Guided Selling

The process of guided selling allows prospective buyers to select a product that best meets their needs and then to facilitate that purchase. This makes the analysis of customer needs, problem solutions, and sales proposals simpler and almost completely automatic. The seller presents a working definition of the solution to the customer, and identifies the necessary components, including product price, sales margins, copy, illustrations, and page layouts. Furthermore, the technical specifications are provided for use in both manufacturing and distribution.

Theories and Practice of Guided Selling

This process is implemented through the use of information systems that provide primary support and management for knowledge maintenance. Additionally, this system permits the utilization of this information by sales persons, dealers, and customers. This knowledge is maintained through the use of models that deliver the information as a result of an algorithm for responding to questions. The available knowledge concerns the use, sales, and technical specifications required by the consumer. These systems provide many functions, including recommendations, product specifications, technical considerations, commercial calculations, and the preparation of documents. They can be used in many different environments. Some of these environments include:

• Internet marketplaces, manufacturers’ websites, and websites for service providers. Guided selling is used to determine the needs of users and make a purchase recommendation that offers the online shopper the product that best fits his or her needs.
• A kiosk application, call center, or specialized trade store that offers in-store sales. Guided selling is used to help the buyer and service person work together to navigate the process of product selection and purchase.

Objectives and Methods

Guided selling is used to offer the buyer the product or service that best meets his or her needs and to facilitate the purchase of that product. The use of a question-and-answer system permits choices that will help the shopper to discover and define his or her needs for even the most complicated, technical situations. Simultaneously, the seller will discover exactly what product is required by the buyer.

The Process of Guided Selling

This process is designed to advise, convince, and subsequently sell the needed product to the buyer through the following steps. First, the seller must discover the buyer’s needs. To do this, the buyer must reveal what he or she needs. Needs must be expressed, refined, and discovered. Only through assisting the customer to understand and articulate his or her needs can a product be appropriately recommended.

Next, the marketer must analyze the customer’s needs. Customers usually understand what they want, but not the particular technical specifications of the required product. Therefore, an adequate guided selling system will translate the buyer’s consumer language, such as “I need a laptop computer,” into the necessary technical specifications, such as a particular brand of computer, processor speed, or RAM size.

Then, the marketer can recommend certain products of use to the buyer. Available products are examined to determine which possess the specifications that meet the buyer’s requirements. Merely locating products that simply meet these requirements is insufficient. The best possible option from among all available alternatives must be determined and presented to the customer.

Finally, the market is ready to present a convincing argument for buying the product to the consumer. The guiding system is designed to present objective advice to the prospective buyer, establish his or her trust in the products recommended, and convert a prospective sale into a purchase. Therefore, developing a reasoned argument and presenting both the disadvantages and advantages of alternative recommendations is crucial to the process.

Needed Technology

Guided selling is a technology offered by software applications. The application can simulate a conversation with the buyer to determine his or her needs. These needs are then mapped against technical specifications, and the buyer’s needs are matched with the correct products. These applications function as a type of recommender system. Unlike collaborative filtering systems, which provide recommendations as a function of historical data, the guided selling system analyzes a prospective buyer’s input to determine options that best suit his or her needs. Fact sheets are critical to the success of guided selling systems, because the end result is an objective recommendation that focuses on the needs of the individual buyer.