When selling a product to a customer, it is very important to find out as much as you can about your customer and their needs before you proceed with your sale. This is commonly referred to as �needs based selling.� The most effective way to find out about your customers needs, is to ask probing, open-ended questions. An open-ended question does not allow your customer to give you a �yes� or �no� answer, it makes them explain to you what their needs are, and why they would need a particular product. Here is an example, if you were a sales associate at a furniture store, and a customer walked in looking for a dining room set, an open-ended question you might ask would be: �Tell me about the particular type of pattern you are looking for,� or simply put, �tell me more about what you are looking for� This puts your customer in a situation where they cannot say �yes� or �no,� they must go into detail. On a personal note . . . Not to long ago, my wife and I were in a department store looking for a coat for me. I spotted one that I like hanging on a discount rack. It was brown, with a removable liner, and a zipper that ran the length of the collar, to protect your neck. I liked it so much, I took it from the rack and tried it on. As I stood admiring myself in the mirror, a sales associate came over and complimented me on my appearance in this jacket. I smiled politely and thanked her. She than proceeded to tell me that the best part about the jacket was that it smelled like real leather. Taking her word for it, I put my nose to the sleeve, took a whiff, and sure enough, it smelled like real leather. The only problem was . . . I don�t like the smell of leather. Needless to say, I put the coat back on the rack, and the friendly sales person lost the sale and the commission. The mistake the sales person made was assuming that I liked the smell of leather. It was a safe assumption on the part of the sales person, because most people like the smell of leather. This doesn�t mean it should be taken for granted. The point I am trying to make, is that it is essential that you ask probing and open-ended questions, find out as much as you possibly can about your customer before you present them with a product. You�ll end up with a lot more sales. Believe me!
