Step Three: Customer Needs Analysis

 Once a receptive climate has been established, the customer-focused salesperson begins

to determine customer needs. Needs analysis provides the foundation for future sales by

identifying problems or concerns that the customer may have. The salesperson's desire to learn

and willingness to listen builds additional good will and further develops the buyer-seller

relationship. By concentrating on the buyer's needs, the salesperson demonstrates his/her desire

to find solutions to the customer's needs, through which his/her own needs will be met.

 The most direct, and quickest, method of determining needs is to simply --- ask. Student

concerns regarding the course, course content, assessments, workload, and expectations can be

gathered in part by soliciting their inputs on the course syllabus. A student questionnaire can

also be used to determine student experience levels (which is important for experiential

learning), acquire personal data such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers, and provide the

tool for ice-breaker and community development activities. This helps to reduce the competitive

nature of education and enhance the cooperative (Ellis, 1991a).

 Motivation plays an important role in learning (Schunk, p. 284). One way to encourage

 students to become self-motivated is to help them find personal meaning and value in the

 material. This cannot be done without first identifying their needs. Creating an atmosphere that

 is open and positive, and helping students feel they are a valued member of a learning

 community also enhances student's self-motivation (Davis).



 Step Four: Problem Solving (Demonstration of Benefits)

 Once communication barriers have been eliminated and customer needs have been

 identified, the salesperson can begin to offer solutions to the customer's needs. It is key that

 benefits derived from the offered solutions (most likely a product or service) be directly linked