1. Engage in conversations around situations important to your customer. Remember, you are not making presentations. You are trying to discover a problem you can solve or a need you can fill.
2. Instead of offering opinions, ask relevant questions. Offering an opinion when nobody asked for one can be off-putting to some people.
3. Cultivate a relationship and focus on solutions to your customer’s problems. Gain customer trust by letting the customer know that you will be with them every step of the way to ensure their success.
4. Target decision-makers instead of end-users. A user may want your product, but unless they have the authority to make purchases, you will be wasting time.
5. Promote product usage rather than technology and features. Show the customer how the product works in their environment to their benefit.
6. Cultivate quality relationships to garner quality sales, rather than focusing on sales numbers. It’s harder to maintain a trusting partnership with customers if you are too busy running around trying to please too many different people.
7. Make sure your sales cycle follows the buyer’s timeline. Customers don’t care about your quotas or any bonuses you can get from the sale. If you push too hard and too quickly, you risk losing trust.
8. Don’t try to convince customers to purchase your product or service. Instead, empower them to buy the solution that meets their needs.

‍

When employing a customer-centered methodology, each sale needs to realize one of the following three results:

• The customer’s goal is achieved.
• The customer’s problem or key issue is solved.
• The customer’s need is satisfied.

‍