Key Principals Of Customer-Centric Selling

Introduction 

The game of sales has changed over the years, and it is no longer the same as it once was. Technology transforms the way businesses do business as well as the way consumers behave. This means that the old sales techniques will no longer be effective. There seems to be an endless amount of new methodologies coming out every day that promise to improve the results of sales means, given its ever-changing but continuous importance. 

No matter what industry or field you are in, there is always some magic ticket that people look for to boost their sales. 

Customer-centric selling allows you to enhance the clients who matter and builds strong, sustainable relationships that will anchor your revenue stream for years to come. 

What Is customer-Centric Selling? 

Having a client-centric approach enables you to elevate your customer and empathize with their needs throughout the entire sales process and bring them value. The ability to adapt to the individual circumstances of the customer is that you foster a two-way dialog with them, adjust to their timeline, and act as their greatest ally in solving their problems. When you help people, you help create a better world on a grand scale, which is what you are striving for. 

It has been reported that 80% of customers believe that a company’s experience provides to customers is as important to them as its products and services, according to the Salesforce State of the Connected Customer Report. Additionally, 95% of respondents say that if they trust a company, they are more likely to stay loyal to them in the future. It is easier to gain your customer’s trust if you focus on what you can do for them rather than what you can sell them. 

Elements of Customer-Centric Selling 

• Don’t offer opinions, but rather ask relevant questions. Some people find it offensive to give their opinions when nobody asks for them. 
• Consider what matters to your customer when engaging in a conversation. Keep in mind that you are not giving a presentation. You’re trying to find a need that can be satisfied or a problem that can be solved. 
• Rather than focusing on features and technology, promote the use of the product. Demonstrate how the product will benefit the customer in their environment. 
• Focus on your customer’s problems and cultivate a relationship with them. Ensure your customer’s success by letting them know you will be there with them every step of the way. 
• Decide-makers should be targeted rather than end-users. Even if a user wants your product, you will be wasting your time if they do not have the authority to purchase it. 

• Follow the buyer’s timeline when planning your sales means cycle. Sales quotas and bonuses don’t matter to customers. Overextending yourself and pushing too quickly can lead to distrust. 
• Focus on cultivating quality relationships rather than sales numbers to generate quality sales. When rushing around trying to please too many people, it’s hard to maintain a trusting partnership with your customers. 
• Your product or service shouldn’t be sold to customers by trying to convince them; rather than forcing them to buy a solution that doesn’t meet their needs, empower them to buy what works for them. 

It is imperative that every selling is achieved by one of three outcomes when utilizing a customer-centered methodology: 

• Goals are achieved for the customer 

• Problems or key issues of the customer are resolved 
• Satisfying the customer’s needs 

You should walk away from the up-selling meaning of your product or service if it does not achieve any of these three results after the sale of your product or service is completed. Taking a step back and communicating trust can be a great way to build a good relationship. As soon as that same customer realizes you have something that will fill their needs or solve their problems, they will be more likely to engage with you in the future. 

Why Is Customer-Centric Selling Important to Your Business? 

In today’s world, there are more choices for customers (and more information about the choices they make) than ever before. In order to stand out from the crowd, you must understand your client’s needs, goals, and challenges. In order to develop a successful, long-term relationship with your customers, you must approach the sales process with the idea of finding out how you can help them. 

You must adopt a customer-centric strategy if you want your business to succeed and survive. 

The following are some of the benefits that customer-centered selling offers: 

• You can create strong, flexible, and personalized customer experiences if you place your customers at the center of all the interactions you have. 
• Providing great customer service ensures that customers return to you when they need business solutions. 
• Customer loyalty is based on an established level of trust. 

• Customer loyalty, trust, and strong relationships increase the likelihood of sales and revenue growth. 

Your efforts should not only be aimed at improving your customer’s experience with the sales means process, but it will also benefit you in the long run. There are a number of benefits for you as well as for your business by doing so. 

How Do You Build a Customer-Centric Sales Process? 

Customer centricity requires your sales team to evolve the way they interact with customers. Work to integrate the customer experience into the entire pre- and post-sale experience by consciously putting your sales team in your customers’ shoes every day. The sales department can catalyze to ensure that customers enjoy a more positive future when alignment exists at each stage of the client’s relationship and throughout the organization as a whole. 

The following key principles can serve as a guideline for your team’s approach to sales management. A company’s customers and employees can benefit greatly from these big takeaways. 

