HOW TO STEP 1: BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

IDENTIFY THE Agree with your manager, team or for yourself whose
NEEDS OF YOUR needs you are identifying:

CUSTOMER The needs of a specific

All successful selling is based on helping our Customer in an account
Customers Sell More and Earn More.
To do that we need to understand their
business and specifically their needs within
that business.

If we ignore their needs and focus on what The needs of a group
we want to do, the chances of the Customer of Customers who all
influence the decisions
saying no to our proposition is very likely. within one account

A representative
Customer within a
segment of the market
BAR

PLAN Understand
my market
STEP 2: WHAT TO DO These are all ways of measuring the profit. Most
Customers will have a way to complete each of these
TIP!
Make sure you understand
measures. They will also have their own prioritization of the exact calculation the
To identify the needs of the Customer we use which of these measures are the most important. Customer uses to create
the measures-these can

the Hierarchy of Needs tool which can help you Based on what you know now, identify the one or two
change between Customers
and cause confusion when
measures which you believe are most important to the you share or measure
map the different needs of your Customer Customer. propositions later on

All of our Customers are already trying to grow their TIP!

What success business, it’s important we understand how they are trying
Think about all the
to do this, so that we can support them appropriately.
looks like? Although there are lots of individual ways a Customer can
activities the Customer
has run in the past and
grow their business, they all fall into one of these three align them against one
PROFIT of the three approaches
approaches.
– what patterns do
you see and what does
How is it Based on what you know now select 1 or 2 of the
this tell you about the
VOLUME CASH % MARGIN Customer’s priorities?
measured? VALUE approaches which you think reflect how the Customer
believes they are growing their business.

As well as the needs of the business, our TIP!

Customers often have their own objectives
How is it as individuals. Meeting these needs as well
It’s unlikely a Customer
will describe these needs
delivered? as those of the business will often be what directly to you. Listen
makes the difference in a Customer saying closely to the questions
MORE MORE SPENDING yes or no to a proposition.
they ask you and think
PEOPLE OFTEN MORE about what might be
behind the question.
Ask others who know the
Based on what you know now select 1 Customer how they would
or 2 of the different objectives which describe them- other
What’s in you believe are most important to the people will often be able to
understand more about us
it for me? ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES CAREER INFORMATION STATUS Customer. than we do ourselves.

STEP 3: • Have you prioritised the needs • Do you have evidence for each • Could you use these selections
– one or two from each level of of your selections? to clearly describe the Customer
CHECKING YOUR WORK the Hierarchy? to someone who has never met
them before?

PLAN Understand
my market
STEP 4: USE YOUR WORK
Develop the SWOT and prioritise those
issues and opportunities which will have
the biggest positive or negative impact
on your Customer’s needs

Un
d
my erst
ma an

IEW
rk d
T EXECU
LLEN
et
E TIO

PL
E XC N
E MAN

n
NC

Exe nd
tio
RE V
MA A

AN
a
GE

cu
Impr sure
OR

ove
Mea

M
Prioritise your objectives based on

RF

EN
those which most closely align with

PE

T
the needs of the Customer

Plan how to achieve

Measure the impact of the new execution
SELL MORE

my objectives
and share with the Customer using the Prioritise the features and benefits of
measures they use in their own business EARN MORE your proposition against the needs of
your Customer

Plan potential objections to your

proposition in the context of the
Cl ctiv u Customer’s needs
os a
A xec
th

ea
nd
eE

te k

n
ec

io
tio
Ch xec

ut
n e
Pr e
Reinforce the benefits of the proposition and Pro esent w
th
to a position Revie
how these meet the Customer’s needs gree how t my
o
Exe t
cutio he ac h i e ve
n ives
object
Agree a way of measuring the impact of the
new execution in a way which the Customer
uses to measure their own business
DO Use your visual check to confirm or challenge the
needs you have identified and to collect evidence
of these in the real business of the Customer

Confirm the Customer’s priority needs when you summarise Use open and probing questions to confirm or challenge the
the situation – check for signs the Customer agrees with these needs you have identified and to collect evidence of these
needs. If not use open and probing questions to identify their in the Customer’s own words- remember to use these ways of
needs before continuing with your proposition describing their needs whenever you talk to your Customer

PLAN Understand
my market
STEP 5: EXAMPLE
Background: This is the Hierarchy of Needs for an inner city bar based in the central business district.
Busy occasions are during the day in the week for coffee and light meals and after work. They have
mainstream and premium brands on offer and invest in developing their staff.

Bar Manager

The key contact for the bar is the What success

Manager. The bar is owned by an looks like?
individual, but all operational decisions PROFIT
are the responsibility of the Manager.
How is it
The Manager is targeted on weekly sales. VOLUME CASH % MARGIN
measured? VALUE
The Manager is focused on increasing
the spend of visiting consumers as the
majority of people leave the area later
at night and at the weekend. How is it
The Manager wants to develop their delivered?
own skills and eventually own their MORE MORE SPENDING
own bar. They are interested in new PEOPLE OFTEN MORE
developments and understanding what
is going on in the wider industry.
What’s in
it for me? ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES CAREER INFORMATION STATUS

PLAN Understand
my market