The different levels of selling a product or service
What you sell and the way that you sell often determine whether a person or another business will buy from you.
When it comes to selling, especially to businesses, there are four levels, the first three of which on their own usually risk delays in decision-making and sometimes complete failure to buy. By ensuring you do not ignore the fourth element you will increase your chances of success. The first three alone are not enough, including the fourth almost always works – for both parties. Here they are:
- Selling your company.
You attempt to convince the customer to do business with you because your company’s management is so smart, based upon executives biographies and the business successes they’ve had in the past. Potential Effect: The customer thinks: “Right, these guys have a track record but are a bit full of themselves.”
- Selling your products.
You attempt to convince the customer to buy your products because they have valuable features and functions that are obviously superior to the features and functions available from your competitors. Potential Effect: The customer thinks: “Hmmm…, what does that mean to me, do I need these features, what will they do for my business?”
- Selling a solution.
You work with the customer to uncover and clarify problems. You then propose a customized solution that can solve those problems, based upon the products and services you provide. Potential Effect: The customer thinks: “Okay, but is this a priority right now – have we really identified the pain?”
- Selling results.
You show the customer the benefits of how you can help them to address their pain; for example, achieve their financial or market growth goals by making them better able to sell to, and provide support for, their own customers and potential customers. Think about the benefits that a commercial relationship can bring to the customer, starting immediately. Potential Effect: The customer thinks: “Great! How soon can we start?”
By combining all four levels of selling we will ensure that we put across our credentials AND address the customer’s pain by demonstrating the results they can achieve with the help of your products and services.
