What to do if up to 70% of the sale is being run by the customer online.

Studies have shown that up to 70% of the sales process is done by the customer before they engage with your business, which is a shocking number.

I have attended a number of seminars and read several articles touting the increasing power of the consumer primarily because vast amount of information on the internet.

That being said, the consumer with interest in a product will still want to talk to someone to complete their purchase, so what do I do?

Here are four core recommendations to close business:  

1.  Be a Great Listener

We will engage with customers who arrive with all sorts of information they have attained from the web. 

Whether you speak with them in-person, by phone, via email, or in a chat, listening is about paying attention and caring about everything the customer says or writes.

Stay focused on what they are saying verbally or in their written word, and then carefully and thoughtfully respond to their questions.

2.  Ask Questions

Too often in sales, immediately after we have heard or read what the customer has said, we will be quick to only provide answers to their questions. However, when working with a highly informed customer, don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions of the customer to better understand exactly how you can help.  Be absolutely clear as to what they mean with their requests.

Once I had a customer tell me, “we want to host a VIP event,” regarding an incentive trip they wanted to promote.

Instead of making all kinds of assumptions, we asked detailed questions about specifics for their trip such as, “do you want airport pick up by limo for every winner from their home?”

It turns out that not everyone has the same perception as to what VIP means. Due to our question, this clarification helped us offer a solution that matched what they wanted.

Next- recommendations #3, #4 and the Takeaway