Meaning2Work

Sales Words: The Closer’s Fallacy

If Closing Is Essential To Generating Sales, Why Do I Win Business Without Doing It?

Nothing stirs up emotion, positive and negative, in sales people like the “C” word. Some think it’s a relic of the past. Others contend it’s more important to close customers now than ever.

The Closer’s Fallacy is the mistaken idea that the close itself generates the sale. If you can just ask that perfect question, in the right manner, at the end of a call, the customer has no choice but to say yes. Modern research, such as that cited by David Hoffield in “The Science of Selling”, proves that customers make multiple decisions throughout a sales presentation – not just at the end. They seek out answers to their own questions and make their own decisions.
Merely asking your child to brush his teeth applies a form of pressure. So does asking your customer for her business. As a parent, you have leverage. Do what I say because I’m your parent and I said so.. With customers, no such leverage exists. Therefore, sales people can exert strong influence, but never truly compel their customers to take action.

Sincerely,

Meaning2work

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Sales Words: Offer Erosion

Lose a Customer Suddenly Without Any Explanation? The Answer Could Be Offer Erosion.

Not to be confused with Brand Erosion, a term referring to the deterioration of brand identity, Offer Erosion occurs on a much more tangible level. As we know, good products and services often rise to the top of the market. Buyers instinctively seek them out in order to maximize value. At the same time, companies succumb to the never-ending drive to produce returns for investors.

Cutting costs is quicker and easier than producing new product offerings. Sometimes, this comes in the form of delivering less to the customer for the same amount of money. Small reductions in value (ie a slight price hike here, a reduction in features there), may go unnoticed by the customer until a clever competitor presents them a product that looks head and shoulders better than their current vendor’s.

Have you ever seen your product or service erode over time? Can this be avoided? Please comment with your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Meaning2work

Sales Words – Golden Oasis

Good numbers make everything better! Don’t they? In most companies, sales performance trumps all other metrics. What I call the Golden Oasis is a version of the Halo Effect that applies to sales people when they look excellent on paper. Their advice is sought by other sales people and management alike. They seemingly can do no wrong.

Experiencing this phenomenon can make you, the sales person, give yourself too much credit. You must be an expert because the results say so! Don’t they? To the dismay of many, this luxurious state of mind is temporary. The loss of a big customer, a change in market conditions, or a price hike are just some of the circumstances that may cause a sales rep’s golden oasis to evaporate.

Can you think of a time when you were fooled into believing your own greatness? I welcome your comments!

Sincerely,
Meaning2work

You’ll Find Me in Cell Block C4 – Spreadsheets and Sales

Yes, they’re an excellent tool for analyzing data. Yes, they give individuals and companies the ability to store large amounts of information, perform calculations, and even spot trends. Yes, our employers probabaly wouldn’t be able to pay our paychecks without them. I am, of course, referring to spreadsheets.

No, spreadsheets don’t hurt people. People do. At some point, we went from using them as tools to inform decision making, to tools that actually make decisions. “I’ll spend the majority of my time with my top 20% of customers”, we might say. “We’ll fire the bottom 10% of the salesforce,” management might say. Like a sophisticated Magic 8 Ball toy, a formula plugged into a spreadsheet spits out a course of action for us and we dutily follow it.

Like all computer programs, spreadsheets cannot function without input. That’s where you and I come in. We take one of the outputs of our work, (ie. net sales, market share, etc.) and feed to the spreadsheet so it can work it’s magic. Unfortunately, magic has yet to be proven to be anything more than artistic, entertaining, trickery. Here are some problems with the way we use spreadsheets in sales. Feel free to add more in the comments section of this post.

Spreadsheets Can De-humanize Sales people and Customers

We humans want to be treated as individuals. Considering only a few data points takes away any unique or relevant details regarding the individual. Intellectually, we all know this but, in practice, we forget it very quickly. According to Cal Newport in his book “Deep Work”, it is scientifically impossible for the human brain to truly multitask. Instead, our focus switches quickly between two or more tasks giving us the illusion of doing more than one thing at once. Therefore, when analyzing a sales report, it is impossible to scrutinize the data and consider the person attached to it at the same time.

