Why do customers buy? Because customers have needs.

Why do customers have needs? Because customers have desires.

Why do customers have desires? Because the client is in pain.

Why do customers suffer? Because there is a gap between customers.

Why are there barriers between customers? Because customers have comparisons.

Why do customers compare? Customer comparison or sales staff guidance.

The direct motivation for customers to buy is demand. In this section, I will focus on talking to you about what customer needs are and how to understand and meet customer needs.

First of all, five stories about customer needs.

1. Strict requirements

Because I often do PPT, the worst thing is that the page turning pen used in the report is broken. At this time, I will immediately go online to buy a new page-turning pen. This demand is called rigid demand, which means you have to buy this thing. You need to buy furniture to decorate your house at home, and you need to buy maternity products when you have a baby at home. You need to buy rice and food every day at home. These are all just needed. If you don't buy brand A, buy brand B. If you don't buy it today, you have to buy it tomorrow. It won't take long.

2. Flexible demand

You have a kitchen knife at home and use it to cut vegetables every day. You always want someone to grind it, but you can't find it. At this time, you will want to change for a new one, but you will forget to buy it every time you go to the supermarket. Why? Because this matter is not imminent, it is between exchangeable and non-exchangeable, purchasable and non-purchasable, so it has been dragged on. Until one day, a young man selling kitchen knives put a new kitchen knife in front of you and compared it with yours. Then he said that your kitchen knife should be changed. After seeing his kitchen knife blow hair and break hair, you immediately decided to change it. This demand is called elastic demand, and it must be stimulated by external forces.

3. Implicit demand

Back to the example of buying a page-turning pen, my new page-turning pen broke down in less than a month, which forced me to turn pages manually. It was inconvenient to say it, and I lost face, so I bought an expensive one. But the good times didn't last long. I lost my page-turning pen and asked me to turn pages manually. I felt very embarrassed. So this time I not only bought the most expensive one, but also bought two at a time, just in case something goes wrong. None of the vendors selling flip pens will persuade me to buy two, because they don't know what I do. It was my own idea to buy two page-turning pens, which is my hidden need.

4. Emotional needs

When he takes his children shopping, he always clamors for something to drink. He came across an online celebrity milk tea shop. First of all, he never drank it, because he had heard of it for a long time. Second, he feels ungrounded, because he often talks about family cases. Thirdly, he always has to calm down because his children are noisy. Fourth, because his family had a second cup of milk tea at half price today, I bought two cups. Halfway through, we threw the milk tea into the trash can, because we were really not used to the smell of online celebrities. I didn't buy milk tea because I was thirsty. What is the demand? This is an emotional need. Customer needs are not necessarily functional, but may also be spiritual.

5. Variable demand

My first Apple mobile phone was a contract machine in the business hall, and it was stolen before the contract expired. I went to the business hall and asked, and people said a lot about losing money due to breach of contract, so I had no choice but to buy an Apple mobile phone. When all my friends around me used Huawei, I also bought a Huawei to tell everyone to support domestic products. Huawei is really good. Later, a friend told me to use the Apple X mobile phone, which could be fashionable, so I bought an Apple 8 before the Apple X came out. Later, a group of friends said that Apple was not good, so I bought a Huawei P30. For people who can only use their mobile phones to make phone calls and surf the Internet, I think both Apple phones and Huawei phones are quite good. Customer needs are variable, and brand loyalty is only useful to some people at a certain time, at least for me. This demand is variable.

Second, the three stages of managing customer demand

Make a small mouth in your hand, and you will have the need to buy a band-aid; When the indoor temperature reaches 30 degrees Celsius, you have the need to buy air conditioners. When you feel a little hungry, you have a demand for hamburgers. Are Band-Aids, Air Conditioners and Hamburgers Customers' Needs? No, you made a small incision in your hand. What you need is how to stop bleeding and how not to be infected. The room temperature is over 30 degrees Celsius. How to lower the temperature to make yourself feel more comfortable? I'm a little hungry. What you need is to be able to fill your stomach Band-AIDS, air conditioners and hamburgers are not the needs of customers, but a solution to meet their needs. Why do customers suddenly think of band-AIDS, air conditioners and hamburgers when they have these needs? Because of the customer's life experience and the advertising information he received. Yunnan Baiyao can stop bleeding without a band-aid; No air conditioner, electric fan or cattail leaf fan will do; No hamburger, just a bowl of Lamian Noodles. We often regard customers' requirements as needs. When the customer says a bowl of noodles, we will bring someone a bowl of noodles. The barber's scissors clicked when the customer said to cut my hair. You think you already know the customer's needs, but there is a big difference. This is common sense about customer needs.

