The human mind is a fascinating place. It’s no wonder that sales professionals are so interested in understanding what’s going on in the minds of their prospects. After all, if you can understand what someone wants and why they want it, you can show them how your product or service can satisfy that need or motive. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the prime buying motives that drive customers to make purchases.
What Prospects Want and Why
It’s important to understand what motivates your prospects when they’re making a purchasing decision. What do they want, and why do they want it? If you can answer these questions, you’ll be in a much better position to show them how your product or service can satisfy their needs.
Some of the most common motives that drive customers to make a purchase include wanting to feel happy, wanting to feel safe and secure, wanting to feel connected and loved, or wanting to feel like they’re part of something larger. Whatever the specific motive may be, it’s important to remember that everyone just wants to feel good.
The trick, then, is to find out what specific need or want your prospect is trying to satisfy with their purchase. Once you know that, you can show them how your product or service can help them satisfy that need.
For example, let’s say you’re selling life insurance. A prospective customer may be motivated by the need to feel safe and secure. They want to know that their loved ones will be taken care of financially if something happens to them. By understanding this motive, you can show them how your life insurance policy can give them the peace of mind they’re looking for.
Or, let’s say you’re selling a vacation package. A prospective customer may be motivated by the need to feel happy and relaxed. They want to escape the stresses of everyday life and enjoy some time in a beautiful setting. By understanding this motive, you can show them how your vacation package can provide them with the relaxation and happiness they’re looking for.
If you can show your prospects how your product or service will make them feel good, you’ll be much more likely to close the sale.
What Motivates You?
Self-knowledge is key to understanding not only what motivates you, but also how you can best serve others. When you know yourself well, you have the ability to respect and accept yourself – and others – for who you are. You also have a much greater understanding of your own talents and abilities. This self-knowledge can help you achieve success in all areas of your life.
Accepting and respecting yourself also allows you to feel confident and satisfied with your life. You no longer need to seek validation from others, as you already have it from within. This internal validation leads to happiness and peace of mind.
If you want to be successful in sales, it’s important to start by understanding what motivates you. What do you want more than anything else? Once you know that, you can begin to focus on satisfying that need through your work. You’ll find that this inner motivation will carry you through the challenging times and help you succeed in the long run.
If you can understand what motivates your customers, you’ll be in a much better position to sell them your product or service. Keep in mind that everyone just wants to feel good, and find out what specific need or want your prospect is trying to satisfy. Once you know that, you can show them how your product or service can help them satisfy that need. If you can make your customers feel good, you’ll be much more likely to close the sale.
Salespeople must have a positive outlook and be confident in order to be successful. This starts with having a good self-image and believing in oneself. Repeating affirmations such as these can help to build this confidence and create the mental attitude of a successful salesperson. A positive attitude is essential in sales, as it can help you to stay motivated during difficult times, and it will also make you more likable to your customers. People want to buy from someone who they feel is competent and trustworthy. Having integrity and character are also important traits for a salesperson, as these qualities will help to create trust with potential buyers. Find your own affirmations or use these to help bring and maintain a positive outlook:
- I am a master salesperson.
- I have self-respect and I treat others with respect.
- I like people and they like me.
- I believe in what I am selling.
- I am fair and honest.
- I enjoy helping people meet their needs and accomplish their goals.
Know Your Prospect
In order to be successful in sales, it is important to understand what motivates your prospects to buy. This starts with knowing who they are and what their needs and wants are. You should also be aware of their self-images and what motivates them on a deeper level. Recognizing these things will help you to better connect with your prospects and understand what they are looking for. It is also important to be genuine and honest with your customers, as this will help to build trust between you and them. Being able to put yourself in your customer’s shoes will help you to better understand their needs, which will result in more sales. As you learn more about your customers, you should also keep updated on the latest trends and changes in their industry. This way, you can be sure that you are offering them the most relevant products or services.
When trying to understand what motivates your prospect to buy, it is important to consider the following:
- Their self-image: How do they see themselves?
- Their image of how others see them: How do they want others to perceive them?
- Their ideal self-image: Who do they hope to be one day?
By understanding these three things, you will be able to better understand what your prospect is looking for and how you can help them to achieve their goals. It is also important to remember that everyone is different, so it is important to tailor your approach to each individual customer.
