From the course: How to Sell on Value, Not Price

Establishing the customer's situation

From the course: How to Sell on Value, Not Price

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Establishing the customer's situation

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- First things first, we need the big picture if we're going to sell our value against it. We'll dig into the customer's needs, their budget, and so on in a minute. But firstly, we need to understand the situation they're currently in. That will give context to everything we find out from now on. So what do I mean by situation? Firstly, what they're doing now, if anything, is there a competing solution in place? If we sell cars, are they driving something now? And if so, what? If we sell IT software, do they have a solution in place? And if so, what? If we sell marketing services, do they use another company at the moment? And if so, who? And then secondly, if there is something in place, what's wrong with it? Why is the car not good enough? Why is the software not good enough? Why can't your marketing firm service you well enough? Or if there's nothing in place, then what's changed to warrant the new requirement? Then thirdly and finally, how is this impacting your life or your business? What are the knock-on effects of this solution not being good enough? Are you wasting time? Are you losing money? Are you losing customers? Are your employees leaving because of it? Once we've asked these questions, we should have a basic and overarching understanding of the situation our prospect is in. What hole are they stuck in? How deep is that hole? And then how desperate are they to get out of that hole? Next, we need to understand the prospect and their needs a little deeper. So let's move on to how we can establish that next.

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