The other day I was talking to my Dad about work. He’s in Real Estate and sells new homes in a community. His community is simple. No community fees, no maintenance fees and/or and additional fees. It also comes with what my Dad calls 3 types of amenities. None. Nada. Nothing. So, when he had a customer come in who was interested in buying but asked if there was a tennis court, he was faced with a roadblock. Or was he? So often as sales professionals we hear a question from a buyer that throws us off if we know we can’t accommodate them. The issue is we assume that these roadblocks are needs vs them being wants. Is there a difference? Webster’s Dictionary defines a need as “ necessary duty“ and a want as “to have a strong desire for “. After further discovery, my Dad was able to identify that the customer in fact wanted a tennis court but didn’t need it. He was only able to do this by asking the right questions and helping the customer identify what was really important to them. A result of my Dad helping the customer through discovery was a sale and two referrals – which happened to be friends of the buyer in her tennis league. So, the next time you hear a question and/or concern from a customer, try and understand it. Through discovery and asking the right questions find out if it’s a need or a want.
Jaime Marco is the owner and President of Evolve Business Consulting. Jaime is a graduate of the University of Central Florida in Orlando and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Interpersonal Communications. Jaime has an established, comprehensive, and proven background in sales, branding, training & development, leadership coaching, facilitation, change management, business development and professional speaking – experience that she has cultivated over many years.
