Do your ever get the feeling that you (or your salespeople) miss sales because they aren't getting close enough to prospective customers to really understand them and their concerns.
If so, a Concerns Menu may help. What's a Concerns Menu? It's a little like a 'bill of fare' on which is listed a number (no more than six) of issues that have been of concern to previous customers where you have been able to help.
The idea is to list these issues in bullet point format - keeping each point as succinct as possible. I encourage my clients to use no more that three words per bullet point and to put them on their business letterhead.
Using the Concerns Menu is a fairly simple matter. At an appropriate time in the sales conversation ask your prospective customer 'Do you mind if I show you something? It's a list of some of the major issues that some of our existing customers have had - and that we have been able to help them with. There may be something there that may help you'. Assuming that they agree to look at the list show it to them and talk them through each of the issues - keeping it short and simple.
If you are alert to their body language you will see what points 'hit home'.
Having gone through the list ask the question 'Is there any thing on this list that concerns you?'
Assuming that you have identified at least one concern you are now in a position to tease it out further.
(I am an advocate of the EASE sales format. The Concerns Menu concept fits well in the second step of EASE, that is the Ask.)
(The up-coming post for Monday 30/3 is Do a SWOT. It's a reminder of the value of a SWOT analysis in sales.)
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