To this day, I have my personal breakthroughs quickly reduced to rubble at the hands of a spreadsheet. In response to a record week of sales, I am rewarded with a report sharing how many reps around the country had the same or more sales than I did. Customers don’t fare much better either. We don’t throw reports in their faces. Instead, we treat them only as well as their business potential dictiates. Why? That’s what a formula on our spreadsheet tell us to do.

Spreadsheets Facilitate False Assumptions

Where does data come from? The past. According to Nicholas Nassim Taleb in his book, “Fooled By Randomness”, one of the biggest mistakes humans make when looking at history is assuming everything is due to cause and effect and not randomness. He skillfully points out that even major historical events are the result of random factors. For example, what if Adolph Hitler was born a girl? Given the restrictions on women in Germany at the time, is there any way she could have risen to power, let alone attempted to take over the world? In a more practical sense, managers often assume reps are either unskilled or lazy when sales are low.

Don’t get me started on charts either! I like the visual representation they provide in describing the past. It’s what lies beyond the trend line the spreadsheet never tells you. As someone who has won and lost on the stock market, I can tell you that no trendline EVER guarantees what will happen in the future. When your personal sales trend line is pointing down, you are looking at a picture of the past. You and I only have influence on the future.

Spreadsheets Can Hide Information

Anyone who has used Excel can show you how easy it is to hide rows or columns of data. Once the information is out of sight, it’s much easier to ignore. Often its the data that’s NOT recorded in the first place that is relevant. Try developing a list of key customers without looking at geography and you may miss many smaller targets who have high potential because of some geographic factor.

I had a friend who was a judge tell me once that he did not like video-taped testimony. He felt something could be happening off camera that could be influencing the witness. Spreadsheets, have the same effect. They shout, “Hey look at this information here!” All the while, our focus is potentially taken away from something else that could be more relevant.

Spreadsheets Often Oversimplify the Real World

As sophisticated as we think we are when we use them, spreadsheets force us to limit the way we see the world. Why? Our brains are not wired to take in massive amounts of information at once. Therefore we use spreadsheets to help find that one crucial piece of data or trend. Again, it’s the ‘Hey, look over here’ effect. The dumbing down of our approach makes us susceptible to confirmation bias. This is when we only notice data that confirms what we already think. Daniel Kahneman explores this and many other cognitive biases in his book “Thinking Fast and Slow”.

One mostly uh-helpful excercise I’ve had to perform many times in my career is the “Hot, Warm, and Cold” list. “Hot” customers are those we think are close to buying. “Warm” need a little more work and “Cold” are not interested at all in my product. These designations fit nicely into a spreadsheet where they can be sorted. Other than for time management, this information provides little value in advancing sales cycles. Calling someone a “Hot” prospect does not tell me what I need to do next to insure the sale gets closed. Calling someone a “Cold” prospect doesn’t guarantee that I’m not losing business by ignoring them either.

Spreadsheets are no more to blame for these problems than a baby is for a dirty diaper. The real problem is the power we give them – the power to make decisions for us and make us less accountable. Stop confining yourself, your employees, and your customers to numbers in a cell and you just may see your world open up!

I you like what you’re reading, please share this post with a friend and subscribe!

Regards,

Meaning2work

9.13.18 Update:
To date, this my-most viewed post. If you have a second, please leave a quick comment below and tell me just what drew you to read it. Was it the title? What did you think of the content? All opinions are welcome!

Ps. I’d like to put a plug in for Seth Godin’s “Akimbo” podcast. I love his thoughtful and straightforward tone. His thoughts often inspire mine. To check it out on iTunes click here or search for “Akimbo” in your podcast player.
To check out Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s “Fooled By Randomness” on Amazon, click here.
To check out Cal Newport’s “Deep Work” on Amazon, click here.
To check out Daniel Kaheneman’s “Thinking Fast and Slow” on Amazon, click here.

Eight Ways Salespeople Ask To Be Manipulated

Yes. We in sales are victim to many things out of our control. Unrealistic employers. Unreasonable customers. They can make us feel like toys in a the mouth of golden retriever. At the same time, we fail to see how we set ourselves up to be manipulated.

