Buzznet

It is a marketing theory that states buyer purchase behavior relies on an individual’s mental process that involves resolving five specific issues – need, product, source, price, and timing. In other words, a buyer will always consider the product from their own point of view. However, this is where brand marketers can present positive concepts and in turn manipulate customer perceptions.

In the past, sales teams were trained to focus on the product, without giving much thought to the customer’s perception of an item, how it would benefit their lives, or provide a convenience, etc. In the past few years, the trend has been for sales people to be engaged in conversations with prospective customers where the salesperson does more listening and less talking. This provides important clues that leads to opportunities for salespeople to suggest products or services that will benefit the customer based on the job they do, a certain lifestyle, hobby, or interest.

However, not all prospects are willing participants and will display fairly predictable resistance, which is most times fueled by suspicion. They fear that anything said by a salesperson is solely to sell them a product they do not need. This is where some salespeople fail in their attempt to help customers become aware of a need.  The key to making a sale is in understanding the customer better than your competitors.