1. Identify customer needs

According to Maslow's five-level needs theory, human needs are divided into physiological needs, security needs, social needs, respect needs and self-realization needs.

I want something to eat when I'm hungry, as long as I'm full. This is a physiological need:

I'm hungry and want to eat something. Street shops may not be so clean, but KFC is relatively better. This is a security requirement.

When you are hungry, you want to eat something, and invite good friends to have dinner and chat. This is a social need;

I'm hungry and want to eat something. The service in the restaurant downstairs is so bad that I'd rather go to eat. This is respecting needs:

When you are hungry, you want to eat something, but if you want to lose weight, you will be hungry when you are hungry. This is the need for self-realization.

The lower the demand level, the easier it is to meet, and the higher the demand level, the more difficult it is to meet; The lower the demand level, the more obvious it is, and the higher the demand level, the more difficult it is to find. The lower the demand level, the more variables, and the higher the demand level, the more stable it is.

But it does not mean that the five levels of demand must be from low to high, and the low-level demand should be met first and then the high-level demand should be met. "Honest people are not worth the loss." Real honest people would rather starve than accept charity from others, and this demand suddenly changed from physiological demand to respect demand.

□ Actual combat cases

A company that produces air fresheners has introduced a batch of liquid fresheners to the African market. This kind of refreshing agent has strong fragrance, long duration and low price, but it is not easy to sell after being introduced into the African market. So the company put in a batch of bottled air fresheners. This air freshener has a short fragrance and is expensive, but it sells well. What's the problem? After investigation and study, market personnel found that people who use this air freshener are generally women. After cleaning the house, they pressed the bottle cap of the spray into the air. This kind of behavior has a sense of ritual and gives them a sense of control.

The main function of air freshener is to freshen the air. From the point of view of rational purchase decision, cheap price, fragrant smell and lasting fragrance are the factors to be considered when purchasing, which are to meet the physiological needs and safety needs of customers. But why is the bottled spray robbed when nobody cares about the liquid freshener? It turns out that because of the sense of ceremony and control, you find that the customer is meeting his respect needs at this time. The higher the demand level, the more hidden it is, and of course it can impress customers the most. Low-level needs follow the brain, and high-level needs follow the heart.

2. Reshape customer needs

Can customer needs change? The answer is yes, the customer was going to eat KFC, but was stopped by the steamed stuffed bun seller on the way. At this time, customers are likely to choose to buy two buns directly to solve the problem. How to change and reshape customer needs? In order to make customers change their minds, we first need to manage customer knowledge. What is customer knowledge? It is a cognitive system that customers finally form in their brains according to their past experience and information obtained from other channels. I'll make a more in-depth analysis with you later.

□ Actual combat cases

When my family bought the first car, my wife and I closed it in private. We don't buy Japanese cars, and we are more exclusive to Japanese things. This is our old knowledge. However, after all kinds of comparisons in 4S stores, we finally bought a Japanese car, because it looks good and the key is to save fuel. But until today, you asked me how many liters my car consumes per kilometer and how many liters it saves compared with German cars. I still can't answer you. I was not interested in cars by nature, but when I went to a 4S store for comparison, the clerk of Japanese cars set a standard for me and told me that fuel saving was the most important thing, and he looked professional, so I was successfully brainwashed by him.

What the customer wants is not what he wants. Only by digging deep can we know what he really wants. At the same time, customers' needs are highly plastic, and many customers follow the principle of "simplicity" when making purchase decisions. Just like you always like to go the same way when you come home from work every day, and you always like to eat soybean milk fritters for breakfast every day. Everyone of us likes simple decisions and is too lazy to think about it. So how can we reshape the needs of customers?

I think we can do it from two levels, one is the cognitive level and the other is the experience level. We increase the exposure of brands and products through advertising and event marketing, and tell customers that the traditional lifestyle needs to be upgraded. We are the people who provide this new lifestyle, and we are the solution provider you are looking for. After customers have a certain understanding, they will enter the stage of behavior change. Let customers enter the product trial stage through product experience, free trial and issuing coupons. As long as any kind of sales enters the product trial stage, basically this single business will be stable.

3. Meet the needs of customers

Many salespeople are puzzled. Why can't I make a big order? Why is my transaction always so difficult? One of the most important reasons is that our insight into customer needs is not accurate enough. What the customer buys is not the product at all, but how your product can help him solve the problem. People in marketing guru often say, "We don't sell electric drills, but holes in the wall." What we sell is not steak, but the sizzling sound of steak. ".In the process of sales, if you always talk endlessly about your products and ignore the excavation of customer needs, the result will inevitably be the opposite.

