image courtesy of: http://roryvaden.com/

Once a conversation has occurred between us and our customers, the need is still there to reinforce the trust that we have been building during previous conversations.. No matter how good the product is, or how sincere we really are, the customer will not buy if they do not have sufficient trust in us. There is a step before we actually ask for the close that gives us an opportunity to reinforce the trust that we have been building during this entire process and that is where we validate the customer’s concerns and translate cost into value.

During our initial conversation, we have already determined the needs or problems that the customer is attempting to solve by looking into our product. We have taken the time to understand those accurately and demonstrate how our product can meet these issues for the customer; now, we need take that one step further and validate the customer’s concerns. Show the customer that you understand their problems and that you are sympathetic about them; that you are working with them to solve the problems. This step helps to strengthen the trust you are building because it shows that you are concerned for your customer, that you care about them, rather than  just the sale.

After the demonstration is the time to learn how the customer defines value. Is value for them a cheap price, a well made product, or maybe it is the customer service that comes with the product? These are all values to your customers and they will likely have many different ways to define value based off their lives and needs at that time. We need to understand what they consider value so that we can show them how our product gives that value. If we keep harping on how cheap the product is, that might be detrimental to the process if the customer values high end manufacture and associates cheap products with badly made ones. That doesn’t address their concepts of value, so understanding what creates value for them is crucial to this next step.

Now we need to translate the cost, the resources of money and time, service, which our product has into value for the customer. In the example above, we can work to address how well made our product is, translating the cost of the product into the value that our customer is most concerned with. Just by this simple translation, we show that we are taking the effort to understand our customer and their needs which, again, goes to strengthen the trust that we have built in the rest of the process. We are also cutting past possible objections by addressing the product values of the person we are talking to. Remember that everyone will have a different view of what is valuable enough to accept the costs of something. Here is where you preparation comes in handy as you need to have examples and proof of the value that you are creating for your customers so that they can indulge in embracing their trust of you.

Taking the time to understand how our customer’s view of value is another vital step in turning that “maybe” answer to our closing request into a “yes” and is something that you should do with everyone. What sorts of questions are you going to use to develop your customer’s views of value so that you can really develop that growing trust?

If you would like to do a 30 minute skype with us about how you can do that, we offer it for $50.  Just message us and we will schedule time to skype with you and coach you personally.