Experienced Customers Have No Fear
Nov 11th, 2009 by David Svet
Do you know who your best customers are? My best customers are the ones who routinely buy what I sell. Now that sounds simple doesn’t it? Well, it is and it isn’t. There are a lot of customers who buy what I sell and probably the same is true for you. But how many of them buy with any regularity? That is a key factor in determining the kind of relationship you will have with them.
Experienced customers know what to expect, understand the process, appreciate good value, and are fair. Inexperienced customers don’t know what to expect. When we don’t know what to expect we make something up and/or are afraid. Inexperienced customers can be afraid that you will cheat them, charge them too much, not do great work, make them look foolish, take their ideas to a competitor, and so on. Sometimes They just need a hug. They’re just suffering from a little normal apprehension that’s worth your time to coach. Other times it’s rampant paranoia — in which case you should run in the opposite direction.
It’s well worth your time to find out if a prospect is used to regularly dealing with your offering. The time you save will go straight to your bottom line.
Image by Dyanna used under the creative commons attribution no derivs license.
Very good post! You are trying to solve their problems and I think a lot of people lose sight of this when they are trying to solve a problem. You need to know what they need fixed to be a great salesperson. Needless to say, I am NOT that person but I can tell a great story and relate to the person.
Thanks Jaime. You’re right. It’s good to know who you are as well!