□ Actual combat case:

A reporter was sent to interview a rural model worker, but it rained cats and dogs that day. When we arrived at the interview site, the reporter was soaked to the skin and covered in mud. Seeing the model worker, the reporter said in the first sentence, "I'm soaked in this damn weather." As a result, the model worker refused her interview. Because the local drought has been going on for a long time, this heavy rain is a timely rain, and the farmers are very happy, especially thanking God. As soon as the reporter came up, he complained about rainy days. Of course, the model workers were very unhappy. It is also reasonable to refuse her interview.

In order to meet the needs of customers, we need to think from the customer's point of view first. Only by putting yourself in the other's shoes can we understand what customers really want.

Third, tap the hidden demand and close the deal quickly.

Maslow's five-level demand theory is not isolated. When customers buy, five needs exist at the same time, but everyone's focus is different. If we can grasp the customer's most concerned demand point, the transaction will become much easier. Generally speaking, we call the demand that customers are willing to tell us and can learn quickly explicit demand, while the demand that customers don't tell us and need us to learn implicit demand. We say that explicit needs can be expressed in language, while implicit needs can only be understood.

One of the four great pleasures in life is called "meeting an old friend in another country". I once met a good friend of mine in the street of Chongqing. She went to Chongqing on business and was going back to her hometown to see her little sister.

That evening, she asked me to go shopping and planned to buy two sets of children's clothes. The budget is around 300 yuan. However, after shopping for almost two hours, I went to four or five stores and didn't buy any. We were about to leave in frustration when suddenly we saw a Disney store. As a result, it took the Disney clerk only 65,438+00 minutes to get rid of her easily.

The following description is my true record of the scene at that time. For the convenience of reading, we use C to represent the customer-my friend, and S to represent the salesperson-the clerk of Disney.

□ scene reproduction

S: Hello, ladies and gentlemen. what can I do for you?

C: I want to buy two sets of children's clothes.

S: Beauty, what size clothes do you want to see and what price do you want to see?

C: Oh, one or two years old. I want to buy two sets in 300 yuan.

S: (surprised expression) Beauty, you mean 300 yuan for two sets of children's clothes? I'm really sorry about that. You know that children's clothes are generally expensive nowadays, because children's clothes require high materials, so don't irritate the skin. In our shopping mall, don't say it is difficult for 300 yuan to buy two sets. May I venture to ask why you want to buy two sets in 300 yuan? Can you raise your budget a little?

Comments: Excellent sales staff asked a key question: "Why do you want to buy two sets for 300 yuan?" It is this problem that accurately explores my friend's hidden needs, which not only promotes the achievement of sales, but also speeds up the transaction.

Well, I'm transferring from Chongqing this time. There are two little sisters about my age in my hometown. They each have a child, about one or two years old. I want to bring each of their children a set of clothes as a gift, and the clothes should not be too expensive, just around 150 yuan.

S: Beauty, I see. You don't really want to buy clothes, but you want to bring two gifts for your friend's children, do you?

C: Yes, two friends, one each.

Beauty, let me give you a suggestion. Please listen and see if it is suitable. I don't think it's the best choice for you to send clothes to other children as a meeting gift. First, the clothes are too small, inconspicuous and not atmospheric enough, so hold them in your hand. Second, even if you spend 1000 yuan on clothes, it is difficult to wear them on your body without hurting your skin. And even if the clothes you buy are ok, if the child happens to have itchy skin and a rash, your friends will definitely blame you and think that the clothes you buy are faulty. Third, to tell the truth, beauty, you really can't buy clothes with a budget of 300 yuan in our shopping mall.

Well, you have a point. What should we do?

S: Beauty, our Disney not only sells clothes, but also dolls and toys. I think it's better for you to send clothes than dolls. The doll is big and powerful in your hand. Our Disney is a big brand, and your friends will definitely like it. Seeing that her friend was a little tempted, she took a doll down from the shelf.

S: Beauty, our doll happened to be doing activities today. For each 98 yuan, two dolls only cost 196 yuan, which is less than your budget 104 yuan.

C: OK, OK. Let's pay the bill. We need two dolls.

When I walked out of the store, my friend's excitement was beyond words. She kept saying all the way that this gift was a good choice. This little girl really knows how to sell things. Why didn't I expect to send a doll? Later, my friend called me and said that her little sister was very happy to receive her gift. She felt that the shop assistant had helped her a lot.

