Learn

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Why would customers want to buy from me?

Time:Set the timer to 60 minutes for the Learn section.

Read:To grow our businesses, we need to attract more customers and sell more! People spend their money for something they value. The more they value something, the more they will pay for it.

To sell successfully, we need to know what our customers value, attract those customers, and sell them the value! And we have to offer more value than our competition.

“Sell, Sell, Sell” (Parts I and II) (No video? Read page 160.)

Discuss:How did Kwame learn about the things customers value?

Read:QUESTION OF THE WEEK—How will I attract customers and close sales?

ACTION OF THE WEEK—I will test my marketing ideas and track results. I will learn from customers and test solutions to customer problems.

Practice:Discuss the following with a group member:

1. Describe your customers to each other. Be specific. What is their age? Gender? Income? When do they buy your product? Where?

2. Why will they buy your product? What value will it bring to them? List as many things as you can, such as:

   • My water is cold

   • My water is purified

   • I make it convenient to buy my water

   • I’m friendly and call customers by name

3. What value will you provide that competitors do not offer? Do you have a better price, location, or selection? This is called your competitive advantage. This is what makes your customers choose your business over the competition.

Successful business owners know why customers buy their product.

Read:Successful business owners understand their customers by asking good questions to learn more about their problems and how they can help.

Practice:Get with a partner. Read this scenario together:

Martin repairs bikes. He also sells parts and supplies to people to fix their own bikes. Felix comes into his shop. His hands are dirty with oils. He looks frustrated.

Use the table below to write your ideas about how Martin can ask Felix good questions (example provided).

ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS
1. What do I want to know about the customer?	2. What could I ask to find out?
What problem did he come here to solve?	It looks like you’re in the middle of a project and have a problem. How can I help?

Share with the entire group the questions you think Martin should ask Felix.

Practice:Now think about your own customers. In the first column, write the things you need to know about your customers (example provided). In the second column, write the questions you can ask to find out.

ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS
1. What do I want to know about the customer?	2. What could I ask to find out?
When will my customer be ready to buy?	Is this for a special occasion? When is that?

With another group member, share some of the things you need to know about your customers. Share the questions you would ask to find out.

Discuss:As a group, discuss ways to learn more about your customers and what you can do this week to start learning.

How will I attract more customers?

Discuss:Think about times when you bought something at businesses you had never been to before. What attracted you to those businesses? How do businesses attract customers in your area?

Practice:On the blank lines in the table below, write the products or services you purchased. Then write in what attracted you to the businesses (see examples).

WHAT ATTRACTED ME? WHY DID I BUY?
Product or Service I Bought	Personal Selling	Referral	Ad	Sale	Other
Candy	Business owner told me about it	My neighbor said I should try it		20% off the price	Free sample
Clothing	Salesperson told me about sale		I saw a poster on a wall	Buy 1 get 1 for half price
Vegetables		Friend told me to try it	I saw it in the newspaper		Free sample

Discuss:Share with another group member what you have written. Which methods could work for your business?

Read:The businesses we just talked about do not attract customers by accident. They came up with ideas about how to market their product or service.

Discuss:Where did they get those ideas?

“Marketing?” (No video? Read page 161.)

Read:Marketing includes:

• Ideas about how to find and influence customers.

• What we hope customers will do.

  Marketing Ideas

  Idea

  If I give out samples …

  Expected Result

  People will buy more candy.

Practice:Work with the person next to you.

1. Help each other think of ideas to help more customers find your business and buy what you sell. Discuss the most effective methods in your area.

2. Write at least one new idea below. Then help each other write the results you want (example provided).

   MARKETING IDEAS
   Idea	Expected Result
   If I use a loudspeaker to tell people my chairs are 40% off …	Customers will come to my shop and buy chairs.

How will I test my marketing plan?

Read:How will we know if our ideas work? We need a way to test them. We need a way to measure results.

Practice:Work with the person next to you. Discuss and write several marketing ideas and results you want for your business. Include any ideas that seem to be working now. For each idea, write how you would measure the results. Your ideas will change and improve over time as you try them out and measure them.

TESTING MY MARKETING IDEAS
Idea	Expected Result	Measurement
If I use a loudspeaker to tell people my chairs are 40% off …	Customers will come to my shop and buy chairs.	When customers come in, I will ask how they heard about the 40% off sale. I will keep a log of customer responses.

Read:Let’s go test our ideas this week! We do not need to test all of our ideas at the same time. And it’s possible that some ideas won’t work—that’s okay. We will just keep trying ideas and measuring results. Eventually, we will find the best ways to help people discover us and buy what we sell.

How will I get customers to buy?

Read:Why do some customers buy and others choose not to buy? There are many reasons. But we can influence that decision!

“Please Buy Something!” (No video? Read page 162.)

Discuss:Why was Maria unable to convince the customers to buy some eggs? Was Maria thinking about herself or her customers?

Read:To convince customers to buy, we must ask, listen, and suggest.

1. ASK

What does the customer really want? Why?

2. LISTEN

Do I really listen?

3. SUGGEST

Do I have options that benefit both me and the customer?

Successful business owners use this cycle to convince more customers to buy their products and services.

Successful business owners ask, listen, and suggest.

“Ask, Listen, Suggest” (No video? Read page 163.)

Discuss:Before, Maria asked Samuel and Lucia only one question: “Can I help you?” What did Maria do differently this time to get a better result? How did Maria show Silvia she was really listening?

Discuss:Think about times when someone convinced you to make a purchase, maybe even when you weren’t planning to. What did that person say that made you decide to buy?

Read:The chart below shows five types of approaches, with examples, that we can use to convince our customers to buy our products. This is called “closing the sale.”

Practice:Get with two other people in the group. Practice using each type of closing the sale with each other. Try to sell your product to them. Use the table below to write the best close you can use to sell to your customers. Write at least one suggestion for each type.

CLOSING THE SALE
1. Two good options	2. “If”	3. Important event	4. Sample	5. Other
Would you like bananas or mangos?	If I can get that price, would you like me to order it?	I can have this ready before your wife’s birthday.	Try this. I think you’ll like the flavor of this one better.	What if you were to get both pairs of shoes and I gave you a discount?

Now, everyone stand up. Move around the room trying out your different approaches. Do this for two minutes.

Successful business owners close the sale.

Discuss:With the entire group, discuss what you think will be the best approach for getting your customers to make a purchase from your business. Why is this the best approach for your customers?

How will I make it easy to keep buying?

Read:Successful business owners make it easy and enjoyable for customers to buy from them.

Successful business owners make it easy to buy.

Practice:Get with a partner and review the following example together.

Read Paula’s experience in Store 1 and then Store 2. Then read her responses to her friend. Discuss with your partner why you think Paula recommends Store 1.

PAULA’S SHOPPING EXPERIENCES
	Store 1	Store 2
Paula’s experience	Paula has been to this store more than 15 times. She likes the prices, selection, and owner.	Paula has only been to this store one time. She thinks it is hard to find what she wants. She didn’t get help when she had questions.
Paula’s response to her friend	“Let’s go to Store 1. I go there all the time. It’s very easy to find what I want. I like that place.”	“I don’t like Store 2. It’s so hard to find what I want. And the people there weren’t helpful when I had questions.”

Read:Customers keep coming back to businesses when the owner and workers:

• Know their customers’ names

• Smile at their customers

• Listen and respond to customers’ needs

Discuss:What do you need to do in your businesses to better keep your customers coming back? What would you add to the list above?