Through these Tips, we’ve shared our technique about how to meet the customer’s need right the first time. It’s a conversation – a give and take with the customer where you hone in on what their true need or concern is, seeking more clarity to more quickly get to the right solution.
But sometimes we start by wanting to offer our solution, thinking that’ll move the conversation along. Sometimes we’ve heard some customer statements so many times in the past that we make assumptions that this customer’s situation is the same. Sometimes we just ask close-ended questions, and we miss certain key details because we don’t ask the question in a way that uncovers those little nuances.
In other words, we are human, and sometimes we don’t handle the conversation as effectively as we should. We have the best intentions, but the conversation doesn’t have the best outcomes.
So, when you’re thinking about uncovering the customer’s need, try to start more broadly, asking key questions before you narrow down to the specifics of the situation.
What’s important to you? What is your goal? What are those issues or concerns that you need resolved the most? What are those one or two priorities for the future? How are you hoping things will be different 6 months from now than they are today?
By asking these broader questions, it not only gives us some information, but it also helps us to frame our follow-up questions. Because we understand what is top-of-mind for them, we can tailor our questions to get more details so that we can help them achieve their goals.
In addition, if we understand their goals, we can continually relate our solution back to how it will help them achieve their goals. In other words, it’s easier to get them to buy-in to our solution because we’ve tailored it to address their priorities
To meet the needs right the first time, use broad-based questions to give them an opportunity to share, then align what you suggest to what they said.
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