Understand the Environment your customers live and work in
When it comes to selling and persuasion it is super important to understand the environment your contact is living and working in.
You need to be able to understand what they are thinking and feeling and how your idea, product or offer can, might or will add value to their life.
We talk a lot about the 7C’s of knowledge – these are useful headings under which you can gather your knowledge together and also understand where your depth or breadth of knowledge is weakest.
If you have the right mindset and Attitude, this gives you the opportunity to work on these areas to bring them up to ‘par’.
The 7Cs of knowledge:
Country:
This could also be focused down to your local geography. What’s going on in the immediate world of your contact. I like to think about ‘country’ in terms of PESTEL – what’s happening Politically, Economically, Socially, Technologically, Environmentally, and finally Legally – these things change slowly and have a big impact on how the world works.
Company:
Your company – how it is financed, when is it’s year end, how many employees – if you want a bigger list there is a free resource available here [link]
Customer:
All the things above – anything you could possibly know about the customer you are dealing with and the contact who buys from you.
Channel:
Which channels do you service – these are the Routes to Market that your product, idea or offer are available in – you need to know their size, their reach, how many there are, revenue, profit, support – how they reach their consumers, how they operate?
Category:
What categories within the channel does your idea, product or offer available, what profit, what turnover, how is it presented, what is the competition, what drives the consumer purchase in this category.
Consumer:
Who uses your idea, product or offer, what else could they chose? What is their state in terms of PESTEL [see earlier definition] Age, Gender, History, Future, Lifestyle, Dependents, Disposable income, pressures, and how are all these changing currently and how might they change in future.
Competition:
All that you know about your own company you need to know about these guys, what pressures are they facings, where are they strong, where are their weaknesses, who are their key people, funding, growth, brands, channels, categories, consumers, customers
If you want more explanations there is a free resource available here [link]
Once you have a clear understanding of the environment your contact is working in – it should be easier to ensure that your selling story weaves all the relevant benefits of your proposal – ensuring that the customer sees clearly just how his/her life or business will improve by accepting your deal.
Don’t forget that this display of knowledge of the buyers environment also builds your personal credibility which will mean that the buyer is more likely to take your calls or listen to your proposals on future occasions
This FREE ‘7C’s of Knowledge help sheet’ PDF will help you plan what you need to know and give you lots of suggestions for each heading. It is not exhaustive but designed as a stimulus: The suggestions are designed to cover a multitude of sales, brands and route to market – see if you can adapt any to fit your own needs.
The instructions are included, but if you need more help then please get in touch.