When people says things often enough, they become “common sense” and we take them at face value without even thinking about them. Sometimes you have to do a little mental housecleaning and update or get rid of common sense that is hindering you. Here are six candidates; I would love to hear yours:
The customer is always right. If this were true, there would be no place for consultative salespeople. A consultant knows more about your problems than you do, and even knows about them before you do. If this one were always true, no one would have bought anything Steve Jobs dreamed up, because they would not have “needed” it. What is the customer wrong about, that if you could educate them it would make a significant improvement in their business?
Be an expert for your customers. Yes, but… be careful about how you educate them. As Churchill said, “I’m always willing to learn, but I hate to be taught.” Even if you have all the answers, begin with questions so that they can make the answers their own. Besides, may you don’t have all the answers. We’re told to be like doctors for our customers, but one study showed that doctors made up their minds and interrupted patients within 23 seconds. Be a better listener.
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. In this attention-deficit world, potential customers have to quickly make up their minds about whether you have the competence to deliver value. The new saying should be: “People don’t care how much you care until they know how much you know.” The best way to do this and avoid the “expert trap” is to ask exceptionally good questions.
People don’t buy drill bits; they buy holes. This one is on the right track, but it does not go far enough. No one drills holes for the sake of holes; they are trying to build something. When the customer tells you why they want something, ask why. Then ask why again, then a third time. When you get to that answer, you will know the real value they need to receive. Better yet, ask and answer the why questions yourself before you get in front of the customer.
We sell solutions. This has become such a cliché that a lot of salespeople simply use the word as a synonym for product. Sell problems instead, and the solutions will become self-evident.
Never give up. People like to quote Churchill, who supposedly said, “never, never, never give up.” What he really said was, “Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense”. The good sense part is what most people leave out. I have seen too many salespeople through the years spend far too much time on “deals on wheels”, which clog up their funnels even though no one will ever buy. Remember, if you’re going to lose, lose early. Qualify ruthlessly.
You don’t want to carry authenticity too far.
An article in last Sunday’s New York Times discusses the current trend to tout the importance and value of being “authentic”. As it says, “Authenticity seems to be the value of the moment, rolling off the tongues of politicians, celebrities, Web gurus, college admissions advisers, reality television stars.”
The funny thing is, it seems to me that if you have to tell people you’re being authentic, you’re already in a bit of a hole.
The trouble with all this talk about authenticity is that ordinary people might take it seriously when they’re trying to persuade. Keep in mind that the types of people listed in the above quote are trained professionals on a closed course. You should not try this at home. What they are really doing is called “calculated authenticity”, which reminds me of the old joke that sincerity is everything; once you can fake it, you’ve got it made.
If you want to be an effective persuader, you must at least try to master the art of calculated authenticity.
Do you believe it’s important to ask questions during a sales call? How many questions do you typically ask? What do you ask about? How does it work for you? Do you see any downsides? Do you think prospects appreciate your questions or do they get tired of them? Do you have questioning fatigue yet?
No one believes more strongly than I do in the power and usefulness of questions during the persuasive process, and those who’ve been through my sales questioning module might think I’ve gone daft when I say this, but I also believe it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Asking too many questions can limit the transfer of information and the productivity of the conversation, and foster a defensive and even adversarial atmosphere.
Questions are not an end in themselves; they are a means to an end. Besides extracting information, the ultimate purpose of questions in a sales call (or any persuasive attempt) is to lead the prospect to the conclusion that they need your solution. You do this by guiding the conversation towards gaps in their current situation, exposing the costs of not taking action, and jointly agreeing on an approach. Think of the conversation as a dance, in which you guide your partner; it’s not a wrestling match in which you are trying to impose your will on them.
To mix in another metaphor, asking too many questions during a persuasive conversation is like stepping on the brakes and making a large turn of the steering wheel any time you want to turn the conversation. As with a car, when it’s rolling in the right direction, a slight pressure on the wheel will nudge it back on course without losing momentum. These slight nudges often take the form of simple open-ended statements and brief probes rather than elaborate open-ended questions.
When the conversation turns into a question and answer session, it can limit the productivity of the conversation because the client may turn passive—like a sulky teenager they will simply give you what you ask for (if that) and nothing more. So, unless you ask exactly the right questions you’re going to leave a lot at the table.
How to use “non-questions” to guide the conversation
There is nothing wrong with preparing an extensive questions list before a call, but don’t get so attached to your questions that you have to ask every one as written. Sometimes a very good first question will get the prospect talking and then you can move the conversation along from there. Your open and closed prepared questions are two indispensable tools in your persuasive toolkit, but they’ll work even better when you add these others:
Begin with a value proposition and agenda. Some of the most productive and profitable sales calls I’ve ever been on involved the customer talking for most of the call with very few questions from me. They gave me the information I needed and more importantly said the things aloud that convinced them they needed my solution. The best way to make this happen is by making it clear to them up front what you hope to accomplish from the meeting—for their benefit—and how you will proceed. The value proposition lets them know they may have a problem/opportunity and you have a solution, and the agenda describes a logical topic flow that will get them there.
Another useful tool is a brief “pre-summary” of what you know about their situation, which you can use to prime the pump and let them add or correct as necessary. You might say, “In order to save you time, would it be OK to give you a brief summary of what I’ve learned about your situation and let you add to it as necessary?”
You can also have a nice change of pace by using open-ended statements instead of questions. Instead of asking the question directly, say “I wonder how it would help if you could…”, “I’m curious about…”
A variation of the open-ended statement is a polite command. “Tell me about your…”
There is an entire set of tools under the rubric of reflective listening[1] that comprise a low-key way of guiding the conversation, including:
- Subtle prompts: “uh-huh, hmm, repeating key words”
- Paraphrasing: Give them back a brief summary of what you heard to allow for correction or addition and indicate that you’relistening.
- Emotional reflection: ”You seem concerned about…”, “That has to be exciting…”
- Hypothesis testing: “What I hear you saying is…”, “It seems to me that…”
Simple silence works surprisingly well. Often the best part of an answer is what the client says after their initial answer. When you have an extensive question list you’ll be tempted to note the answer and go on to the next question. But if you leave room at the end of the answer, even just a second or two of silence, you may be surprised what else comes out.
Of course, it’s also possible to overdo the non- questions. Ideally, you want to mix things up so the conversation stays fresh.
Changing something as fundamental as your conversational style is hard, so just try to be conscious of using variety in the ways you gain information and guide the conversation. I wonder what a difference it would make in your next sales call…
[1] Experts in motivational interviewing, which is a process that clinical psychologists use to guide clients to their own conclusions, typically use a 2:1 ratio of reflective statements to questions.
Two of the most important things you can do to be successful in sales are to plan your sales calls and to listen carefully to your customer. But, as in so much in life, too much of a good thing may actually reduce your sales effectiveness. When you listen too intently for the answers you want, there’s a chance you may miss other critical information.
I always begin my listening module with a brief activity in which I ask the audience to listen closely to a situation and be prepared for a test at the end of it. I carefully choose my words to ensure that I give them all the information they need to answer my question at the end, but invariably at least two thirds of the audience gets it wrong. The debrief shows them that their major mistake is made because they are focusing so closely on what they believe to be the relevant information that they miss the bit they need.
Does this sound familiar? Have you ever been in a sales call and been so intent on listening for the words that match your call objectives that you miss other customer needs or concerns?
