point in trying to Propose a solution. For one thing, you won’t have sufficient understanding of the requirements. How can you? The client doesn’t even know the requirements at this stage!

The benefits to knowing where your customer is in the buying process are obvious. Let’s say you’ve been asked to provide a solution and, through the use of some cleve

If you ask a customer to explain their buying process, they’ll probably tell you how they put a request for proposal (RFP) together, search for potential suppliers, get a decision process in place, and so on. What they’re describing, of course, is activity. This should not be confused with their actual buying process.

There are four stages that make up the buying process. We all go through them whether we’re purchasing a bar of chocolate or a space rocket. (My own experience has been gained with chocolate bars rather than rockets but that’s neither here nor there.) The only differences are the degree of risk and the time-scales involved. The stages are:

1. Need

2. Requirements

3. Solution

4. Deal

As an expert sales rep, you know that you help your customer agree to a deal by asking questions. The answers to your first questions will tell you which part of the buying process your customer currently occupies. Once you determine where the customer is, you know where you should be from a selling point of view. On the selling side there are four stages that are equal and opposite to the buying stages:

1. Explore the need

2. Define the requirements

3. Propose the solution

4. Close the deal

If your prospect is at the Need stage, for example, there’s not much point in trying to Propose a solution. For one thing, you won’t have sufficient understanding of the requirements. How can you? The client doesn’t even know the requirements at this stage!

The benefits to knowing where your customer is in the buying process are obvious. Let’s say you’ve been asked to provide a solution and, through the use of some clever

s. We all go through them whether we’re purchasing a bar of chocolate or a space rocket. (My own experience has been gained with chocolate bars rather than rockets but that’s neither here nor there.) The only differences are the degree of risk and the time-scales involved. The stages are:

1. Need

2. Requirements

3. Solution

4. Deal

As an expert sales rep, you know that you help your customer agree to a deal by asking questions. The answers to your first questions will tell you which part of the buying process your customer currently occupies. Once you determine where the customer is, you know where you should be from a selling point of view. On the selling side there are four stages that are equal and opposite to the buying stages:

1. Explore the need

2. Define the requirements

3. Propose the solution

4. Close the deal

If your prospect is at the Need stage, for example, there’s not much point in trying to Propose a solution. For one thing, you won’t have sufficient understanding of the requirements. How can you? The client doesn’t even know the requirements at this stage!

The benefits to knowing where your customer is in the buying process are obvious. Let’s say you’ve been asked to provide a solution and, through the use of some cleve

uote> 3. Solution

4. Deal

As an expert sales rep, you know that you help your customer agree to a deal by asking questions. The answers to your first questions will tell you which part of the buying process your customer currently occupies. Once you determine where the customer is, you know where you should be from a selling point of view. On the selling side there are four stages that are equal and opposite to the buying stages:

1. Explore the need

2. Define the requirements

3. Propose the solution

4. Close the deal

If your prospect is at the Need stage, for example, there’s not much point in trying to Propose a solution. For one thing, you won’t have sufficient understanding of the requirements. How can you? The client doesn’t even know the requirements at this stage!

The benefits to knowing where your customer is in the buying process are obvious. Let’s say you’ve been asked to provide a solution and, through the use of some cleve

. On the selling side there are four stages that are equal and opposite to the buying stages:

1. Explore the need

2. Define the requirements

3. Propose the solution

4. Close the deal

If your prospect is at the Need stage, for example, there’s not much point in trying to Propose a solution. For one thing, you won’t have sufficient understanding of the requirements. How can you? The client doesn’t even know the requirements at this stage!

The benefits to knowing where your customer is in the buying process are obvious. Let’s say you’ve been asked to provide a solution and, through the use of some cleve

point in trying to Propose a solution. For one thing, you won’t have sufficient understanding of the requirements. How can you? The client doesn’t even know the requirements at this stage!

The benefits to knowing where your customer is in the buying process are obvious. Let’s say you’ve been asked to provide a solution and, through the use of some clever questions, you discover that the customer has analyzed fully neither their need nor their requirements. You can grasp the opportunity to create a relationship built on trust by helping them to understand their own needs. The alternative is to offer them a Rolls Royce when told they want a car. Good choice, perhaps, but if their budget is for a used VW, just exactly whose time are you wasting?