Here are eight ways sales people unknowingly allow themselves to be manipulated:

1. They’re not honest about what they want.

It’s OK that you took sales your job because it was a stepping stone or you simply needed a paycheck. It’s also OK that you got fooled into thinking your job was more lucrative or rewarding than it actually is. Being thankful for what you DO have is always more rational than lamenting the things you SHOULD have. It’s irrational to expect what you want to be handed to you, without having to ask. If you want your customer to make a commitment, ask for it. If want to be promoted, make it known to your boss. Otherwise, why should anyone help you if they think you’re already satisfied?

2. They’ll do almost anything to make more money.

Bad news! Beyond about $75k a year in household income, more income doesn’t result in more happiness. In his book, “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants“, Malcolm Gladwell demonstrates that you really can have too much of a good thing including money. In fact, after a certain point, more household income makes raising children more, not less, difficult! If true happiness could be bought, rich people would always be happy. Instead, they always want more out of life, just like the rest of us. If you doubt what I say, add up all the salary you’ve made in your entire career. Do you still derive lasting happiness from all the money you’ve made? I didn’t think so.

3. They overpromise to customers.

Would you say anything to get the sale? For sales people, getting answers to customer questions can feel like time-consuming grunt work. For customers, getting those answers from you can make the difference between a product to buy and one to avoid. Yes, some customers will waste your time. It’s up to you to qualify them in advance and only commit to what is realistic. If your customer expects perfection, you probably haven’t educated them properly. Telling them what they want to hear without the backup of truth is a recipe for disaster. If you think answering pre-sale questions is grunt work, wait until you have to deliver on an unrealistic expectation! Not every objection is a deal-killer either. It’s your job to find out.

4. They overpromise to their management.

Yes, bosses do love employees who do what their told and make them feel smart. The problem? Everyone is wrong once in a while. If you don’t respectfully question your manager, you create in-need grief in the future. A prime example of this is forecasting. You know your leadership wants an aggressive number, so you give it to them. Congratulations! You’ve just put unrealistic pressure on yourself that you will, inevitably, transfer to your customers. When this backfires, you may cause reactance* or an overwhelmingly negative customer reaction. Remember, sales reps get fired over lost business, not conservative forecasts. See my previous post, “In Sales, “Playing The Game” means “You Lose” For a discussion on this.

5. They fail to question the company on behalf of customers and vice versa.

In business, telling others only what they want to hear helps no one. The best sales people balance the needs of their employer and their customers. If your company currently loses money on your product, they may need to raise its price. Sometimes your job is to sincerely explain this to customers. Conversely, price increases can make your product truly unaffordable for a customer, despite the value it provides. It’s also your job to explain this to your management.

6. They assume they have no career options.

Is only thing you hate more than your current job is the process of finding a new one? It’s easier to do your job in public and complain in private. However, employers don’t respect job tenure as much as they used to. Adaptability to change is held at a high premium. Overstaying your job is like holding a losing investment. The losses can pile up. You may regain lost income and skills that can result from staying too long. The time you lose can never be replaced.

7. They fail to scrutinize the product or service offering when accepting a sales job.

If you’re new to sales, getting your foot in the door with a mediocre market player is ok. Ultimately, it’s up to YOU to find good products to sell and good companies to work for. No salesperson, including you and I, is good enough to overcome a poorly priced or designed product that isn’t supported. Don’t let your ego take the place of the facts. Your sales career is about more than you and how good you are. Do your homework. Talk to customers. Talk to other sales people. Make an informed decision. Even if you’ve been in the same job for years, it never hurts to objectively re-evaluate your situation.

8. They chase winning harder than a dog chases a stick.

Sales competitions, Table tennis. Whatever the contest, is losing never an option for you? While competitiveness can predict success in simple sales cycles (ie. retail), it restricts your growth in more complex, higher-ticket sales jobs. Why? When competing, we narrow our focus. Complex sales situations require creativity thinking.

