In this Expert Inside Interview, John Golden hosts Dr. Joseph Riggio and Henrik Wenøe to discuss satisfaction selling, an effective approach that transforms sales from problem solving to customer desire fulfillment.
The Core of Satisfaction Selling
Classic sales focuses on solving issues, but satisfaction selling capitalizes on what is already going well to achieve better results for the customer. The approach is based on:
✔ Outcome-Focused Selling – People want to get the result, not the solution.
✔ Positive Sales Conversations – Instead of asking what is not good, let’s see what is good.
✔ Emotional Connection – This helps to identify what the customer appreciates except for the product.
Key Principles of Satisfaction Selling
1. Preventing the Sales Risk of Sunk Costs
Sometimes, salespeople spend a lot of time and effort on the deals that may not even result in the closure. Pipeliner CRM can help to recognize early buyer signals that can be used to determine whether it is worthwhile to continue pursuing the buyer or not.
2. Opportunity Cost
Every deal needs resources to be invested. Pipeliner CRM provides an understanding of which of the opportunities are worth chasing, to make the right profitable decisions.
3. The Concept of Subjective Value
People do not purchase products; they purchase the results that those products provide. Sales teams who are using Pipeliner CRM can determine how each buyer makes value calculations and, therefore, how to position their offerings appropriately.
4. Comparative Advantage: It’s Usage
Good salespeople take advantage of the strengths of the team. Pipeliner CRM provides the manager with an overview of the team’s work, enabling him or her to determine who should be assigned to which position.
5. Sustainable Value
Salesque is not only about achieving sales, it is about achieving sustainable sales. Other tools, for example, Account Health and Automatizer in Pipeliner CRM, aid in keeping the customers’ relationships strong.
Redefining Sales Success
💡 Selling is about trust and relationships – Those salespeople who are genuine in their approaches build good customer relationships and hence retain them for the future.
💡 Know when to walk away – Not every deal is a good deal. It is crucial for the sales managers to ensure that the teams can tell a bad deal when they see one.
💡 Train for real-world impact – In-person, hands-on training (such as the ones conducted by Dr. Riggio and Henrik Wenøe) produce better salespeople than online courses.
Final Takeaways
🔹 Henrik Wenøe: “Treat your salespeople the way you want them to treat your customers.”
🔹 Dr. Joseph Riggio: “If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, your customers won’t either.”
Call to Action
Sales professionals should reflect on and incorporate these approaches into their sales process. Thus, they can develop better relationships, achieve higher sales results, and, in general, have more fun while selling.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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