Needs Analysis
To sell, you need one thing above all else: information about the buyer. You need his motives and reasons for buying. The leading actor in the conversation is the customer, not the salesperson! You need to steer the conversation with targeted questions and listen actively. Only then can you formulate the product benefits and create a tailor-made offer. Avoid starting to present your products without knowing exactly what your customer needs. Keyword: Technical idiot beats customer to death!
If you sell more complex technical products in the B2B business, you often have to demonstrate them to the customer on-site. In this case, conducting the needs analysis before the demo appointment is essential. Either during the appointment or in a separate meeting. These days, this can often take the form of a video call. Your customer may be able to show you pictures or videos of the components to be tested, or you may be able to illustrate the differences between different product lines better. Driving to a customer site only to find that you don’t have the right equipment with you is highly frustrating for both parties.
The Fundamentals of Needs Analysis
Great salespeople know how to turn a need, i.e., a customer’s desire or goal, into a desire for a product or solution. To do this, however, you must know the exact need. Use open-ended questions to get to know the customer and their background. Try to understand their goals and plans with procurement. It is essential to clarify any ambiguities. Sometimes, you will find that your customer has not thought everything through. Give them the time to do so, even if you find a “minute of silence” in the sales pitch uncomfortable. At this point, you are well on your way to discovering their real motivations for buying. The following points can serve as a rough guide during the conversation:
- What products or processes are currently in use?
- What is the current workflow?
- What has caused the customer to want to make changes?
- What is important to them in the future?
- What are their expectations for the product?
- How much money does the customer have to spend on the redesign?
- Should it be purchased, financed, or leased?
- What lead times can the customer accept?
- What are the next steps?
Make a note of what the customer says during the meeting. This will allow you to summarize the points made later and show that you care.
Do not be satisfied with the first answer you get from your interviewer. Keep asking questions until you really understand their motives. As Stephen R. Covey writes in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”: “Seek first to UNDERSTAND, then to be understood. First understand, then be understood! In this chapter, Covey teaches how to first listen respectfully, reflect, and ask clarifying questions. Only then can you communicate your intent and personal purpose.
Choice of words in the needs analysis
You want to be perceived as severe when you talk to the customer. You want to build trust in you and your solutions. Your choice of words is essential.
Eliminate negative or vague words from your vocabulary:
“perhaps”, “possibly”, “under certain circumstances”, “possibly”, “if it is possible”, “it can be”, “if applicable”, “it would be conceivable”, “quasi”, “as good as”, “to some extent”.
Instead, please often use words like
“enhance” “promote” “increase” “augment”
“extend” “improve” “upgrade” “grow”
Or:
“lower” “save” “facilitate” “minimize”
“diminish” “reduce” “downsize” “facilitate”
And:
“support” “maintain” “help” “be of assistance”
“lend a hand” “be useful” “promote” “contribute”
Possible Interview Process for Needs Assessment
Preparing for the Interview
As described at the beginning of this chapter, you will need information about your contact person and their company or employer. You will also need to have some knowledge of the industry.
You must enter the interview relaxed and confident. Your interviewer will know if you don’t have time for them, are not focused, or don’t believe in your product. Negative attitudes affect your body language. Your interviewer will notice this subconsciously. Arrive early and take time before the meeting to collect yourself and get in a positive mood!
Throughout the meeting, you should never lose sight of one thing: Your goal is to sell!
Opening Phase
Small talk or no small talk? My recommendation: Let the customer decide. Wait and see if the customer starts small talk after the greeting. If he invites you to make small talk, be open and interested. Be curious and interested! If done well, small talk can earn you some brownie points. In some cultures, it is not acceptable to open the door directly. Keep this in mind if your counterpart is of a different nationality.
Small talk is about give and take. Avoid not only asking your contact questions but also revealing something about yourself. Build a relationship with them on a gut level. The customer will realize that you are interested not only in the business but also in them as a person. This builds trust – which is the most significant competitive advantage. To do this, address the person by name more often, which immediately creates a more personal feeling. This is a good starting point for a deeper conversation. Ensure your questions are related to the other person’s answers, and do not judge.
If you bring up topics on your initiative, do so with genuine interest. Is there a hot topic on the home page? Is there construction going on locally or a special building? Avoid topics like politics, money, and religion! The same goes for ethnicity, illnesses, or derogatory remarks about those present. You risk getting into a confrontation or at least putting your foot in your mouth. Both should be avoided at all costs!