Still, if you’re determined to reduce your job to a game of win or lose, don’t forget who makes the rules. It’s not you. It’s not your manager. It’s the customer. See my post, “Think BACk: Freewill Is A Bitch!”, for a more thorough discussion on this. If you push product A, when your customer needs product B, she’ll conclude you put your own needs first. As a result, you may lose the opportunity to sell anything to her company. All because you needed to win.
It may seem, at first, the answer to avoiding manipulation is to turn around and manipulate others first. Not so! Instead, focus on being true to yourself, your company, and your customer. Balancing the needs of all three is never easy, but it’s what a job in sales demands.

Regards,
Meaning2work

To check out Malcolm Gladwell’s book “David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants” on Amazon click here.

*I first learned the term “reactance” from David Hoffield in his Book, “The Science Of Selling.” It’s a comprehensive, science-based look at the sales profession. To check it out on Amazon click here.

5 Popular Sales Tactics that are Manipulation in Disguise

The most important timeframe for sales people is NOW. The most important goal? GROWTH. Losing bids and losing customers is secondary. The problem? Think back to your best personal experience with a sales person. It’s doubtful he or she was forceful or deceiving in any way. Don’t your customers deserve the same treatment? You know not to lie to customers – even though it can bring short-term success. It’s time to reconsider any sales tactic in your arsenal that doesn’t directly help customers.

Here are five sales tactics that are manipulation in disguise:

1. Non-verbal Persuasion

Think mirroring, using facial expressions, how we dress, eyc contact, etc. These tactics are scientifically proven to make a good impression on a customer. They subconsciously make us more appealing. Is this such a bad thing? Maybe not, but imagine a salesperson dressing like you, posing like you, and smiling like you. Creepy!

2. Passive-Aggressive Pressuring

This is anything from showing up smiling at the same client every day to casually mentioning a tragedy experienced by a company similar to theirs. Whether or not your customer notices immediately is irrelevant. Although your words and actions are polite, what do your actions communicate? Is the insight you’re presenting really a cause for concern? Fear mongering and fake kindness waste your customer’s time and ruin relationships. Customer’s work on their own schedule, not yours.

3. Lying by Omission

This one should be obvious but sales people do it everyday. It’s the fine print that we omit from our presentations. It’s the discount card telling you your medicine is $15 when it ends up costing $150. It’s not alway our fault. Sometimes, corporate keeps us in the dark. What the customer doesn’t know, WILL, eventually hurt them. Getting the sale is never worth risking your credibility. Tell the whole truth.

4. Relationship Selling

Strong business relationships are paramount. Personal relationships can be very helpful, but only when they’re genuine. Don’t be the sales person who goes to family parties or sporting events with clients he can’t stand. Sooner or later your customer will know your a fake and so will you. Try hanging with your real friends a little more. They probably miss you!

5. Keeping Score (Quid Pro Quo)

This means using favors of any sort as leverage. John David Mann and Bob Burg’s book, “The Go Giver”, sums it up nicely. Among other sage advice, they implore us stop keeping score. Stop expecting something in return for the extra care and service you give to your customers. Instead, be generous because it’s the right thing to do. Aren’t you annoyed by sales people who think they can trade a free gift in exchange for a high-pressure sales presentation? To truly give something “free of charge” is to offer it without ANY strings attached.

The verdict:
Are you a horrible person because you’ve used one of these sales tactics I’ve mentioned? Not at all. What separates manipulation from skilled selling is sincerity. If you are having a good conversation, you probably automatically use non-verbal relating techniques. Put your time into answering objections instead of avoiding them. If your customer turns out to be a nice guy our gal, be their friend. Just be a real friend, not one that asks for something in return.

But these techniques work! Isn’t it my job to sell? Yes, manipulation techniques do work, but only until your customer figures them out. Then you’re screwed. Don’t risk losing next year’s customers by manipulating them today.

Regards,

Meaning2work

If you’d like to get out “The Go Giver” book on Amazon click here.

