CHAPTER 8

Examination

The Examination Step

• The basic goal of the examination step– To confirm the salesperson’s understanding

of the prospect’s/customer’s situation– To uncover the prospect’s/customer’s latent

needs

Uncovering Wants and Needs

• This question-asking/listening step must be psychologically structured to help determine:– The prospect's primary concern

– The prospect’s dominant buying urge

Dominant Buying Urge

• That inner urge or drive that motivates your prospect to take the action required to consummate a sale – Dominant - ruling or controlling– Buying - acquiring or purchasing– Urge - motive or impulse

A Structure For Examining

• Before you can present your solution you must thoroughly understand the prospect’s problem

• Ask buyers needs-assessment questions early in the presentation

Two General Types of Questions

• Open-ended questions– Can’t be answered with a yes or no

• Closed-ended questions– Can be answered with a single factwith a single fact

Questioning Techniques

• Diagnostic and Surgical Inquiries

• Inquiring Questions

• Satisfied Customer Survey

• The “What If” Technique

• S*P*I*N(Situation-Problem-Implication, and Need-Payoff)

Inquiring Questions

• Inquiring questions are depth-probing questions that can be open-ended or closed-ended– Use a questioning sequence– Carefully listen– Evaluate the customer’s answer– Determine the dominant buying urge

The "Satisfied Customer Survey"

• The satisfied customer survey is an examination that is conducted to poll satisfied customers (not prospects) to determine why they do business with the salesperson

• The salesperson reviews the survey and asks the prospect to choose which item he thinks is most important

The “What If” Technique

• The “what if” technique consists of a series of questions to help salespeople determine exactly what a prospect wants and why

• The salesperson prefaces the answer to the prospect’s apparent problem with an “if”

Figure 8.2 The SPIN Questioning Strategy

Source: Rackham, Neil (1989), Major Account Sales Strategy. New York: McGraw Hill

Situation Questions

• Achieve fact-finding objectives

Problem Questions

• Achieve objective of uncovering• Current satisfaction

Implication Questions

• Achieve objective of developing and channeling dissatisfaction

• Have high selling impact

Need-payoff Questions

• Achieve objectives of rehearsing and selectively channeling customer attention

• Have high selling impact

Reacting Duringthe Questioning Stage

• Question-based presentations are the link between salespeople’s ability to listen and to uncover buyer motivations

• Salespeople who are empathetic are better able to understand their prospects’ motives

• “Check the pulse” of prospects regularly

• Remain alert for any signals that prospects may send

Responding to Tough Questions

• When your prospect asks you tough questions– Restate the question– Ask

• “What do you think?”• “What makes you ask?”

– Start with a general reply– Don’t fake it

How Well Do We Listen?

• People use 1/4 of their listening capacity

• People use 1/10 of their memory potential

• People forget 1/2 of what they have heard within eight hours

• Eventually, people forget 95% of what they have heard unless cued by something later on

• People usually distort what little they do remember

Listening Strategies

• Good listening is an art– Push something aside– Nod/tilt your head on important points– Take notes – Show your interest without interrupting

Listening versus Hearing

• How many people get lost because they only half listen to a set of travel directions?

• Although a person must hear in order to listen, a person who is hearing is not necessarily listening

Stages in the Listening Process

• Sensing– The actual receipt of messages

• Processing – Activities that occur in the mind of the listener

• Responding– Acknowledgement of the receipt of the

message

Ramsey, Rosemary P. and Ravipreet S. Sohi (1997), “Listening to Your Customers: The Impact of Perceived Salesperson Listening Behavior on Relationship Outcomes”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 25 (2), 127-137.

Three Levels of Listening

• Marginal• Evaluative• Active

Alessandra, Anthony J., Phillip S. Wexler, and R. Barrara (1987), Non-manipulative Selling, Reston, VA: Reston Publishing Company.

Marginal Listening

• The most basic level of listening– Recipients hear the words but are easily

distracted and may allow their minds to wander

Evaluative Listening

• An improvement over marginal listening– Listeners are concentrating on what is being

said but do not sense what is being communicated nonverbally or through more subtle verbal cues

Active Listening

• A process in which the listener receives messages, processes them, and responds so as to encourage further communication– The listener is using all of her senses

Refer to Table 8.2--Habits to Differentiate Good from Poor Listening

Nonverbal Communication

• More information is communicated nonverbally than through any other form of communication (Greater than 50%)– Tone of voice and accents– Body language (facial expressions, gestures,

and attitudes) – Choice of dress, housing, and cars

Body Language

• Success in sales requires that the salesperson observe gestures

• A perceptive salesperson can read a person’s nonverbal communication and accurately match it to that person’s verbal communication

Reading and Reacting to Nonverbal Signals

• Nonverbal signals are processed at a sub- conscious level

• There are five major nonverbal communication channels– Body Angle– Face– Arms– Hands– Legs

Refer to Figure 8.4--Nonverbal signals

Is the Prospect Listening?

• The salesperson needs to know whether the prospect is listening

• Effective salespeople look for “buying signals”

Interpret Body Language

• Pay close attention to one’s own body language

• Set aside at least fifteen minutes a day to read and study the gestures of other people