Beyond Solutions-Selling

My wife, Angela, has mastered the difference between selling to fill a need versus selling to fill a want.  Angela sold cars, first for GM dealerships, then Ford, and most recently BMW.
            “At Ford and GM” she says, “most people came on the lot because they neededa car.  At BMW they came with a whole different attitude because they wanted  a BMW.”
            “Selling to wants versus needs is always a more positive, lucrative and pleasurable experience.” she maintains.
            In needs-focused selling, traditional sales trainers maintain that until you uncover a problem and provide a solution, you don’t have a sale. This approach works, and is necessary, at the early stages of building a relationship.
However, the problem with making this your only approach is two-fold;

1.  Dwelling on problems is never as much fun nor as profitable, for you or the client, as focusing on hopes and dreams.
2.  If a competitor promises to solve the problem or fill the need cheaper than you, the client will fill their need with them instead of you.
Needs-focused sales trainers explain, “When the cost of the cure is lower than the price of the pain, you have a sale.” This equation obviously revolves around ‘price’ and ‘cost’and usually involves short-term solutions.
            When focusing on wants, however, the equation shifts from price and cost to ‘achievement’ and ‘investment’ and the goal becomes long term and exciting. 
            There is no doubt that problem-solving selling should be one of the strategies you employ at the entry-level in a selling relationship.  Selling to a want is a rarely understood, yet absolutely necessary skill in establishing profitable long-term relationships. When somebody wants something with all their heart, price quickly takes a back seat and the relationship they develop with their ‘dream facilitators’ becomes much stronger than it is with the provider who only band-aids their pain.
            For example, the typical retailer will book a flight to fill a need… “I need to move all of last year’s inventory before the end of the month.” The same retailer will enthusiastically make long term commitments to the person who can help them build the strong and sustainable business they envisioned when they first opened their doors.
          It’s not about pushing last year’s units, it’s about sending their kids to college, early retirement, and being the leader in their field.
            The client who ‘has to advertise’ has a totally different attitude than the client who ‘wants to advertise’. 
            But dreams and emotions are not something most people will openly share with a typical sales person. Most relationships will be opened by solving a problem first.
            Once you have done this, you can earn the respect and the right to get out of negative problem-solving territory and into more positive relationship-building territory by showing the client how you can help them achieve their dreams and aspirations.