Sales Unlocked: Know Your Sales Direction Filters

Do You Know Your Customers’ and Prospects’ 'Sales Direction' Filters?

Knowing the Sales Direction Filters of your customers and prospects is crucial to increasing your conversions and generating all round improvements in customer relationships. At The Sales Consultancy we think they're vital in business and could not imagine our customer relationships without this knowledge.

So what is a Sales Direction Filter?

Some of you will be motivated towards goals and challenges. If that’s you it’s unlikely that you notice the things that might get in your way…and if you do you just deal with them! You focus on what you want (Towards Filter).

Others amongst you are more acutely aware of the obstacles and problems that get in your way and will develop strategies to avoid or eliminate them! You focus on what you don’t want (Away From Filter).

You will be either motivated towards the carrot or away from the stick. What is it for you?

Whatever it is, the likelihood is that when you are talking to prospects or clients you will be naturally inclined to focus on your preference. Depending on your own ‘towards’ or ‘away from’ inclination you will either talk about solutions and what a relationship with you will do for them…or the problems you will eliminate for them.

What happens when your prospect has the opposite preference to you? There you are, talking about solutions and your prospect is thinking about his problems…or you’re talking about the problems you will resolve for them and your prospect is thinking about what he wants to gain from you.

You may as well be talking a foreign language! You need to focus on their preference in order to gain rapport and identify what it is they really want to buy – gains? or pain relief?.

Ask and Listen. Your clients and prospects will give you clues to their preference in their language.

Ask your clients why they buy from you. Whatever their first answer is ask them why that’s important to them. Do the same for the second and third answers they give. Weigh up the answers. Was every answer about the gains they get (towards)? Or were all the answers all about the pain you relieve for them (away from)? Or a mix?

You will soon start to notice trends in their language as they talk about what they get, or need in a business relationship with you?

Once you have identified their preference be sure that you focus on either the pleasures you will deliver or the pains you will remove. For those that are ‘towards’, you should emphasise their goals and outcomes, promoting the benefits, letting them know you will help them to get what they want. When selling to ‘away from’ people, emphasise what they don’t want and that you can help them avoid what they don’t want. Reassure them that their problems can be decreased or eliminated.

Be sure to use this approach in your written communication too. If you are communicating with more than one person at once be sure to focus on both.

Getting this right is crucial. You will definitely increase your sales by incorporating both approaches.

Leigh Ashton
020 7903 5426
The Sales Consultancy