Here is an (incomplete) list of possible small talk questions:
- How long have you worked here?
- What did you do before?
- Where did you study?
- How far do you live from work?
- What are your hobbies?
- How do you like the area/city?
- Is there anything in the region/city that I should see?
- Do you have any suggestions on where to go for dinner tonight?
Small talk often takes place on the way from the factory gate to the actual meeting place. Keep your eyes open, and you will always find something to talk about. Most people take pride in their work and enjoy talking about it. You have scored your first point if you can give appropriate and honest praise.
After the small talk, begin the needs analysis by announcing the content of the interview and asking permission to ask a few questions. This will allow you to take the lead in the conversation. For example:
“At EVIDENT, we have an extensive product portfolio in the field of microscopy. I want to ask you two or three questions to determine what is right for you. Is that okay with you?”
Ask the right questions
Quality questions are an essential key to success because the question’s quality influences the answer’s quality! You can find information about the different questioning techniques and their preferred use here. You can work towards a later conclusion right at the beginning of the needs analysis. To do this, you must tailor the question to the expected goal. For example:
“What do you expect from our microscopes so that you can say in a few weeks that the investment was worthwhile? What do you need them to do?”
Repeating the question reinforces the effect and encourages the customer to think about that point. It is important to pause and let the customer think.
Sending the customer on a “mental journey” into the future is an excellent way to start a needs analysis. Ask them to think about what your products can do for them. In the subsequent discussion, the general “could do” must be transformed into a “will do” for them personally or for their company that is tailored to their needs. Otherwise, you will get nowhere, especially with products that require explanation. The demand must first be created for many specialties and applications of your complex products before the customer can benefit from them.
Possible examples to send your customer on a mental journey are
- Imagine that …
- What if …
- Can you imagine that …
- Suppose you were to …
Keep the conversation going
Do not interrupt your customer when talking about their needs or the specific application of your products. If you have questions about what they are saying, write them down for later.
Keep the conversation going by following up. Don’t be satisfied too soon. Often, it takes repeated questions to uncover the customer’s real needs because they are not completely clear. Good phrases are:
- “What else do you expect?”
- “What else is important to you?”
- “What else can you think of?”
Don’t ask rhetorical questions, and never answer questions yourself! You may embarrass the other person by assuming knowledge that is not there.
Example: “You do know that you need the lambda plate to look at the Barker etching, don’t you?” Would you like to admit that you don’t know that?
Bring in expert knowledge
If the customer has run out of information, you must add your ideas to the conversation. This is where your expertise comes into play. For example: “For other customers in your industry, it is also important that the probes of the borescopes do not leave micro-scratches in the polished tubes. Is this important to you?”
When you ask your counterpart about current problems, you should always start with a reference to someone else. For example, your contact uses outdated software: “We know from some customers in your industry that the lack of security updates for Windows XP systems is causing IT problems. How are you dealing with this?”
This way, you avoid the interviewer feeling directly criticized. You should also end each idea with a question and get feedback. That way, you always know where you stand in the interview. Never give up too early! Keep going until you are sure your offer is ideal for the customer.
Avoid Misunderstandings – Clarify the Unknown
Misunderstandings can quickly arise when talking about complex technical products. This is especially true when you use industry acronyms that your counterpart may not be familiar with because they are new to the subject. So try to avoid them.
However, there are other communication pitfalls that can quickly lead to misunderstandings. Different communication models illustrate this. At this point, I would like to mention the sender-receiver model briefly:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sender-Empf%C3%A4nger-Modell.svg
The following quote summarizes the problems: Thought is not said, said is not heard, heard is not understood, understood is not wanted, wanted is not done, done and wanted is not done, and done is not maintained.
(The scheme’s source is disputed, attributed to various people, including Paul Watzlawick and Konrad Lorenz).
So, you need to clarify customer statements. Here is an example for delivery time:
- “You should be able to deliver quickly!”
- “How soon do you expect delivery?”
- “No later than two weeks!”
- “That means if we deliver by ….., is that okay with you?”
Tom DeMarco wrote about this in his book The Deadline:
“It’s not what we don’t know that gets us down; it’s what we mistakenly think we know.”
As described above, do not interrupt the person you are talking to. Take notes and clarify the details and ambiguities now. If you are unsure you have understood a statement made by the other person, actively ask!