Sales Doesn’t Have To Suck – How Therapy Taught Me Why

Ok. You’re in sales. You’re busy. You have a deadline and a quota. You don’t want to be at the bottom of the next sales ranking and you will do whatever it takes not to be there. Am I right?
I get it because I lived these same thoughts every day. When you see one of your peers rising in the sale ranks you wonder why, correct? Have you ever met a sales rep with lackluster numbers who still seems happy? Again, did you wonder why? Here’s a possible explanation: the other rep in question is emotionally healthier than you. That’s right emotionally healthier. It’s often obvious when someone’s physical health differs from you. Emotional health? That’s something you feel for yourself.
Although I’ve started this discussion in terms of having an emotional edge over another rep, competition is not what emotional health is about. That’s a good thing. It’s not about being better than someone else. Instead, it’s about being a better version of yourself. When I started therapy a few years ago, my goal was to gain control of my anxiety in order to be a better sales person, father, and husband. What I came to realize was that my job was actually the reason I needed the therapy. Not vice versa! This forced me over a period of time, to seriously rethink my priorities. As a result, I came to three realizations:
Realization One: Traditional sales management uses fear and extrinsic rewards in a way that’s potentially detrimental to your health.
There is a reason you don’t like disappointing your boss. It makes you afraid. That fear causes the hormone cortisol to course through your body. It’s the same chemical that helped our ancestors sense danger approaching them on the African plains. The problem is that our bodies weren’t designed for us to feel fear all the time. According to Simon Sinek in his book, “Leaders Eat Last”, having excess cortisol elevates our blood pressure, impairs our cognitive ability, and decreases our immunity from diseases. Of course, let’s not forget the accompanying psychological effect of anxiety.
When we get exstrinsic rewards, which includes anything from commission checks, to pats on the back, to even the ‘ding” of our phones telling us we have a new text, our bodies release dopamine. It’s the “ahh” feeling of getting something done or accomplishing a goal. It’s what drives you to make your sales goal and win that extra commission kicker.
What’s wrong with this? Did you ever notice that the high from achieving anything never lasts? It’s because the effect of dopamine is always temporary. Therefore, people can literally become addicted to it. Have difficulty putting your phone down? That’s because every new message gives you a small hit of dopamine. Like cortisol, this brain chemical may have been essential to our evolution but in an age of abundance like today, less of it is definitely more.
Realization Two: Despite the negative influence of sales management, you and I are responsible for inflicting the negative effects of our jobs on ourselves.
“Wait a minute, it’s my fault now?”, you say. Yes, but we all have a valid reason for making the mistake. In his book, “Feeling Better, Getting Better, Staying Better“, world renowned psychologist Albert Ellis, coined two important terms. Conditional Self Acceptance (CSA) and Universal Self Acceptance (USA). All of us, according to Dr. Ellis, use one of these two methodologies to create our self-image. Your boss. Your coworkers. Even authors of sales literature. They all tell you to measure your self-worth in dollars. The premise has been for years, the more you sell, the happier you will be. Almost every sales book is based on this premise and no one dares to question it. Given what science now knows about dopamine, long-lasting happiness as a result of sales success is a lie. Selling more of anything will never make you happier in any long term sense.
Still, don’t we need to sell more so we can buy more things? Unfortunately, bigger houses and nicer cars commit us to making more money long after the dopamine high of their purchase wears off. Dan Pink, in his book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” emphasizes the importance of Type I or intrinsic motivation over Type X motivation which is based on anything external.
Before we can realize our own Type I, internal motivations we need to rid ourselves of the external ones. This involves adopting USA vs. CSA. Unconditional Self Acceptance means treating yourself much like your pets do. No, not just as a life-giving source of food, but as a good person no matter what you accomplish. Yes. It’s a touchy-feely concept, but to reap it’s rewards, you will need to get over that. Dr. Ellis mandates that you adopt a new attitude about yourself. Regardless if you screw up a sales call or a sales quarter, you accept what happens and move on.
Therefore, USA opens you up to Type I motivation and CSA locks you into traditional Type X motivation. When you have USA and Type I motivation, your happiness is not based on what you own, what’s on you latest W2, or even what your boss says to you. You accept the futility of being anyone other than yourself and are motivated by a purpose. For example, the reason I started this Blog was to improve the way sales people are managed. I write for the fulfillment of writing and expressing these ideas – not the paycheck.
Realization 3: In a very real way, letting go of the metrics forced on us by our jobs, allows us to actually become happier in general and often more effective at work.
Traditionally, companies have assumed that workers are fundamentally lazy and require carrots and sticks for the motivation. Carrots are the extrinsic rewards like money and accolades. Sticks are the fear tactics such as terminations or reprimands. According to Daniel Pink, in the Industrial Age, most occupations involved simple and repetitive tasks. It made sense to pay a factory worker based on the amount of parts produced because he or she could clearly see how increased effort resulted in increased output. For complex jobs, people required intrinsic rewards. They want the stimulation of learning something new or the gratification of helping someone. Contrary to what many sales books teach, the process to complete a sale with each new customer is unique and cannot be boiled down to a shortlist of repeatable tasks.
Complicated, multi-step jobs like outside sales require creativity. We all have creatitivity within us and the way to unlock it is with the positive emotions that USA allows us to feel. For me, making the change to USA with Type I motivation gave me back all the time I was wasting on worrying. I then proceeded to use that time to think of new ways to do my job. Just think, instead of stressing over doing your job perfectly, you could be selling in newer, more effective ways your management never imagined!
This new mindset obviously requires a leap of faith – in yourself. Of course, fear may have made you work harder in the past, but never at your best. Chasing extrinsic rewards is forcing you to use temporary happiness in the place of long-term fulfillment. My process of learning all this started with a trip to a therapist. If you’re in sales, I suggest you spend the co-pay and do so yourself.
I welcome your comments and suggestions!
Regards,
Meaning2work
Ps. Yes. As a result of therapy, I sell more now than ever, but I also have the sense to know that I can never sell my way to true happiness!
Books Referenced:
“Leaders Eat Last”, by Simon Sinek – to access it on Amazon click here.
“Feeling Better, Getting Better, Staying Better”, by Albert Ellis, PHD., – to access on Amazon click here.
“Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, by Dan Pink – to access on Amazon click here.
#salespsychology
#salesmotivation
#saleseffectivenes
#salesmanagement

