Brian Duggan is fully aware that no one “needs” what he’s selling.
“Our business is definitely want-based,” said Duggan, who owns Union Place Home Systems + Interior Design, a company that specializes in interior design, audio, video and smart home solutions. “You don’t need the products and services we sell for survival.”
With that understanding in mind, Duggan has adopted a sales engineering approach to doing business. Sales engineering, which is defined as a hybrid of sales and engineering that exists in industrial and commercial markets, relies heavily on technical information and problem-solving to convince buyers to make a purchase.
As Duggan puts it, he’s selling wants by solving needs.
“We’re taking in information from our clients about their needs and putting together solutions in a way that makes sense from an engineering standpoint,” he said. “At the same time, we’re operating in sales mode and showing them a carefully articulated design where everything works together and was chosen for a reason. That’s where they can then say ‘oh, that’s a solution, not just a list of things I need to buy.’”
For example, a client might come to Duggan with an interest in redesigning her living room so it can be a better place to host get-togethers. She has a vague idea of what elements she wants to include, but she’s not quite sure where to start.
Using his sales engineering skills, Duggan can use the client’s initial goals to drill deeper and ask questions that can both plant the seeds of possibility in her mind and help him learn more about her priorities. Are there sports fans in her family? A larger TV might be fun for hosting game-viewing parties. How about music lovers? A new set of speakers could make the room a great place to dance.
“We’re still trying to go down the sales path,” Duggan said. “But we’re doing it in a way where we’re solving problems for the customer and making their lives easier.”
If you’re looking to implement sales engineering strategies into your day-to-day business practices, here are three of Duggan’s suggestions.
Top 3 Sales Engineering Strategies
1. Accept and embrace the fact that baseline solutions exist
Let’s revisit the customer from the example above. Certainly, she knows that she can go on Amazon and purchase speakers for under $30 and while you may not deal in that market, don’t ignore that a cheaper option is out there. Don’t badmouth it, either, as it can negatively impact your credibility. “Acknowledge that yes, you can buy a cheaper speaker, but that’s the ‘need jump’ that I’m talking about,” he said.
“It’s going from something that accomplishes that goal of listening to music but does it in a much more elegant and engineered way where the customer is like “oh, that’s a way better idea,” even though it’s much more expensive than a $30 wireless speaker.”
2. Determine what’s important to the customer
When selling a car, a salesperson might be tempted to wow a customer by telling them that the vehicle can go from zero to 60 in four seconds. While that’s certainly a cool feature, it may not really be an applicable solution to the customer’s needs. Heck, it may not be important to them at all! By asking lots of questions, Duggan can figure out the problems that need to be solved and identify the solutions that will most resonate with a customer.
If someone is looking for speakers for his exercise room, Duggan may recommend higher performance equipment that can be heard over a noisy treadmill or exercise bike. On the other hand, a customer who tells Duggan that she’s not tech savvy may be better suited for solutions that are easy to use. Not only does asking questions help Duggan guide the sales process, it also helps him overcome objections by keeping “what’s most important” at the forefront of the conversation.
3. Be creative
Just because you’ve never done something before doesn’t mean it’s not going to work. As long as you keep your clients needs and best interests at heart, trust your skills and experience and don’t be afraid to think outside the box. “Some of our coolest projects start with the idea of telling the client an idea that they initially think is silly,” Duggan said. “And in the end, we end up doing exactly that and it turns out to be the best solution.”
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