Summarize and prioritize statements
Work actively with the information you have received so far! To do this, review the information first: “To be sure that I have noted everything correctly: So it is important to you that … and …! Is this complete?”
Also, always ask for the client’s approval at this point in the needs analysis. This way, you actively involve the customer and ensure you are not making false assumptions.
You’ll also repeat uncomfortable points and not let anything fall by the wayside. It shows competence and honesty! You can be sure that your interviewer will pick up on this, and you will end up addressing the objection directly.
Try to focus on the key points: “Of the points you just mentioned, which one is most important to you?” Now wait and give the customer time to respond. Then, ask more questions: “What else is very important to you?”
Emotional reasons
When selling technical products, salespeople tend to underestimate emotional reasons. Yet they play a significant role in your buying behavior. Do you buy your new car for rational reasons only? And where do you prefer to buy? From the dealer who gives you the best facts and technical details about the model, or from the salesperson you trust? Why do you buy your car from this particular dealer and not another?
We are human and make almost all decisions based on our gut. That is, our emotions override our logic. Advertising for many everyday products tries to appeal directly to this emotional level. For you as a seller of technical products, this means that people do not buy numbers, data, and facts but solutions to problems and security. You must be able to evoke these emotions in your sales pitch.
In his book “Secrets of Closing the Sale”, trainer and author Zig Ziglar writes in the chapter “Characteristics of the Professional Salesperson”:
“First, he must clearly understand that logic makes people think, but emotion makes them act.”
Behind every argument that the other person considers essential, there are emotions. Behind the most important ones, the biggest ones!
Question those emotional reasons. It could be the joyful expectation of an improvement or the desire to avoid pain lest something undesirable happen. Example:
Salesperson: “You just said that reliable and timely delivery is critical to you. Why is that so important to you? Have you ever been disappointed in this regard?”
Buyer: “On another order some time ago, we could not complete an order on time due to the late delivery of a measuring device. As a result, we had to pay a large penalty. It was very painful for our company.”
You will find that the person you are talking to is often unaware of the emotions behind their statements! If you can get to this level and (unconsciously) reassure the customer that you are avoiding these emotions (in the case of pain) or satisfying them (in the case of joy), you are well on your way to closing the deal.
Preparing for the Close
This is where good salespeople differ from bad ones. When it comes to closing a deal, confidence is one of the keys to success. Less confident salespeople often get nervous when the price is asked. But after a suitable needs analysis, there is no reason for this. Your goal was not to have a pleasant conversation but to sell – and your counterpart knows it. He invited you because he needs something!
Until now, we have not demonstrated a product to the potential customer yet, but we can already prepare the deal. Ask for the order by referring to the points identified in the summary and prioritization. Example:
“I have a question: if I can fulfill arguments 1, 2, and 3 with our product within your budget, am I your partner? Will we work together?”
YES => Present the product!
NO => Find out the reasons!
By asking this question early, you create clarity and commitment from the start. There is no reason to spend time on a product presentation if the person you are talking to is not seriously interested in buying.
Work through these points during the presentation and always get immediate confirmation from your counterpart. If you meet all the expectations mentioned, you can return to the final question you asked earlier. With every positive feedback during the presentation, the customer is selling your product to himself.
At this point, just a quick digression on price negotiation: Discounts are commonplace in sales, but they must not be part of the sales tactic from the start because giving discounts quickly reduces your margin. After a suitable needs analysis, you can assume that your offer is precisely tailored to your customer and satisfies their buying motives. If your product has these characteristics, a discount is not necessary. The basic rule for closing a sale is: first the value, then the benefits, and finally the terms and price.
Summary – the central theme of your needs analysis
It still needs to be written 🙂
Practical Tip: The Needs Analysis Form
Prepare a template to guide you through the needs analysis specific to your products. Use it to jot down your customer’s answers and priorities during the meeting. During your product presentation, go through the requirements point by point. After each confirmation from your customer, place a prominently displayed checkmark behind the fulfilled requirement. Ask the customer to make a copy at the end of the meeting. Take this with you and leave the original with the customer.
Not only does the form help you maintain a good structure for the conversation, but it also differentiates you from your competitors and leaves a lasting impression. This is especially true if your contact must internally argue for the purchase decision. Your form is then their internal argumentation aid.