PEOPLE BUY WHAT THEY WANT, NOT WHAT THEY NEED!

A notably successful ad from the past shows a hung over man who takes an ‘Alka-Seltzer’ and walks away looking refreshed and invigorated. For salespeople the question should be what did the man buy. An ALKA-Seltzer many will reply. Those with a little better understanding may realize he bought the product of the product, relief from discomfort. This product of the product or PRINCIPLE BUYING MOTIVE is often referred to as the buying NEED. There is however a more powerful buying motive, even deeper than the need, that is the all-important... SECRET BUYING MOTIVE. This ‘secret’ is what the customer REALLY wants. The man in the ALKA-Seltzer needed relief but wanted to be able to feel good and get on with what he wanted to do or achieve.

Many will still argue that people only buy what they need… a question, how many TV’s do you have in your house… or how many pairs of shoes do you own? If shoes were invented for foot protection and we can only wear one pair at a time why do we all have so many pairs? Because we WANT... cool feet, fashionable feet, sporty feet, smart feet, corporate feet, golfing feet, formal feet, outfit coordinated feet, or in other words we are really buying social acceptance. In the case of TV’s, we may need to occupy the children or get away from the ‘what we watch argument’ with our spouse and still many will still say… I need a second TV, however, what they really want is the ability to take control of what they watch.

When salespeople understand that customer’s inner wants are far more powerful motivators than their perceived needs its…

“YES SIR, PRESS HARD, THE THIRD COPY”S YOURS”

free resume forms at www.orglearn.org

MORE NEGOTIATION TIPS – The Bare Minimum

If all of the previous tips are too hard at least:

Separate the people from the problem – stick to specifics and discuss only the facts of the situation, (personal attacks and attacking others beliefs and values will build a no win divide – it is almost impossible to change peoples beliefs).

Look at interests (REAL NEEDS), don’t argue over positions – e.g. don’t dwell on number of ‘nuclear inspectors’ as in the case some years ago that led to the failure between the US and USSR during their initial nuclear arms limitations negotiations, when each side’s real need was mutual transparency.

Create options for mutual gain – get all participants involved in an exercise to discover mutual needs and a range of possible solutions, (builds on the idea that you are allies or even a team trying to solve a mutual problem).

Get parties to use objective criteria to judge the validity of positions – keep away from opinions & perceptions, don’t allow distorted ideas about what is going on the cloud the reality, (find out real facts, precedents, industry norms, competitors conditions, factual business conditions, best practices).

STICKING TO OUR PRINCIPLES IS MINDLESS, SELF CENTERED AND A REFUGE FOR THE INEPT.

great free resume form at www.orglearn.org

MORE NEGOTIATION TIPS

Things that will help us mess up a negotiation

A negative attitude, assuming a winner & loser outcome, communication difficulties, becoming emotional, fear of assertiveness, a self-righteous attitude, lack of knowledge of the negotiation process, seeing the others as adversaries, lack of knowledge of tactics, fearing we will lose, lack of confidence, lack of patience, fear of confrontation and of course the big one… lack of persistence.

Things that will help us NOT mess up a negotiation

Developing a win-win strategy and attitude, learning to listen (not just hear), practicing emotional control, taking an objective rather than subjective approach, developing patience and appropriate timing, not fighting with our ‘opponent’, deciding what we can afford to lose, knowing what our alternatives are if minimums aren’t met (lifeboat), trying to build a relationship before we start to negotiate, (it is hard to be committed to a win-win if opponent is a total stranger), finding out common interests or goals so we feel comfortable in looking for a win-win.

CHURCHILL ON SUCCESS… ‘NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP’

www.orglearn.org has a free blank resume form

EXCELLENT SERVICE IS A PHILOSOPHY, NOT A TECHNIQUE!

Does our company/department/staff take customer requirements very seriously? If we are to be truly customer focussed… no one is just doing a job, we are all satisfying customers. How long has it been since we have executed (metaphorically speaking) anyone for saying “its not my job”. Is our organization free of demarcation disputes? Do we have a total quality attitude to our work or is everybody working to rule.

Do we look at what we do from the customer’s point of view? How long has it been since we surveyed our customers; got feedback on how we are doing. (“Face-to-face” is best.) How much effort is really taken to make our customers feel important and respected? Try this… put a dollar coin in a jar every time you hear a phone sound for more than three rings and if the jar is too heavy to lift at the end of two months invest in some attitudinal changes in the corporate culture.

The latest wisdom suggests that partnering is the way to the future… do we show concern for our customer’s business requirements, communicate effectively our needs and demonstrate an understanding for theirs. Is there a follow-up system in place or do we just wait for complaints. When we get complaints do we conduct a ‘witch hunt’ or do we re-educate the staff to do it better next time.

DOES OUR ORGANIZATION PROFIT (LEARN) FROM OUR MISTAKES OR DO THEY JUST COST US CUSTOMERS?

www.orglearn.org great resume tips and blank form

EXCELLENT SERVICE NEEDS TOTAL COMPANY COMMITMENT!

A strong customer focus at all organization levels is basic to success in providing excellent customer service. Customer focus by all employees versus, the all to common, ‘IT’S THE SALES DEPARTMENTS RESPONSIBILITY’ is essential to prevent ‘cock-ups’ at the external customer service level. We all need to realise that there are three types of customers for most of us to service… ‘internal’, ‘ultimate’ and ‘external’…

We all know our internal customers (don’t we)… these are any individuals that receive our work output. In most organizations we also have ultimate customers… these are guys/ladies at the sales/buyer interface… and of course we are all here to serve the external customers or those (if we are smart) we refer to as ‘king’!

So who are our customers then? Anyone for whom we do anything is our customer, whether it is directly from one hand to the next, or indirectly through others in the service chain. Therefore if we need a strong customer focus by our non-sales staff they will have to buy into the proposition that they need to work to serve the ultimate customer and their priority must be to do their job in such a way that it makes the job of the next person in line as easy as possible.

HOW DO THE STAFF IN PURCHASING, FINANCE, ACCOUNTING AND ADMINISTRATION SEE THEIR ROLES?

free blank resume form at www.orglearn.org