The Psychology of Value (or How to Ask the Right Questions)
Why should your staff learn to create value rather than just take the order? Creating value is presenting the benefits of your product or service so the customer sees it's worth paying the price you’re asking for. This applies to anything that you would offer as a solution for your customers' needs.
For example, my neighbour wanted to set his backyard for a family summer picnic. He expected 50 people and needed to rent a few items to accommodate all his guests. He made a list of what he thought he’d need: tables, chairs, cutlery, dishes and such, and called two rental stores to get the best price.
The representative from the first store simply gave him a quote based on his list. The one in the second store created value. She presented the benefits of renting the equipment with them: “No need to wash the dishes prior to returning them, which means you can spend more time with your family!”, and pointed out items that he had not considered: “Did you think about the possibility of rain? We rent canopies.”
Because he felt that the second agent understood his needs and took more interest in his event, my neighbour decided to rent from the second rental store, despite slightly higher prices.
Not just a matter of price
For sure, the price is a big factor in every purchase decision. But don’t forget that most of your potential customers have already made their price-based-decision before picking up the phone. They know your price, they have visited your website. That’s how they got your phone number!
Customers come to you because they have needs. To make sure that you fulfil them, you must ask the right questions.
It is imperative that you determine the reason why they "think" they need your product or service. Therefore, your questions should focus on the customer, not on the product they want to buy: “What will you use this for? What is the application? What is the purpose? What do you want to accomplish?” There are so many qualifying questions related to what you are selling.
When well executed, this approach reinforces the notion that you want to create the best experience possible for your customers. It allows you to take control of the conversation and show your expertise while providing clients with the solution.
It’s personal!
Once you get a grasp of your customer’s reasons for wanting your product or service, make sure to focus on them for the rest of your conversation. The primary intent to buy may come from a need, but the decision to actually buy comes from the quality of the customer’s experience while interacting with the seller. People buy based on emotions and then, they justify their purchase with logic. Not the other way around.
Did you know that an emotional reason sells 24 times more than a logical reason? Thus the importance of building value by adding a personalized emotional advantage to your product, resulting in a benefit in the eye of the customer.
Your clients will better appreciate their experience, and you will definitely increase your sales. It’s a win-win situation!
For example, my neighbour wanted to set his backyard for a family summer picnic. He expected 50 people and needed to rent a few items to accommodate all his guests. He made a list of what he thought he’d need: tables, chairs, cutlery, dishes and such, and called two rental stores to get the best price.
The representative from the first store simply gave him a quote based on his list. The one in the second store created value. She presented the benefits of renting the equipment with them: “No need to wash the dishes prior to returning them, which means you can spend more time with your family!”, and pointed out items that he had not considered: “Did you think about the possibility of rain? We rent canopies.”
Because he felt that the second agent understood his needs and took more interest in his event, my neighbour decided to rent from the second rental store, despite slightly higher prices.
Not just a matter of price
For sure, the price is a big factor in every purchase decision. But don’t forget that most of your potential customers have already made their price-based-decision before picking up the phone. They know your price, they have visited your website. That’s how they got your phone number!
Customers come to you because they have needs. To make sure that you fulfil them, you must ask the right questions.
It is imperative that you determine the reason why they "think" they need your product or service. Therefore, your questions should focus on the customer, not on the product they want to buy: “What will you use this for? What is the application? What is the purpose? What do you want to accomplish?” There are so many qualifying questions related to what you are selling.
When well executed, this approach reinforces the notion that you want to create the best experience possible for your customers. It allows you to take control of the conversation and show your expertise while providing clients with the solution.
It’s personal!
Once you get a grasp of your customer’s reasons for wanting your product or service, make sure to focus on them for the rest of your conversation. The primary intent to buy may come from a need, but the decision to actually buy comes from the quality of the customer’s experience while interacting with the seller. People buy based on emotions and then, they justify their purchase with logic. Not the other way around.
Did you know that an emotional reason sells 24 times more than a logical reason? Thus the importance of building value by adding a personalized emotional advantage to your product, resulting in a benefit in the eye of the customer.
Your clients will better appreciate their experience, and you will definitely increase your sales. It’s a win-win situation!
Julie Charbonneau
Signature Canada is a leader in training employees to deliver legendary customer service while increasing sales. Since 1986, Signature’s unique training methodology has provided a measurable ROI for our customers, compelling them to return year after year.