A short sales training talk by Brian Tracy explaining 'gap analysis': identifying the gap between a customer's current (real) situation and their potential (ideal/future) situation, then showing how a product or service closes that gap. Emphasizes questioning skills, diagnosing needs (customers often don't perceive their own gaps), and using the discovered gap to make the sale.
Sometimes I ask people, what business are you in? And salespeople say, well, I'm in sales and sales development. I say, no, you're in the business of gap analysis. Now, what is gap analysis? Gap analysis is where you find that there is a gap between where the customer is now, we call this the real situation or the current situation, and where the customer could be in the future if he or she used your product or service. We call this the ideal or the future situation. Your job in asking questions is to uncover a gap between the customer's current situation and where they could be. And then you show that your product or service is the ideal way to fulfill that gap. Here's the no gap, no sale, no perceived gap, no interest. By the way, most of your very best customers, when you first meet them, do not really know that they have a need that your product can satisfy. That's why they say, I'm not interested, I don't want it, I don't need it, I can't use it, I can't afford it, I'm happy with my existing situation. These are all normal and natural. And in a way that's good, because if they were aware that they had a gap, they were aware that they had a need that could be satisfied. They probably have bought it from your competitors. So when your customer says to you, I'm not interested, don't want it, don't need it, sometimes I would say to my salespeople, I say, just say, that's exactly why I'm calling. What? I didn't think you'd be interested. That's exactly why I'm calling. And then your job is to ask questions and find out exactly what the customer's situation is and what the customer needs that you can help them to satisfy. And you'll often find that customers are not even aware that they can be much better off with your product or service. For example, you can say, I have these pills for sale. Customer says, I have no interest at all. Well, if you take these pills on a regular basis, non prescription, you'll lose one pound a day and you'll be as fit and trim as you were at the best time in your life. I take them. In other words, until you've explained to the customer the gap that your product or service can fill, often the customer has no idea that they need what you are selling. So remember, your first job in the sales conversation is not to sell or talk about your product. Your first job is to be a problem detective and ask skillful questions to find a gap between where the customer is and where the customer could be. And then show the customer how wide this gap is and how much better off he or she will be when they buy from you.
