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The Examination Step
• The basic goal of the examination step– To confirm the salesperson’s understanding
of the prospect’s/customer’s situation– To uncover the prospect’s/customer’s latent
needs
Uncovering Wants and Needs
• This question-asking/listening step must be psychologically structured to help determine:– The prospect's primary concern
– The prospect’s dominant buying urge
Dominant Buying Urge
• That inner urge or drive that motivates your prospect to take the action required to consummate a sale – Dominant - ruling or controlling– Buying - acquiring or purchasing– Urge - motive or impulse
A Structure For Examining
• Before you can present your solution you must thoroughly understand the prospect’s problem
• Ask buyers needs-assessment questions early in the presentation
Two General Types of Questions
• Open-ended questions– Can’t be answered with a yes or no
• Closed-ended questions– Can be answered with a single factwith a single fact
Questioning Techniques
• Diagnostic and Surgical Inquiries
• Inquiring Questions
• Satisfied Customer Survey
• The “What If” Technique
• S*P*I*N(Situation-Problem-Implication, and Need-Payoff)
Inquiring Questions
• Inquiring questions are depth-probing questions that can be open-ended or closed-ended– Use a questioning sequence– Carefully listen– Evaluate the customer’s answer– Determine the dominant buying urge
The "Satisfied Customer Survey"
• The satisfied customer survey is an examination that is conducted to poll satisfied customers (not prospects) to determine why they do business with the salesperson
• The salesperson reviews the survey and asks the prospect to choose which item he thinks is most important
The “What If” Technique
• The “what if” technique consists of a series of questions to help salespeople determine exactly what a prospect wants and why
• The salesperson prefaces the answer to the prospect’s apparent problem with an “if”
Figure 8.2 The SPIN Questioning Strategy
Source: Rackham, Neil (1989), Major Account Sales Strategy. New York: McGraw Hill
Situation Questions
• Achieve fact-finding objectives
Problem Questions
• Achieve objective of uncovering• Current satisfaction
Implication Questions
• Achieve objective of developing and channeling dissatisfaction
• Have high selling impact
Need-payoff Questions
• Achieve objectives of rehearsing and selectively channeling customer attention
• Have high selling impact
Reacting Duringthe Questioning Stage
• Question-based presentations are the link between salespeople’s ability to listen and to uncover buyer motivations
• Salespeople who are empathetic are better able to understand their prospects’ motives
• “Check the pulse” of prospects regularly
• Remain alert for any signals that prospects may send
Responding to Tough Questions
• When your prospect asks you tough questions– Restate the question– Ask
• “What do you think?”• “What makes you ask?”
– Start with a general reply– Don’t fake it
How Well Do We Listen?
• People use 1/4 of their listening capacity
• People use 1/10 of their memory potential
• People forget 1/2 of what they have heard within eight hours
• Eventually, people forget 95% of what they have heard unless cued by something later on
• People usually distort what little they do remember
Listening Strategies
• Good listening is an art– Push something aside– Nod/tilt your head on important points– Take notes – Show your interest without interrupting
Listening versus Hearing
• How many people get lost because they only half listen to a set of travel directions?
• Although a person must hear in order to listen, a person who is hearing is not necessarily listening
Stages in the Listening Process
• Sensing– The actual receipt of messages
• Processing – Activities that occur in the mind of the listener
• Responding– Acknowledgement of the receipt of the
message
Ramsey, Rosemary P. and Ravipreet S. Sohi (1997), “Listening to Your Customers: The Impact of Perceived Salesperson Listening Behavior on Relationship Outcomes”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 25 (2), 127-137.
Three Levels of Listening
• Marginal• Evaluative• Active
Alessandra, Anthony J., Phillip S. Wexler, and R. Barrara (1987), Non-manipulative Selling, Reston, VA: Reston Publishing Company.
Marginal Listening
• The most basic level of listening– Recipients hear the words but are easily
distracted and may allow their minds to wander
Evaluative Listening
• An improvement over marginal listening– Listeners are concentrating on what is being
said but do not sense what is being communicated nonverbally or through more subtle verbal cues
Active Listening
• A process in which the listener receives messages, processes them, and responds so as to encourage further communication– The listener is using all of her senses
Refer to Table 8.2--Habits to Differentiate Good from Poor Listening
Nonverbal Communication
• More information is communicated nonverbally than through any other form of communication (Greater than 50%)– Tone of voice and accents– Body language (facial expressions, gestures,
and attitudes) – Choice of dress, housing, and cars
Body Language
• Success in sales requires that the salesperson observe gestures
• A perceptive salesperson can read a person’s nonverbal communication and accurately match it to that person’s verbal communication
Reading and Reacting to Nonverbal Signals
• Nonverbal signals are processed at a sub- conscious level
• There are five major nonverbal communication channels– Body Angle– Face– Arms– Hands– Legs
Refer to Figure 8.4--Nonverbal signals
Is the Prospect Listening?
• The salesperson needs to know whether the prospect is listening
• Effective salespeople look for “buying signals”