Increase Your Sales by Solving the Right Problem

One of the biggest mistakes people make in sales is letting their customers tell them what they’re shopping for instead of getting curious and helping the customer find the right solution to their problem.

Whether a customer is shopping for a new home, a new dishwasher, or new design for their backyard – they’re shopping because they have a problem they want to solve.

More often than not, buyers don’t actually know what they want. They know that their current solution is NOT working for them (their house is too small, their tenants' dishwashers have been a warranty nightmare, etc.), but they don’t know how to find and choose the product or service that will solve their problem.

That’s our job!

In our industry, I’ve noticed that a lot of salespeople have forgotten how to demonstrate their product. They get caught up in promoting the features and benefits they have to offer. And they allow the customer to lead the sales conversation by telling THEM what the solution to their problem is.

Let’s take the example of a family who is shopping for a new home. They might walk into a model home and tell you the criteria they’ve come up with that they think will solve their current problem. Let’s say it’s a 3-bedroom, 3-bath with a family room.

Most salespeople in this situation will respond by pulling out everything they have that fits these criteria.

Now here’s the thing: If this family has already been shopping around for a while, chances are several other salespeople have shown them similar solutions. But since they still haven’t bought, none of those solutions have solved their problem.

This points to the fact that the customer actually has the wrong solution to their problem. They don’t need another person to show them the same thing. They need someone who can confidently guide them toward what they really need.

The way we help them find the right solution to their problem is by getting curious and asking great questions.

Keep in mind that in a slowing market, buyers are going to be pickier and slower to buy. So now more than ever, every sales professional needs this skill set to stand out among competitors and close more sales.

The same scenario could be true for a vendor who receives a call from a builder asking for a specific name brand appliance. When most people receive this kind of call, they will confirm that they carry the brand and start naming off the features it offers.

A better approach would be to pause and get curious.

Why does the builder think this specific brand is what they need? Chances are they’ve simply had a bad experience with another brand and decided they want to upgrade. Maybe they’ve heard this company makes a good product, but they aren’t an expert on all the possible brands and models.

That’s your job as the sales professional!

The same goes for the family shopping for a new home. Maybe the best solution for their problem is not a 3-bedroom, 3-bath with a family room, but rather a 2-bedroom with a study and an open floor plan.

Regardless of what we’re selling, when we skip the step of getting curious and asking great questions, we miss the chance to help the customer find the perfect solution. My favorite way to ask questions that get me the information I want in a sales conversation is to give open ended prompts that sound like this:

Tell me some of the reasons why that layout makes the most sense for your family...

Explain the problems with the model you are currently using...

Share some of the things you are looking for in an outdoor space...

When you learn how to ask better questions, you will naturally begin to stand out from your competitors because you will be able to help your customer find creative ways to solve their problems. This means ultimately, you’ll be able to sell them a product or service they love even more than what they thought they were looking for. And as an added bonus, they will feel seen and taken care of by you!

If you’ve ever had the experience of a potential buyer coming to you saying they want something specific, only to go out and buy something totally opposite – this is why. With the right questions, you become the person who guides them to the right purchase and solves their problem.

If you want to learn more about asking the right questions to close more sales, email me at debora@primeperformancestrategies.com, and I’ll share my guide on how to ask great questions.