The point of a business is to make money and giving customers what they want is an important step toward making a profit.
Many businesses provide several different service or product options. Yet, when conducting business development, finding out what a customer wants is the most strategic way to attract new business. Trying to explain all the offerings of a company is a sure way to confuse and overwhelm the prospective customer.
Take a lesson from Petsmart. They offer an array of pet food, dog leashes, toys, and more in their stores. Each Sunday late afternoon during an 8-week training course, I walk in to the store and learn to teach my dog to sit, run to me, wait, alongside several other dog owners.
Before the lessons, I had never been in this particular Petsmart and I had not been in a pet store for at least several years.
But here I was. Why? Because the store offered what I wanted – well, what my family wanted and I was the one most likely to go with my daughter to train the dog.
During week five, the instructor had us practice taking the dogs to specific areas of the store and teaching them to sit quietly for 10 seconds and then up to 30 seconds. It was also a socialization exercise.
We walked in single file to the fish tanks. Then we walked alongside the doggy day care on our way to the dog beds. We walked to the front of the store past the cash registers and made the loop back to our training site.
That 30-minute exercise gave me an overview of Petsmart. The instructor also told us briefly about the doggy day care and it’s affordable cost to further socialize the dogs. I know Petsmart now! While that doesn’t make me an immediate buyer of all their products, nevertheless, I went to the store because of what I needed.
Now apply the lesson to your own business. Ask key assessment questions to determine the greatest need your prospective customer might want. It’s not what you want to sell them at that moment. It’s what they need. Keep asking to determine their need and their level of commitment to purchase. Then mention the benefits of your company’s offering. Now, they’re in “the store” and you can earn the right to reveal more services and offerings.
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