Understand Your Prospect’s Wants, Issues, and Needs

When speaking with the decision maker, it is critical for you to completely identify their various Wants, Issues, and Needs so you can determine the impact those challenges have on their business and offer a viable solution; this discussion is referred to the WIN Analysis.

As we were introducing the idea of the Positive Results WIN Analysis during an iSales Process™ for New Business Development seminar, a participant made the following comment:

“I don’t have a problem finding out what my prospect’s needs are. They always seem to know exactly what they’re looking for by the time I start talking with them.”

While it may sound ideal to speak with prospects who know exactly what they want, don’t be lured in by this “low hanging fruit.” Make sure that you are driving the conversation to truly discover your prospect’s Wants, Issues, and Needs.

I’m sure many of you have heard certain types of sales referred to as “low hanging fruit.” For those of you who haven’t, imagine a tree filled with fruit. Most people assume that the fruit that hangs closest to the ground is the easiest to collect. In sales, quick deals are considered “easy pickings” and offer the most readily achievable goal.

Only inexperienced pickers select the low-hanging fruit first. The truth is starting low on the tree makes the picker’s job harder. If he starts at the bottom of the tree, he must climb to the top with the weight of the low hanging fruit in the bag around his neck. If he started at the top with an empty bag and filled it as he went down, the bag will be full by the time he reached the ground. This makes the job more efficient and ultimately easier.

What’s even more important is that the low-hanging fruit is typically under-ripe. Fruit lower doesn’t benefit from direct sunlight and should be picked last so it can have more time to fully develop. This same principal applies to prospects who are too eager to be picked. Chances are they do not fully understand their challenges or needs and are looking for a quick fix to resolve an immediate crisis. If you provide the a quick fix for your prospect, you won’t really be partnering with them to discover and solve their true Wants, Issues, or Needs, nor will you be building a lasting business partnership.

Focusing on low-hanging fruit is not a minor issue. Searching for the easy sale prevents you from establishing long-term customer relationships and limits your ability to make larger sales. Easy targets tend to be more transactional in nature, which limits the likelihood of you establishing a cycle of recurring sales. In addition, you are more likely to make a larger sale when you spend more time exposing a prospect’s various business challenges and the impact those challenges have on their success.

By taking the time to fully discover your prospect’s business challenges and understand how those challenges are impacting their business, you will be able to lead the discussion and guide the prospect into making a smart buying decision. And, the best part is that you will be positioning yourself as a partner and not just a transactional one-time vendor.

The Positive Results WIN Analysis has a significant impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of your sales efforts. By identifying the various difficulties, inefficiencies, and other problems that face your prospect, you will be able to correlate your specific solutions with their most pressing challenges. Using this strategy will help you become an even more persuasive and successful sales professional.

The WIN Analysis is the cornerstone of the Positive Results Intellectual Sales Process. It is the step in which you identify all the various Wants, Issues, and Needs a prospect has in order to determine the impact those challenges have on their business. The WIN Analysis serves as your opportunity to gather as much ammunition as possible for presenting a viable solution and WINNING the sale.

Essentially, the WIN Analysis is a guided exploration of your prospect’s situation. The information you gather through the various questions of the WIN Analysis help you to lead the prospect into a buying decision.

Your goal for the WIN Analysis is to direct the discussion without sounding presumptuous and clarifying and reinforcing your understanding of the specifics of their situation.

The following six steps make up the WIN Analysis:

1. Situational Analysis
2. Drill Down Specifics
3. Isolate Obstacles
4. Prioritize Challenges
5. Identify Impact
6. Soft Commitment

Each of these steps includes targeted questions and is discussed in more detail in our Intellectual Sales Process™ for New Business Development training.

Clients attending our Intellectual Sales Process™ for New Business Development seminars have said they feel exponentially more prepared to identify their prospect’s wants, issues, and needs and to determine the impact of these challenges on their business. The vast majority have experienced an increase in the number and size of sale after implementing iSales™ strategies.

To register for an iSales Process™ seminar, visit www.PositiveResults.com/nbd or contact the registration department at 800.926.5953 x301.

Founded in 1994, Positive Results is a comprehensive sales resource company specializing in business-to-business sales training for new business development, account management, and sales force management. Our Intellectual Sales™ processes are a collection of systematic resources that maximize sales efficiency and effectiveness, making sales divisions much more productive.