK?

Bev: Of course. Fire away.

Joe: You said your ad campaigns were unsatisfactory when it came to sales results. Why do you think this was the case? This will help us not to make the same mistake.

Bev: Well, our biggest problem in that area was that we didnt appeal to the right market segment, i.e., the 21- to 35-year-olds.

Joe: I see. So you basically want us to put together a mock ad campaign on how we would go about capturing that business, is that right?

Bev: Basically.

Joe: Okay, we will do that, but before we do, let me ask you a few more questions about the characteristics of the people within that age group that you wish to target, if you dont mind?

Bev: Go right ahead, Joe.

Joe: Well, my first question focuses on what the characteristics are of the people who are currently buying.

What advances the sale is showing buyers the solutions to their problems when their pain is great enough to warrant a change or getting them to see their problems as big enough to solve with solutions that only you can provide. If you cant do that, you may do a

lot of talking, but you wont get very far toward sustaining a business relationship.

FINDING OUT IF THE BUYER WANTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM

As weve seen, its much easier to get customers to buy your solution when the problem is one that they themselves want to solve. To figure out whether the buyer wants to solve the problem, salespeople should consider the following questions: Does the customer view the problem as big enough to solve? And what does the customer see as the value of solving this problem?

does the customer view the problem as big enough to solve? Here are examples of questions you could ask:

A Is this an issue that you feel you need to address?

A It sounds like that is a pretty sizable problem. Would you like to explore some possible solutions, or is it perhaps not serious enough to solve just yet?

what does the customer see as the value of solving this problem? Here are

some sample questions:

A How would it help you if you were able to fix this problem?

A What do you see as the benefits of addressing this issue?

A Are there any other benefits or value to you in solving the problem?

A Do you see other ways in which solving this problem might help you?

DONT OFFER SOLUTIONS TO EVERY CUSTOMER PROBLEM

Its important to wait until the customer perceives the problem as serious enough to solve. Psychologically, a solution has less impact