Fifteen Thoughts Top Performing Sales People Have But May Never Share With Their Managers

Attention Sales Managers! Sorry, but when you became the boss you knew you were going to lose the buddy-buddy relationships you had with your fellow sales people. Dont’ make the mistake of assuming that your non-complainers or top performers don’t have serious complaints or your complainers hate the company. Here are some thoughts they may have:

1. 1. I don’t need to be constantly reminded to sell more. I’ve done this for years and I support a family just like you do.
  2. A big commission check, bonus, or sales trip is only motivating if it’s realistic to attain.
  3. I know when your spinning the truth. I’ve heard myself do it enough to recognize it. You’re better off spending your time helping me sell rather than selling TO me.
  4. Just because I question you or the company doesn’t mean I don’t care. On the contrary, I want to believe in what we’re doing and need more information to do so.
  5. Please don’t offer me choice between two things when you are going to force me into one choice anyway. True empowerment is letting me make decisions.
  6. If you anger one of my customers I make efforts not to take you there (or anywhere important) again.
  7. No, I actually don’t think you are, or ever where, a better sales person than I am. You’d still be doing this job and ‘kicking ass’ like you used to if you were that good.
  8. I may think you’re a decent guy/gal but we are not friends. Friends don’t fire one another to protect their jobs.
  9. Despite what you say, if you put your own interests before mine, I will return the favor.
  10. If it seems like we share a lot off identical opinions and interests, it could be that I’m kissing up to you. Conversely, if you find we don’t have a lot in common, it could be that I am just being very real with you.
  11. If you chose to not help me or hinder my advancement within the company, I will respond by looking for another job.
  12. Pay me fairly versus my peers. Expect me to find out if one of my colleagues makes 30% more. Despite what our HR paperwork says, people talk.
  13. Filling our sales reports and using cumbersome CRM systems rarely help me sell anything. That is why I hate them and consider them a waste of time.
  14. If you don’t have the guts to advocate for me within the company, you are hardly worthy of the term “Leader.”
  15. Although I claim to want more and more money, a sincere compliment can go a long way. One last thing, please don’t use me or my performance as a way to make another sales rep feel inadequate. It creates mistrust within the team – something I assume you don’t want.

