I believe today’s customers are overloaded and overwhelmed by too much information, so making any decision is a challenge. You may think this is only important to your marketing and salespeople, but in reality, it doesn’t matter how great your product or technology might be, you won’t succeed if you don’t understand your target customer’s decision process. Every aspect of your business must be about sales.

To convert buyers and investors, sharing product knowledge is important, but you need more. Sure, you have to know the products and services you sell in detail. But product knowledge alone is useless, and that is where many marketing plans run afoul of the first law of marketing: Put the Customer First. Customers don't buy products or services. They buy solutions to problems, relief from an itch, satisfaction of a felt need. In short, they buy benefits.

People today are bombarded with messages from morning until night. We can't check email or drive to the store without seeing flashing banners, mostly aimed at selling us something. Today's consumers are experts at tuning these messages out, leaving salespeople with an important question: Do you ensure your message is seen and heard? Connecting with clients today is often about building trust.

Most companies analyze financial performance by looking at geographic segments, product lines, or channels. These perspectives overlook the fact that aggregate revenues are dependent on individual customers, and that’s why analyzing the business by looking at its customers can provide managers with useful insights. This process, called a customer-base audit, can be a tool for businesses as they seek to answer five questions.

Following the expenditure of resources and time in developing a new product, the next critical consideration is locating customers who purchase it. You may be perplexed about the best way to contact a customer or have difficulty defining go-to sales strategies that produce results. Salespeople use a variety of approaches, tips, and techniques daily to get new leads. New methods are entering the picture as a result of rapid technological advancement.

Dale Dupree is the founder and CEO of the Sales Rebellion. He draws on his many years of sales experience to coach sales professionals in developing innovative and creative approaches to their craft. Dale is also one of the hosts of the popular Selling Local podcast. He joined Predictable Revenue to discuss how to create experiences that cause familiarity, fuel relevance, drive curiosity and give your prospect a reason to meet.