Prospects are motivated to buy for two reasons: to gain a benefit or to avoid a loss. Recognizing which of these motivators is most important to your prospect will help you to better understand their needs and how you can help them. For example, if a prospect is looking to improve their self-image, they may be more motivated by the benefits of your product or service. On the other hand, if a prospect is worried about a potential loss, they may be more interested in the features of your product or service that will help to mitigate that risk.
Some common benefits that prospects are looking for include:
- Improved self-image
- Increased status
- More money
- More free time
- Better health
- Greater satisfaction
- A sense of accomplishment
Some common losses that prospects are trying to avoid include:
- Financial loss
- Loss of time
- Loss of health
- Loss of family or friends
- Loss of status
- Emotional pain
- Physical pain
Once you have identified the prime buying motive of your prospect, you can then begin to address their needs more directly. This will help to build trust and rapport with them, and it will also make it more likely that they will buy from you.
It is also important to remember that people do not always make rational decisions when it comes to buying things. Emotions play a big role in the decision-making process, so it is important to appeal to your prospect’s emotions as well as their logic. For example, if you are selling a new car, you may want to focus on the emotional benefits of the car, such as the feeling of freedom and independence that it will provide. This is not to say that you should ignore the logical benefits of the car, such as its safety features and fuel efficiency, but it is important to remember that emotions play a big role in the buying process.
If you can understand what motivates your prospect to buy, you will be able to better sell to them and meet their needs. Keep the above information in mind when interacting with your prospects, and you will be one step closer to making a sale.
The Power of Probing
Salespeople need to be able to ask the right questions in order to understand their customers’ needs. Asking probing questions is one of the most effective ways to do this, as it will help you to get underneath the surface and learn more about your customer. Probing questions are questions that go beyond the obvious, and they are designed to elicit more information from the customer.
By asking probing questions, you will be able to get a better understanding of what your customer is looking for and how you can help them. This will also help you to build trust with your customer, as they will know that you are interested in helping them to find the best solution for their needs. In addition, probing questions can help you to uncover potential objections that your customer may have, which can then be addressed head-on.
There are a number of different types of probing questions that you can use, including:
1. Clarifying questions:
These questions are used to clarify information that was given in the initial conversation. They help to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that there is no confusion about the customer’s needs.
2. Open-ended questions:
These questions are designed to get your customer talking and sharing more information with you. They allow your customer to share their thoughts and feelings about the product or service that you are selling.
3. Closed-ended questions:
These questions are designed to get a specific answer from the customer. They are less open-ended than open-ended questions, and they are used to gather specific information from the customer.
4. Leading questions:
These questions are designed to steer the conversation in a certain direction. They are used to influence the customer’s opinion or behavior. Salespeople should use caution when using leading questions, as they can easily be perceived as being pushy or aggressive.
5. Neutral questions:
These questions are not designed to influence the conversation in any way. They simply provide an opportunity for the customer to share more information with you.
The key to using probing questions effectively is to listen actively and pay close attention to what the customer is saying. Do not interrupt them or try to steer the conversation in a certain direction; let them talk freely and allow them space to share their thoughts and feelings about your product or service. By doing this, you will be able to gain a better understanding of their needs and how you can best meet them.
Asking Probing Questions
Probing questions are important for understanding a customer’s needs and determining what is motivating them to buy. By asking the right questions, you can get to the heart of the matter and identify any potential obstacles that may prevent them from buying. There are seven types of questions make it easier to identify prime buying motives:
Permission Questions –
These will help you establish trust and rapport. Some examples are below:
Would you mind if I take notes?
Would you mind sharing the details of your current company health plan?
What would you like me to do next?
Is it okay if I make a suggestion?
Can I ask you for some feedback?
Do you mind if I share my thoughts on that?
Situation Questions –
Sales interviews often start with situation questions. These are usually non-threatening questions about the organization’s products or services, company history, plant locations, number of employees, and other data-gathering topics. A typical situation question might be “How long has your organization been in business?”
Asking situational questions is a great way to learn more about the company you’re interviewing with.
Qualifying Questions –
Asking qualifying questions is a vital step in the process of conducting an effective interview. By asking these types of questions early on, you can help ensure that the conversation is heading in the right direction. This can help prevent you from speaking with the wrong person altogether.
Qualifying questions should be specific to what you’re trying to learn. For example, if you’re trying to determine whether someone is the best person to speak to about a certain topic, you might ask them “Is there anyone else who would be better suited to speak to me about this?”
Asking qualifying questions is an important way to gather information and make sure that you’re speaking with the right person. By asking these questions early on, you can help save time and ensure that your conversation is productive.
