[743] Understanding Customer Needs

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the authentic Persuasion show. On this episode, I want to replay part of a previous show. Maybe you heard the original full length episode, and this could be a great refresher and reminder, or maybe this is your first time hearing this content, and the timing could be just right to help you leverage authentic persuasion today in your role, no matter what. Here's to your success. This is the authentic persuasion show. [00:00:26] Speaker B: Everybody, everybody thinks of themselves as the hero of the story. We all think we are the center of our own universe, of the universe. We think everything revolves around us. Now, there's people who push that aside. There's people who don't make that a big priority. They don't make it all about themselves all the time. But that amygdala, that survival part of our brain, that. That primal part always is in that mode of where it's all about us. And that's important, right? Because if we don't make it all about us and we screw up, then we die and the game is over, and then our brain and our body is unhappy. So it's doing what it's doing for a very good reason. A lot of times, that's at odds, though, with our society, with our world, with the way things are now in 2021 and how comfortable it is. But our brain is still in, like, the me me survival mode. Like, it's a two year old that wants everything because it thinks everything is about it. If you're watching this, probably not a two year old, but that part of your brain is still in that mode. It's still in, like, this is all about me. When I go somewhere, everything is about me. And the challenge is that everybody thinks that. Or if we assume that everyone thinks that, then everyone is walking around thinking everything is about themselves. And that's kind of what we do. Where this comes into a challenge in sales is when you look at the fact that your customer thinks they are the center of the universe, they think they are the hero of the story. Even if they're struggling, even if things in their life are a literal or figurative Dumpster fire and they're coming to you for help, right? And you are potentially going to help them, they still will think that they are the center of the universe and they are the hero of the story. Even when everything is on fire. Like, no joke. It's so interesting to watch from the outside. Now, what is it that they want? Well, most salespeople come in and think they are the hero as well, because, a, they're human, so they think they're the center of the universe. And b, and this is all of us, myself included. And then b, they, whatever they're selling for them, come their company or for themselves, whatever that might be, they think that that's the most amazing thing ever. And they think that is the hero, right? Like, if I'm selling this program, this program is the hero. It's going to change your life. And this is amazing. And you should be grateful for the honor of dealing with this program. Right. And that's the attitude some salespeople have. Whether that could be absolutely true. But if you have that attitude, it's now at odds, because now what you have is a customer who thinks they're the center of the universe. You have a salesperson in a company who thinks they're at the center of the universe. And then there is a clash. And if we look at all the hero's journeys type mode movies, let's say Star wars, for example, there's only one hero in that movie. There's a hero, then there's a sidekick, and then there's another guy who thinks he's a hero as well. And he turns out to be Darth Vader because he's a hero, but he's made out to be the bad guy. And depending on how you feel, he's the hero. And maybe he's right, maybe he's wrong. It doesn't matter. But he thinks he's a hero. Luke thinks he's a hero. Battles ensue. Your job is to be a guide. If you try to be a hero as well, your customer subconsciously, consciously, mentally, will label you as Darth Vader because they. There can't be two heroes in a story. It's a good, there's the hero, and then there's the villain. Those are the things. So you want to be a guide. That's where we get to the step. That's why I'm setting this up. It's so important to understand that concept, because here we are now at the hope step. This is where you tell yourself, prospect, that prospective customer how they can get up the mountain safely, how they can complete their hero's journey, how they can get out of pain or achieve a goal. And here is where this happens. And it's so important to do it in this process. So remember, we had the rapport. It's about breaking the ice, building the relationship, you know, building that level of warmth. And then you had the empathy, which is the question asking discovery. And the key is to understand and get to know that person, their situation, what they want what they're going after and why. One of the biggest things, and I covered this is you have to know why that person wants or needs what you're selling. Why do they want or need what it is that you're selling? And you need to not finish the empathy step until you have that information. Do not pass go, do not collect dollar 200. Do not move forward until you know that. And again, I talked about this weeks ago, where a lot of people try to rush through that step, the empathy, the question, the discovery, the probing, and they just want to do it as a process and then move forward. The key is, spend as much time as it takes to get the answer to that question I just mentioned.