No matter what business you are in, you must understand what you sell in order to thrive and grow to your potential. You might say 'well that's easy I sell lawn care' , or maybe 'I have a restaurant, I sell food.' If we were together right now what would you tell me that you sold? Think about it, before you answer. Surely there must be millions of answers depending upon the nature of your business. Wrong!

Without regard to the item you are marketing, there is exactly one acceptable response. The answer is that this merchandise will do whatever the client wants done!

Your Product Is Customer Service!

Do not be fooled into thinking that customers come to you just to buy a particular item. To think this is to fail to understand the necessity of building a relationship. The reason that they came to you is because they have a problem or a need and you may be able to supply something to help them. Customers often feel that they know what they want and may not be aware that you have a better solution for them. If your attitude is that your aim is just to sell them something you will never know if you have sold the right thing. If a customer comes to you with a need, you can only satisfy that need if you try and find out what brought them to you. To do this you must treat your customers as people and not just potential profit. This means that you have to talk to them to establish what their need is and only then can you suggest the right solution for them.

Selling a product need not entail an intrusion into the life or a probing of the personal history of a customer. Instead, the primary goal of the seller should be to understand something about the mindset which motivated the customer to seek him or her out. Such an understanding may lead to the sale of a higher ticket item or a sense of empathy could produce a bargain for the buyer. It may also lead to the customer exiting the store with a sense of trust yet empty handed. Regardless of the immediate result, the seller will take a great step towards the creation of a long-term relationship with a customer which is built on a solid foundation of trust.

What you need to take away from this section is the important realization that what you're selling is not just simply "things", but fulfilling the specific needs of your clientele. In the end, your customers aren't necessarily most interested in the features of your products, but in how you can solve their problems, and how you can satisfy their specific needs.