Challenge Questions –
These will identify areas of dissatisfaction, problems, specific goals that have yet to be attained, or difficulties. It is usually best to use a simple straight forward challenge question such as these examples below:
- What is the greatest challenge you face within your organization?
- How can you improve communication within your team?
- What goal do you have that you haven’t been able to achieve yet?
- How can you better motivate yourself and your team?
- What processes or systems are causing difficulty or frustration within your organization?
- How can you reduce stress and improve work/life balance?
- Are there any areas where you feel like you’re falling behind the competition?
- How can you improve customer satisfaction or retention?
- What is your biggest time management challenge?
Urgency Questions –
As humans, we are creatures of habit. We often get comfortable in our routines and can be resistant to change. However, when we’re presented with a problem or challenge, we’ll usually take action to find a solution.
Urgency questions help the prospect decide to take action on prime motives. Urgency questions are designed to promote satisfaction in the prospect. Used effectively, urgency questions can make the prospect feel uncomfortable with the difficulties presented by our current situation.
An example of an urgency question is, “How much money would the organization lose over the next month if this production process continues?”
When asked an urgency question, the prospect is likely to feel a sense of urgency to find a solution. This can help motivate them to take action and make a change.
High Payoff Questions –
High payoff questions are questions that have a direct relationship to the prime buying motives of your prospect. They are designed to help the prospect provide solutions and benefit-oriented answers.
How can high payoff questions help me close more sales?
Top salespeople use high payoff questions because they know that the average salesperson does not. By using high payoff questions, you can separate yourself from the competition and show your prospect that you are truly interested in helping them solve their problem.
A good high payoff question might be, “So fewer mistakes on your assembly line might cut your material costs by how much?”
Trial Closing Questions –
What is a trial close? A trial close is simply a question asked during the sales process with the intention of gauging the level of interest from the prospect.
Trial closing questions can be used at various points during a sales conversation. For example, after you’ve presented your product or service and outlined the benefits, you might ask “Does that sound like something that would be helpful to you?”
Or, after you’ve built rapport and established trust with the prospect, you might say “Based on what we’ve discussed, it sounds like our product would be a good fit for your needs. Am I right in thinking that?”
Trial closing questions are an essential tool for salespeople because they allow you to gauge the level of interest from the prospect and determine when is the best time to apply a closing technique.
Listening Pays Off
The effort to ask probing questions is largely wasted unless you listen to the prospects’ responses. Careful listening will help you discover your prospects. Prime buying motive big business recognizes the power and the payoff of listening. The top salespeople in any company will tell you that listening has been around a long time, but unfortunately many have forgotten its importance.
Shakespeare said, “give every man thy ear, but fear thy voice”, the Greek philosopher Epictetus observed, “Nature has given to man one tongue but two ears, though we may hear from others twice as much as we speak”. By actively listening to what your prospects are saying, you can gain valuable insights into their needs and motivations. This information can help you close more sales and build stronger relationships with your customers.
Most people only retain about 25% of what they hear. With knowledge and practice, you can double your listening effectiveness and in turn, increase your sales success. But listening does take determination and energy to earn and enjoy the benefits of successful listening.
Some things that can help you become a better listener include:
- Maintain fairly constant and comfortable contact.
- Pay close attention.
- Never interrupt a prospect who’s talking.
- React responsively with a nod of the head smile, eye contact, short verbal responses, and other forms of positive body language.
- Show concern by asking questions about the prospect’s ideas.
- Repeat some of the things the prospect says.
- Avoid rushing the prospect.
- Stay on the subject until the prospect is ready to change.
- Ignore distractions.
- Avoid any distracting mannerisms, such as obsessively writing notes, finishing the speaker’s sentences, cracking knuckles, or clicking a pen.
- Maintain body posture that reflects attentiveness.
- Pay attention not only to facts but also to feelings.
So don’t forget – listening pays off!
Prospects won’t buy from you if they don’t know who you are, what your product is, or how it can help them. In order to increase sales, it’s important that you first get to know yourself and your products inside and out. Once you understand what makes your company unique, it becomes much easier to find prospects that would be a good fit for your products. Additionally, by asking probing questions and listening carefully to the answers, you can uncover the needs and wants of potential customers. By catering to their specific needs, you make it more likely that they will choose to do business with you over a competitor. So remember – in order for sales success, start by knowing yourself, then know your prospects, and probe until you understand their needs!