The Disturb Factor

In sales, much time, money and effort has been spent trying to figure out what makes people buy. Simply put, people buy when they’re disturbed enough by their current situation and they realise a need to change it.

Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? What this statement really means is that when things are not going the way you want them to, you need to do something to change that.  In a sales situation, this means buying something that will help things run smoothly again.  Let’s look at an example.

Customer:  My printer is broken.  I need a new one.  (Nothing disturbing about this.) Salesperson:  What’s it doing?  (Do they really need a new printer? Let’s find out a bit more…)

Customer:  It keeps telling me I have a paper jam when I really don’t. (Slightly disturbing, but printers break down all the time for all sorts of reasons.  Let’s find out what’s personal about this situation to this customer….)

Salesperson:  Hmmm. That sounds annoying. (Show a little empathy, let them know you understand and relate) How does that make you feel? (Tap into their emotions)

Customer:  It’s driving me crazy.  (Now we’re getting somewhere…)

Salesperson:  How do you mean? (Asks for more information...)

Customer:  Well, I have to drag the printer out from under the desk, turn it around, open up the back and then immediately close it again, just to fool the printer that I’ve cleared the non-existent paper jam! I’m sick of it! (Disturbed!)

Why disturb them at all? After all, the customer already knew they needed a new printer when they came into the shop.

Being aware you need a solution is not the same as taking action to get your solution.  Before we raised their disturb factor, this customer could have happily browsed all of your printers and then gone next door and browsed theirs.  Raising the disturb factor encourages them to take action and buy something right now to fix their problem.

How do you disturb someone enough to make them want to take action?  Ask the right disturbing questions! I also call them “Wake-up Call questions” because that’s what they do. The aim is to tap into the customer’s feelings because ultimately their purchase will be based on emotion.  “How does that make you feel?” “…..and how did you feel about that?” “What did your boss/wife/partner/colleague think about that?” “What do you think will happen if you don’t fix that?” then follow up with requests for more information…”How do you mean?”  “What happened then?”

At this point in the sale, the customer is fully aware of their need to purchase a new printer and because they’re now disturbed enough, they will take action by purchasing from the first person they trust will offer them a satisfactory resolution to their problem.  The key word here is “TRUST” and in order to build it, you would continue with more questions to find out exactly what kind of printer will suit their particular situation.

Knowing the right questions to ask and when to ask them is crucial to sales success.  No other single factor…. not handling objections, nor closing techniques… has more of an impact on the sale than asking appropriate questions at the right time and in the right sequence. It means the difference between making the sale and losing it.