Think BACk: Confidence Is About More Than Just YOU!

Want more confidence? Don’t we all?
“We chose John Doe’s product over his competitors’ because he really believes in himself!”, said no buyer ever. Make no mistake, self-confidence is important. However, focusing on it alone starts you in the middle of a 3 phase process. Begin by building your own confidence in your company and what you offer. Only then should you move on to believing in yourself. Finally, with the first two confidence pieces locked in place, work on your customer’s confidence.
Phase 1: Believe in what you offer.
Be positive! Think positive! We all get tired of hearing it from our managers. You probably don’t want to feel good about your job, it’s just not possible to force it on yourself. Ask yourself, instead, if you’ve given your own product a chance. Are you really sold on what you sell? A good model to use is David Hoffield’s “Six Why’s” in his book, “The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal“. Be a customer for moment and attempt to answer the following questions about you product or service:

Why change what I’m doing?
Why now?
Why your industry solution?
Why you and your company?
Why your product or service?
Why spend the money?

No. Your own company’s training is rarely provides enough objective information to answer adequately answer these questions. In training, they are attempting to sell you, a non-customer, on SELLING their product, not on BUYING it. Having an objective view on your product may not be as uplifting to your personally. To your customer, you have just become more trustworthy and a lot more valuable. Sorry, your product will never be ideal for every customer. Still, you may find that a specific customer type (often more specific than what your company tells you) that really connects with the benefits you offer.
Phase 2: Believe in yourself
Confidence in yourself is trickier than you think. Customers are turned off by reps who skip Phase 1 and believe in their product simply because it’s THEIR product. I call this the “Trust me” approach. Ironically, it makes customers more suspicious. No, this mistake is not restricted to used car salesman. Do not start or end your personal development with this Phase of confidence. Explaining why you have the best solution shows your customer a baseline level of respect. Customizing your offering to their needs shows them more. Finally, allowing them to question your product and have an opposing view shows them even more respect.
This is when your true confidence shows through. When a customer sees that you can handle hearing negative feedback they may open up to telling you how they really feel. Those opinions are exactly what you need to address in order to make a sale. Many of my non-sales friends say they lack confidence to do this job. Yet, ask them about their favorite TV show, favorite beer, restaurant, etc. and they will sell you like a pro!
You may also require some soul searching. Do you have self-limiting beliefs? If so, think back to the work you did in Phase 1. Even if you determined your solution is just good and not great, don’t you have an obligation to present it to your customer? Again, allow yourself to risk being questioned by being direct and frank about your product’s benefits. You want to HEAR their objections – not avoid them. For your customer, the sales process is about solving their problem, not passing judgement, good or bad, on you.
Phase 3: Inspire you customers to believe in themselves.
Often a strong conviction in your product and yourself is all you need to make the sale. Sometimes, more effort is required. Most customers do not have the thick skin that sales people develop. Even high-level executives may secretly fear rejection of their ideas at the hands of their superiors, co-workers, and customers. This is when you step in and remind them their company gave them the authority to choose and why other stakeholders stand to also benefit from your product.
It’s easy to overlook that our decision-makers can play the role of salesman themselves throughout their day. I’ve heard well-respected physicians confess apprehension at making firm treatment recommendations to patients. In essence, they need to be convinced to use their own authority. One caution with this approach, is to avoid being overly complimentary and insincere. Encouraging a client to make decisions above their pay grade will backfire – for both of you.
Can you admit your product isn’t perfect? Can you admit you don’t know everything? If so, you’re on the right track. Confidence for the sake of protecting one’s ego or towing the company line helps no one. Remember, your customer makes the purchase – not you, and definitely not your manager.
Regards,
Meaning2work
Ps. To check out David Hoffield’s book on Amazon, <a href=”http://The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal“>click here. I found it to be a refreshing research-based way to look at selling.
Pss. If you’re wondering what think BACk means. Be A Customer. Get it? B.A.C.? I knew you’d get it!

