My first job selling was as a licensed real estate agent in New York City while my wife and I were in graduate school. I remember one of my very first deals. I was taking a couple out looking at apartments to buy in the East Village. After seeing a few properties I took them to an apartment and as I opened the door I realized that the floor was not flat. Actually, it was more than not flat it was downright crooked. It reminded me of one those funhouses you find at carnivals. Before I could get the words “I’m sorry” out, they both shouted, “we’ll take it”. I was in shock. I think my initial response was an incredulous “why”.
As it turned out, there were a number of valid reasons “why”. Unfortunately, I did not know what the reasons were because I didn’t ask the right questions. I felt confused and a little dumbfounded as to how this could have happened. I was not a seasoned sale’s professional by any stretch of the imagination, but I knew enough to ask questions. I read a couple of books on selling consultatively. How could I miss this? I realized asking questions was not enough? I needed to ask the right questions in the right way. I needed to know what drove their decision!
I have found the following 4 things to be the most important.
- What is their compelling reason to buy – This goes far beyond why they’re buying and focuses on how the solution impacts them. For example; what would happen if they didn’t buy?
- What motivates them – Motivation conjures the energy to act. Were all motivated by different things; our job as sales people is to figure out what motivates our clients to buy. Our motivation is connected to the things that give us meaning, and sense of purpose. For example, if your customer values buying from people he has a relationship with, than you’ll have to invest the time to build trust. If your customer values analytical data, than you’ll have to convey the value proposition in those terms.
- What is their preferred learning style - There are 3 main Learning Styles; Visual which refers to people that prefer to learn through seeing, Auditory which refers to people who prefer to learn through hearing, and Kinesthetic refers to people who prefer to learn through experiencing and/or doing (A great way to sell to someone like this is through storytelling).
- What is their preferred mode to take in and process information - This refers to the preferred way that people make sense of the information they are taking in. In terms of the sales process, I have found that determining whether your customer employs emotion or logic to be the most important. Your job as a salesperson is to deliver information in a way that mirrors their preferences.
A great way to gather this information is to ask the following question: “ Can you tell me about the last time you were in the market for something like this? Make sure you stop and listen and then follow-up with clarification questions.
Important information you want to know is:
- What did the process look like?
- How did you know you wanted to buy it?
- How did you make your decision?
- Were you happy with your decision? Why?
I heard a quote the other the day, “Data is the new oil”. I’m not sure whether this is true, but even if it’s not, the more we understand why and how our customers buys the greater the capacity we have as salespeople to provide solutions of value!
Trust: a Primer
Trust is integral to selling consultatively. Nobody would argue this point. Why then as salespeople are we doing such a poor job developing trust with our customers? (see findings from OMG’s Trust Project)
It’s unfortunate, for a word that is used so often in describing what salespeople should ascribe too, very little time has been devoted to understanding what trust is and how it’s cultivated.
Trust is less about doing and more about being. You can ask all the questions you want, engage in “active listening” until your ears fall off but if your focus is not on being “in relationship” with your customer you will not be given access to their true and compelling reason to buy. Trust is not something to arrive upon, but rather it is a process that unfolds at each interaction. Trust is difficult to establish and very easy to lose.
What?
Trust is – the reciprocal exchange of value over time. More specifically, trust is the belief that the behaviors, interactions and outcomes that have preceded will continue in the same way into the future.
How?
In order to build trust with your customer you must behave in a trustworthy manner. How do you do that? See below:
The 4 Must’s of Trust!
- Follow through – do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it. One component of trust is that we impart on others the faith that the desired behaviors that have proceeded will continue on into the future. It is this faith that catalyzes the on going exchange.
- Expectations - Set reasonable and accurate expectations – Meeting expectations are the tangible benchmarks by which we measure effectiveness. By bending to pressure to set expectations that are unattainable we are assuring the perception of failure.
- Be an expert - Strive to be to be an expert at what you sell so you can be an advisor. The more you know the better the advice you can give. Knowledge is not a destination but a process that evolves. By striving to be an expert we prepare ourselves to be continual learners which enables us to remain relevant.
- Act with integrity – do the right things, for the right reasons, at the right time. This is the filter by which we assess all behaviors.
Doing these things in isolation will not lead to the development of trust. In order to reap the benefits, these behaviors they must be guided by the intent of creating mutual value.
I run every morning! Most mornings I run the same route. It includes a sizable hill. The hill is steep and goes on for about 3/4 of a mile; a real leg burner! I start obsessing about this hill as soon as I wake up. It gives me real anxiety, I fear the discomfort I’ll experience trudging up that hill barely able to catch my breath. Even as I approach it I doubt whether i’m ready, whether i’ll be able to get to the top, and every time I get about half way I say to myself “ I can do this, it’s not so bad”. When I’m done; the anxiety I had is a distant memory, it’s been replaced by a feeling of accomplishment, and satisfaction. So much for pattern recognition! I became aware that my perception of the hill is directly related to my relationship to it. The closer I am to that hill the more accurate my vision of it is, the further I am away the more distorted.
Of course, my mind automatically turns to sales! Specifically,
consultative selling;the process of asking thoughtful, mindful, questions in order to uncover a customers true and compelling reason to change. This is the hill! I realized the more clarity I had around the problem, and the more I was able to see the problem from the customers perspective, the closer I was able to get to it, the more effectively and efficiently I could provide solutions of value.
When i’m running it’s simple to figure out how to get a non distorted view of the hill; I just run to it. When i’m interacting with a customers it’s a little more tricky to ask the right questions at the right time and uncover a customers true and compelling reason to buy. The answer for me, comes down to Perception and Perceptual Objectivity. Perception is the uniques way we experience a given situation. Perceptual objectivity is a competency, a learned skill that enables one to perceive a situation with relative objectivity by not limiting our view through excessive subjectivity. In other words, by keeping our own biases, assumptions and thinking errors in check, we allow ourselves to be more open to seeing the multiple perspectives that make up the problem. This increased clarity allows us to ask better questions which gives us the ability to provide solutions of greater value.
Like running, you have to dig from within and challenge yourself! There is no easy way. To leverage perceptual objectivity you need to look inward and really understand what makes up your own perceptions. My experience has been that the more I look inward, deconstruct, and listen to my own stories around certain situations, the more aware I become when excessive subjectivity is getting in the way
One of my favorite quotes is one by Viktor Frankl
" Don't aim at success -- the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself"
To embrace the toil of selling with passion; to be engaged and motivated, and to act courageously, we must have the meaning and sense of purpose to will us and inspire us to action. It’s not about success directly, but an authentic commitment to selling well, so that success ensues. This dedication to doing better, is the catalyst to sustainable success, as sales people, and human beings
My intention for this blog is to create a forum to discuss sales in terms of the human experience. I want to focus on things that differentiate great from good. I want to focus on those skills, qualities , beliefs, practices, and values that represents the best of selling and salespeople. I also want to explore how best to implement, change and transform ourselves and our organizations. I want this blog to be an aggregator of our collective knowledge, ideas, wisdom and experiences.