AIM Archives - Tag: problems

How to use the top selling question in new product development.

340-Top-Questions

In the landmark book, SPIN Selling, Neil Rackham’s research on 35,000 sales visits found the best salespeople engage customers in discussions about their problems. Consider your own stage-and-gate process: After Concept Development, Feasibility, Development, and Scale-up, your best salespeople ask customers, “What problems are you facing?” Why not pull this question to the front end and ask it before developing your product? This engages customers in a genuine manner and starts the “selling process” before you have something to sell. See video at www.vocforb2b.com.

More in article, The Missing Objective in Voice of Customer Interviews

If you start selling your new B2B product when you launch it, you’ve started too late.

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Research shows top sales professionals ask customers questions such as, “What problems are you facing?” Why not ask this before you develop a new product —not just afterwards? Such questions engage, so customers are often “half-sold” by your launch date. And their answers let you create much better new products. So… one question, two benefits.

More in Leader’s Guide Videos Lesson 17, Engage your B2B customers