Think BACk: Did You Really Just Ask That Question?

BACk is short for “Be A Customer”. Thinking BACk entails thinking like your customer would.
“Telling is not selling! You need to ask questions!”
Sound familiar? The above statement summarizes about 90% of the sales training I’ve ever experienced. Situation questions, problem questions, implication questions, and of course, the elusive need-payoff questions. Thank you Neil Rackham and your fabled “Spin Selling” for transforming me from a glorified product presenter to a would-be problem solver! No sarcasm here. Neil’s approach has probably saved customers countless hours of sitting through unfocused and ineffective sales presentations.
It’s unfortunate that the undying impatience and goal fixation we have in sales causes us to oversimplify and overplay every new idea. If asking questions results in more sales, shouldn’t asking more questions result in even more sales? And out we go to our sales calls armed with questions, questions, and more questions!
Stop what you’re doing!
It’s time to question the concept of asking questions. I propose that every question we ask precipitates at least one question in our customer’s mind. Most likely, that question is, “Why do you want to know this information?”. When the grocery clerk asks you paper or plastic, you probably don’t even think. You just answer. That’s because you know why he’s asking. Now imagine if, while you’re rummaging through your wallet, the clerk asks, “Boxers or briefs?” Failing to address the importance of why they asking is one mistake sales people make with questions. Additionally, we ask too many irrelevant and selfish-minded questions and fail to consider their impact value as statements.
Why are you asking me this question?
Think of the struggle you undertake every day just to get your customer’s attention. When you finally connect, don’t make the mistake of taking their time for granted. You may have won the appointment, but you still have to prove why your conversation is important. Understand that, as your questions get more complex, more effort is required from your listener to respond. If your customer seems confused or unhappy in response to a question, you may want to explain why the answer is relevant to matching your product to their needs.
Of course, this approach requires you to know what information is needed and how to ask for it. If you know that, in order to be a good candidate for your product, your customer needs to provide details, A through D, ask for exactly that information. And, be prepared to explain why you need it. The last thing you need is for your customer to assume you want the information for selfish reasons.
Have a conversation not an interrogation.
Early in my sales career, I used to fear having personal conversations with customers. What if we never get to talk about my product? What will I do? In response, I forced myself to ask sales questions, even when I didn’t really need the answer. What I lacked was a deeper knowledge of my product and my customer. This insight allows you to make your personal conversations more productive and your product conversations more personal. Ideally they are one in the same. Achieving this oneness between the personal and business conversation allows you to have an actual conversation. You know, one in which your attention is in the moment and focused on your prospect, not on what you’re going to say next.
This is precisely why asking clients about their “top five initiatives for the year” or “three biggest challenges” go over well in sales training but not in real life. Sure, if someone honestly answered, you would get good information. If your the customer, you gain virtually nothing from answering it. Sorry high level account managers, the CEO of the hospital system probably doesn’t think the bed pans you sell warrant an explanation of his five year growth plan. Feeling interrogated tells your customer they are wasting precious time for your benefit.
Your Question Makes A Statement.
If you don’t think so, try asking your spouse, “When are you going to lose weight?” It’s great that you know the problems your product can solve. Just be aware, the executive you’re about to call on may not be keen on admitting that they even have a problem. Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, in their book, “The Challenger Sale”, advocate an approach using new information to shock customers into acknowledging new problems. While a wake up call may be in order for some of your customers, keep in mind that the book has been out since 2011. Customers may be getting wise to it’s tactics. If you can take control of the conversation in a respectful way and it serves their interests as well as yours, go for it! Just keep in mind you will never control your customer.
The problem with sales techniques is they are, by definition, techniques. They’re an artificial way to manipulate a conversation. In order to execute any sales tactic in a conversation, you must devote extra energy. Try being real instead. If you need to know something in order to assist your customer, by all means, ask. When you honestly want to help them it will show through in your demeanor. Conversely, acting in the role of sales person forces the customer to act in the role of customer. Neither actor gets as much done as two real people talking.
Regards,
Meaning2work