Steps to Build a Customer-Centric Sales Process 

Let’s go through the steps to build a customer-centric sales process in detail: 

Foster Empathy for the Customer 

Recruiting a sales force with a good skill set should be the first step for any sales leader. Creating a customer-centric team can hinder stereotypes about which personalities perform better. 

Your organization will benefit from hiring people who are empathic if you’re integrating client-centric selling. The best salespeople prioritize the needs of their customers rather than their own. Similarly, their team is elevated as the main asset in transforming customer challenges into assets. 

Lead With Curiosity in Every Interaction 

Curiosity allows salespeople to become one with their client’s goals. Therefore, it shouldn’t be a surprise that 82 percent of the best salespeople are curious about their field. Instead of forcing their vision on others, the professionals will determine whether they’re the right fit for the team. 

An ideal salesperson asks intelligent, insightful questions to determine how they can help. No matter what you’re selling, whether it’s a cloth or an application, you need to chip away at its root cause to solve a problem. 

Empower a Customer in Overcoming Challenges 

What do you want to accomplish when you engage in a sales conversation? Does it serve the purpose of hitting quotas or of empowering your customers? During sales conversations, most people feel pressured due to the inherent pressure that they experience. Most customers feel repelled in a conversation where pressure is applied without prioritizing a customer’s needs. 

In order to solve problems, salespeople need to be able to guide prospects through the process with openness and expertise. Instead of selling a product, empowering a customer to solve an issue sets a different tone in a sales conversation. When customers are unable to make the needed changes themselves, the client-centric salesforce needs to be willing to walk away. 

When a bad fit is forced through, tension develops within the organization, making post-sales team members unable to fulfill their promises. 

Align With Shared Values and Voice 

Increasingly, customers make purchasing decisions aligned with their values as they become more aware of how they invest resources. 

2/3rd of consumers will buy a brand or boycott it based on its political or social stance. People’s buying habits are changing because they believe companies can effect positive change more effectively than governments. By embracing this new dynamic, brands are forced to position their values beyond their interests. 

The customer’s voice and values must be reflected in every aspect of the company to be customer-centric. 

Create One Continuous, Excellent Customer Experience 

The customer experience can be divided into two parts: pre-sales and post-sales. A dynamic customer experience begins with seamless sales. 

As a result of aligning with the second philosophy, client-centric selling works so well. Customer experience is integrated with marketing and product development when you focus on the entire customer experience. 

To unlock revenue and enable sales means to do their job, you must create a delightful customer experience. Referrals have even greater power when you follow through. 

Benefits Of customer-centric Selling: 

Let’s understand some of the key benefits of customer-centric selling in detail: 

• Learn How the Customer’s Journey Begins, Continues, and Ends 

In order to achieve customer centricity, businesses must understand how customers move through relationships with them and how they buy products and services. Each of these relationships has a before, during, and after phase. To succeed in a relationship, as well as to create value in specific transactions, we must meet human needs at each of these stages. 

• Improve Customer Service and Reduce Costs 

Increasing customer satisfaction and reducing costs can be achieved by ensuring their customers are set up successfully and understand their new purchases or contracts. A modern product or service is complex. A new thing cannot provide value to customers until it works as promised. However, so many businesses disappear after making a sale. If this strategy is followed, customers will either need additional support or resent the fact that they are spending money on something they don’t need. 

• Learn How to Improve Your Business by Understanding Your Ex-customers 

It is possible for businesses to retain customers by understanding why customers leave. People who leave a company often disappear from the company. You and the person who left can both benefit from understanding why they left. Knowing what needs to be improved will show you care and may prompt them to consider you in the future. 

• Ensure Customers Are Highly Valued by Helping Them Make Significant Changes 

Increasing customer satisfaction and value requires businesses to understand and respond to changing circumstances. Customers’ needs increase when their circumstances change – whether they move home or grow their business. It is important for businesses to support their employees through this change. Goals won’t be achieved if they don’t do so. 

Conclusion 

Customers are put first when companies go beyond traditional sales strategy. In order to establish meaningful relationships that transcend transactional agreements and empower sustainable growth, a customer-centric approach should be incorporated into each aspect of a company, and not just sales. 

Now you have a clear view of the important principles of customer-centric selling. If you are willing to brush up on your concepts or begin your career in the domain of Sales Management, then you need to check out UNext Jigsaw’s Executive Program in Strategic Sales Management.