My friend wanted to spend 300 yuan on two sets of children's clothes, but it took two hours. It only took the Disney clerk 10 minutes for my friend to buy the doll she recommended. Why? In the final analysis, the salesperson accurately tapped the hidden needs of customers and learned the real reason why my friend wanted to buy clothes, thus realizing the transaction quickly.

To tap the hidden needs of customers, salespeople need to keep in mind three sentences:

The first sentence: what the customer wants is not his real needs, but he should be able to find out what his needs are quickly.

In this case, my friend wants to buy two sets of children's clothes, but under the inquiry of the salesperson, she found that what my friend really needs is not clothes, but two gifts for his children, thus finding the best reason for her to recommend dolls.

The second sentence: it is more important to ask customers "why buy" than "what to buy", and it is also important to ask customers "why not buy".

The key point in deciding the deal is that the salesperson asked, "Why do you want 300 yuan to buy two sets?" It is this "why" that helps salespeople quickly dig out customers' hidden needs. When the customer says "give me a plate of hot and sour potato shreds", the waiter will serve it. And the salesperson will ask: "Sir, why do you want to eat hot and sour potato shreds? If you like hot and sour, why not try our fish with Chinese sauerkraut? "

The third sentence: I know what the customer doesn't know, and I can say it accurately.

We often talk about professional sales, so what is professional? You know much more about your field than a layman, and your suggestions can be accepted and adopted by the other party. It is also important to turn professional sales language into a language that the other party can understand. In this case, the advice given by the salesperson is well-founded and very convincing. My friend was obviously not as professional as a shop assistant when choosing gifts, and finally accepted her suggestion.

Four, three ways to tap the hidden demand

Since there is such a big difference between explicit demand and implicit demand, only by understanding the implicit demand of customers can we close the deal, so how to tap the implicit demand of customers?

1. From big to small

Simply put, it is to learn to ask customers more details. Only by knowing more details can we grasp the real purchasing motivation of customers and recommend the most suitable products. When I was training jewelry enterprises, I once organized everyone to do an exercise. The topic is: "A man and a woman walked into a store, and the woman took a fancy to a product, but the man kept saying that he was dissatisfied and didn't like it. What should I do? " After discussion, we all agree that this problem is not suitable to be solved by words, because you don't know what the real reason of this male customer's objection is, so the best and safest way is to understand the reasons why he said he didn't like it and was dissatisfied. If this gentleman keeps saying that he is not satisfied, there may be the following reasons:

(1) He is really knowledgeable and doesn't like it;

(2) He just thinks that this product is too expensive, because it is difficult to explain because of its bad face;

He has already planned to buy other people's products for his girlfriend.

There are many possibilities behind the same objection, and the salesperson just wants to get to the bottom of it. Digging customer needs from big to small, we must ask more detailed questions. For example, you can continue to ask customers, "Sir, can you tell me what you are not satisfied with?" ? Is it the style of the product or the purity of the diamond? "

2. Push from near to far

What if the customer wants to buy paint products, but is a little hesitant about the price? The obvious demand of customers is to paint their homes more beautifully without spending too much money. However, if we continue to ask customers whether they want to paint their homes beautifully, whether they want to live comfortably by themselves, or show them to others, the customers will say that of course they are comfortable, and the home will always be for themselves. If you live comfortably, you should not only look at the beauty, but also pay attention to environmental protection. If the products you buy cheaply are not environmentally friendly, it will do harm to your life and health. Sister Shen, who sells waterproofing, said that she often used the "intimidation sales method" with her customers and told them that waterproofing was a hidden project. None of the waterproof products you buy now are good. What should I do if something happens in the future? Then she began to ask about the brands of your tiles and bathrooms, and how much it would cost to dress a bathroom. Finally, in order to save two or three thousand dollars for waterproofing. In the case of waterproof problems, tile bathrooms will have to be destroyed and rebuilt. How much will it cost? So for the sake of safety, don't keep it in the wrong place.

3. Get rid of the false and keep the true

Customers generally don't want to tell you what they really think, so salespeople should have enough insight to judge whether customers are lying. When excavating customers' hidden needs, we should not only listen to what customers are saying, but also observe how they do it, such as his eyes, walking speed, standing posture and so on. If a person is always deliberately polite enough in the process of communicating with you, either he is a truly educated person (which is very easy to judge) or he doesn't want to buy it at all. The more enthusiastic you are, the more he feels sorry for you.

■ Deliberate practice

Please remember three sentences about tapping the hidden needs of customers. We will summarize and analyze the orders that have not been closed, and we also need to summarize and analyze the orders that have been closed. Have we asked customers about their hidden needs and the opportunities and possibilities of turning small orders into big ones?