I am sure, you already know that your prospects have certain expectations from you as a salesperson. There are few expectations which he communicates very explicitly and others he does not speak about. These unspoken expectations are equally important in his decision making process for buying.
Many times, your product meets all the expectations expressed verbally by the customer. But he is still not willing to give the order and you wonder why?
The answer is very clear that some of his unspoken requirements have not yet been fulfilled.
What are these unspoken requirements of the customer?
How do they impact the buying decision of a customer?
If you really want to know what these secret expectations of your customers are, which actually decide the fate of your sale, then keep reading till the end.
My name is Rakesh Sharma and I support the business owners and salespeople to grow their business and maximize their profits. Today I am going to share with you five secret expectations of your prospect. If you do not fulfill any one of them, you are bound to lose the order.
Before going ahead let me recommend that you immediately get a pen and note-pad, make notes of how you can be vigilant of these requirements in your day to day dealings.
Below is the list of top five secret expectations of your prospect:
1. “Deal with me with high integrity”: No customer is going to tell you this. Most of the customers believe that the salesperson is going to cheat him by telling lies. But every prospect expects this secretly he expects that as salesperson you must give him the facts. He expects you to deal with him honestly and be true to your words. He does not want to deal with an unethical person. The ethical behavior is not only limited to your words but also your actions during the sales process as well as after the deal is done. He wants you to tell the details of the product in simple and understandable language. He expects you to be sincere and fulfill your commitment. Most of the prospects fear that they might get cheated. So if during the sales conversation they feel that you are lacking in integrity then the chances are that you might lose the order!
2. “Show me that the product meets my requirement”: I am sure you understand this; the customer expects that the product which you are offering must meet his stated requirements. But as a salesperson you need to dig out his unspoken needs as well and establish whether your product meets those requirements or not. So for this purpose you need to ask relevant questions, and convince the prospect for same. He expects that you not only tell him through your words but also show him some proof and convince him fully even by using the other customers’ testimonials. He wants to know and be sure that there are other satisfied customers who are already using the product that you are offering him. He wants to understand what they say about the quality and utility of the product. In case the customer needs the after sales service, you must convince him with proof, how good is your after sales services are.
3. “Convince me that I am paying a fair price”: Price is a very important element of decision making for any prospect. Customers expects to get the best price. He wants to be very clear about the commercial terms related to advance payment and subsequent events, credit period, cash discount and other related things. Therefore, as a salesperson it is your duty to convince the customer that the price which you are asking is the best for the product under consideration. He also expects that you make it affordable for him by offering the suitable payment conditions. Most of the buying decision are not based on price alone. But if you are not able to convince the customer on the appropriateness of the price then there is every possibility that you might lose the order.
4. “Help me in making the buying decision”: No customer is going to formally seek your help for making the buying decision. But secretly he expects this from you. He expects you to educate him on his current needs and future needs. He also expects you to give him consulting on your products appropriateness for fulfilling his needs. He expects you to educate him on the competing products and advise how your product is better than the competition available in the market. Many times, the order gets delayed because the prospect himself is not able to decide in favor or against your product. The reason behind this is that there are certain unanswered questions which he has not asked from you but he expects you to answer. He wants you to help in getting the answers to these questions, he does not want to listen to your sales pitch alone.
5. “Interact with me with professional”: Decency, professional etiquettes, courtesy, and positivity in conversation are the key elements of any sales discussion. Prospect does not want that a salesperson tells him all the negative things especially about the competition. He does not want to be scared by being told again and again as to what can go wrong. He does not expect negative selling. He wants to be listened. A prospect understands his position in the sales conversation, and he expects that a salesperson should give that kind of a value to him. The professional salespeople understand all these expectations of a prospect and therefore they maintain a proper rapport with him and deal with the prospect. They bring in the element of humor to make the conversation lighter. They also understand that humor helps in building the relationship. Here I am emphasizing on the basic courtesy to be observed by the salesperson while dealing with his prospect. No prospect is going to you ask you specifically for this, but every customer has a secret desire to be treated with courtesy and decency during the sales conversation. If you ignore only this one secret expectation you are bound to lose the order.
Generally, it has been seen that the salespeople will do everything to meet the stated requirements of the prospect. But they ignore many of these unstated requirements. Since these requirements are not explicitly spoken by the customer, that is why I call them “Secret Expectations”. Next time you meet a customer observe your behavior very carefully and notice if you are ignoring some of the above expectations of your customer. My advice is that you be well prepared to meet all above expectations of every customer and bag that coveted order.
Friends, my commitment is to support more than one lakh business owners and salespeople by providing them quality tools for business and sales growth. You can also participate in this campaign by circulating this article to all your business friends.
Thank you for watching. Happy selling!
