I am still hearing frequently it is considered “tone deaf” to try to drive a sales opportunity forward with many customers. Consistent with this theme, Avi Smith-Rappaport, President of We Care Computers in West Hartford, CT has been asking business colleagues and friends “Do you have everything you need?” Avi recently told me this question has generated some great conversations and insight into what people are concerned about. Here is how you may want to leverage Avi’s great idea.
How to ask the question
Most questions salespeople ask should be OPEN ENDED (questions starting with who, what, when, where, why…). Let’s modify Avi’s question slightly…then lots of great questions can form from there:
- I know you are facing some significant challenges, what do you need?
- In order to get through this month, what do you need?
- What do you need in order to complete your top priority projects?
- Who else may need the same type of assistance?
- Who in your company would you like one of our executives to contact to see what else we can do to help?
Remember, you are not trying to sell anything. There is no agenda here.
Who to ask
If your company is in the position to help your customers with any of the difficulties they are facing, I encourage you to use this approach with contacts you already work with AND those you may have struggled to reach previously.
Make a list of key contacts in your customers. Decide who you will call and orchestrate with your management for them to call other contacts as you deem appropriate.
Customers will remember your effort
Whether or not your company actually gets something done for your customers, they will remember the effort. Your customer will start to think of you more as a partner than a vendor. Thank you Avi for inspiring some great questions!
Feel free to contact me directly for ideas and/or help on this or other topics!
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We Care Computers is a locally owned, Managed Services Provider (MSP) and full-service technology services company based in West Hartford, Connecticut. We service clients from all over Connecticut and western Massachusetts.
Feel free to contact We Care Computers at 860-836-4191.