In a more traditional sales process, discovery is focused on gathering information about a customer’s needs. The salesperson asks good questions; the prospect/customer provides relevant answers. This Q&A continues long enough for the salesperson to identify a problem for which they have a solution, at which point they begin discussing how the features of their product or service meet or exceed the needs of the customer’s organization.
But what happens when you lose your distinction in a sea of competitors’ features and benefits? Remember: your customer has access to every single competing offer out there. They can — in fact, they probably already have — compared your products and services, pound for pound, to others’. Customers can also become turned off by the sheer volume of choices, opting out of a sale altogether. Because it focuses so heavily on features and benefits alone, the traditional discovery process is no longer sufficient in today’s selling environment.
Customers are looking for something more than an explanation of features. They are looking for insight and a new perspective on market trends and competitive positioning to move their business forward.
Ian Addison, GetLinkedInHelp.com Managing Director, has worked with both enterprise organizations like Schneider and UPS as well as tech startups like Shippabo to apply account-based strategies and The Challenger Sale that shortens sales cycles and improves your chances of closing by 75 percent. Join Ian’s LinkedIn group at http://tinyurl.com/beyondlinkedinleadgengroup
Author
Get our newsletter and digital focus reports
Stay current on learning and development trends, best practices, research, new products and technologies, case studies and much more.
