What Did They Really Buy?
When a customer purchases a single service from your bank, what did they buy?
Did they buy the service because it offered the right benefits at the right price? Or were they shopping for something bigger—a relationship with a financial partner who could assist them in achieving their goals?
If they shopped for a single service, the good news is they bought it from you. The bad news is that you must resell Mr. or Ms. One-off every time they are ready to buy another product. To earn their business, you’ll have to prove once again you’re the best choice among available substitutes.
If the customer purchased a service from you because they were shopping for a relationship, you’re in a much better spot. These customers define value differently. They won’t defect to save
a few pennies and are more likely to stick with you for the long run.
Here's your selling challenge.
To put it another way, how do you figure out which customers want to stop dating and get married?
This is where personal selling helps you identify real opportunities. Put together a list of people buying a single service from you. Call or meet with them in person and ask five questions:
- Why did you decide to purchases from us?
- Are you happy with your choice?
- Are you looking for a partner who can help you accomplish your long-term goals?
- What are your long-term goals?
- What do you believe will stop you from achieving them?
Armed with this information you know more about your customer, understand how they define value and are more likely to sell them something else.
Better yet, your customer knows more about you.
They know you care enough to ask these questions. They know you’re interested in their concerns. Knowing that, it’s far more likely they will want a deeper relationship, even if they were only purchasing a single service to begin with.
If you would like to download a copy of Linda Bishop's "Fresh Approach" newsletter, click the image of the publication below.
- September, 2009 Edition: "Why Did They Really Buy?"
- June, 2009 Edition: "Over 20,000 Opportunities to Sell Are Headed Your Way!"
About Linda Bishop:
Linda Bishop helps financial services organizations and other companies achieve top-line growth through a combination of tools, training and tactics.
During the past two decades of her career, she has been engaged in a wide variety of customer-facing interactions. Her expertise includes all aspects of account acquisition, customer service, account retention, loyalty building, solution and top-down selling, and aligning sales processes with marketing strategies.
Ms. Bishop speaks nationally on sales and customer service topics, and her book, Selling in Tough Times, has been called “timely” by Richard Cosier, Dean of the Krannert School of Business at Purdue University.
Read Linda Bishop's full biography.
For more information, please contact Linda at lindabishop@thoughttransformation.com
Thought Transformation
Thought Leader in Sales Solutions
www.thoughttransformation.com
770-846-3510