The assessment is a foundational piece of the sales process and all dealers, resellers, manufacturers have a method, even if it is ad-hoc. I am not suggesting you substitute my outline below for your dealer’s approach; I’m simply relaying some of the steps I’ve seen performed by successful selling professionals around the globe.
Needs assessment versus sales assessment
There are two broad types of assessments: An assessment determining solution requirements and an assessment geared to reveal the likelihood of a sale.
Asking the church secretary how they create, print and distribute the weekly church bulletin is an example of a requirements assessment. Asking what steps a small manufacturing company went through when determining their most recent capital expenditure is an example of determining how best to fit into your prospect’s decision process.
The art of the sale is intertwining requirements and decision process questions in your assessment.
Deep dive or cursory?
Some assessments require 30 days of data collection. For the new, hungry copier rep, a 30-day extension of the sales cycle is difficult to swallow. Unfortunately, this is the way of the world. Dealers prefer to have as much historical usage data as possible in order to secure a profitable engagement. Sometimes, though, when looking at a fleet of 10 or so devices, reviewing invoices and a quick walk-through is sufficient to drive a financial leverage point.
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