We began this series with a description of what an ideal sales conversation looks and sounds like. Part 2 listed the 7 Barriers to the Ideal Sales Conversation. Today we focus on the prerequisites to reaching that ideal.
First, let’s recap: According to my definition, the ideal sales conversation is a:
genuine and productive dialogue between individuals who share a common purpose
In effect, it’s one in which two (or more) minds think together. That can only happen when both sides trust each other enough to open up, and are willing and able to learn from and to teach the other.
It’s primarily the job of the salesperson to ensure that the conditions are in place for trust to exist. For the first, here’s a quote that anyone in sales will recognize:
They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
But caring is not enough to establish trust; good intentions are useless unless you can deliver. They also have to have confidence in your competence. So, the corollary to this is:
They don’t care how much you care until they know how much you know.
You need both—concern and competence—to achieve an ideal sales conversation. To put both those words into even plainer English, you have to care and to know.
Caring
I can’t say too much about this aspect without climbing up on my soap box and preaching, so let me just put it this way. Sales is a great career for making money, but the paradox is that the real money comes to those who don’t make it their number one concern. The best way to get what you want is to help clients and customers get what they want—and much more importantly—what they need.
You don’t get caring from reading a blog post; you either have it or you don’t, and customers can tell.
The practical reason for caring during the sales conversation is that it will put you in the outside-in frame of mind; it will make you curious and genuinely interested in what they have to say, and customers can tell that, too.
Knowing
Until trust is firmly established, information is like currency; you have to spend some to get some back. That’s how your initial knowledge will make the difference between an interrogation and a willing exchange of information and ideas. Knowledge of that customers want and need comes from business acumen and preparation.
Business acumen is a prerequisite because it’s the best way to open up a productive dialogue. It’s the best way to translate your product knowledge into insights about how to improve your customer’s business operations and then express those improvements in the language of increased revenues, lower costs, greater cash flow, and reduced risks.
Remember, you get sent to who you sound like, and without business acumen, you will be stuck at the influencer level. You can still have great sales dialogues at this level, but they will not be as productive as those with high-level decision makers.
Business acumen has to be supplemented with preparation, because the perception of value is highly personal, and every company and every situation is unique. It’s one thing to know in general that your solution may lower costs and improve cash flow; it’s on a different level entirely to know the specifics about your counterpart’s costs and cash flow.
Your depth of preparation will send a loud and clear message that you take it seriously; it is a clear signal about both your caring and your knowledge.
The best thing about caring and knowing is that they can be mutually reinforcing. The more you know about a customer, the more you care; the more you care, the more you want to know.
Probably not what you’re aiming for
The last post defined an ideal sales conversation as:
Genuine and productive dialogue between individuals who share a common purpose.
It’s probably embarrassingly clear that most sales conversations don’t quite reach that ideal. What are the barriers that prevent it?
Lack of preparation: You don’t know enough about the customer and their situation to open the conversation to a subject that they care about. Or you demonstrate that you haven’t done the work to earn the credibility to establish trust and intimacy.
History and preconceptions: The customer may have had a bad experience with you or your company, or may have preconceptions about you (planted by competitors, perhaps). You may be afraid to bring up potential negatives, but elephants in the room will make their presence felt if they’re not acknowledged and addressed early.
Excessive goal focus: This can manifest itself in two ways. If you focus too much on what success or failure will mean to you in this sales call, your eagerness or fear will leak through and taint the conversation. The second risk is being so focused on what you’re trying to achieve that you don’t pay enough attention to the person in front of you. One of the reasons for excessive goal focus is this next barrier:
Falling in love with your plan: Planning is a good thing, but don’t fall in love with your plan. No matter how logical it is, the customer always has a vote, and you need to use your judgment to know when to stick with the plan and when to follow the flow of the conversation. Along the same lines, you may have crafted some exquisite questions, and then be so focused on asking the questions that you miss signals—either they have already answered the question, or they’re telling you that they want to talk about something else.
Conscious competence: You know the techniques you’re supposed to use to ask the right questions, listen actively, and manage objections, but you still have to think about them. You haven’t used them so much that they become unconscious habits, a part of who you are. Sports psychologists tell us that athletes choke when they think too much. When they trust the techniques they’ve practiced, hard-wiring and habits carry them to success.
Impatience: Two vital ingredients of ideal sales conversations are trust and willingness to change, and both take time to develop. Pushing either one too fast can backfire on you. For example, we love to sell solutions, so we often try to cram them into the smallest opening that sounds like a problem. In doing so we may solve the wrong problem or scare off the customer who is not yet ready.
Pride, Enthusiasm and Passion: Wait—aren’t these all supposed to be good things? Why would they be barriers to an ideal sales conversation? They are good, but if they’re not held in check they can keep you from seeing things from the customer’s point of view. I’m reminded of Churchill’s observation that “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” Just remember, they’re not that into you or your product. If they ask what time it is don’t tell them the fascinating history of watchmaking.
If you remove these seven barriers, you’re well on your way to the ideal sales conversation. In the next post, we’ll examine the positive steps you can take to get the rest of the way.
If selling were simple and easy, the ideal sales conversation would sound like this:
Salesperson: “Sign here. Press hard and make three copies.”
Customer: “OK.”
Real life is not so simple and easy, of course. But it is possible to have a conversation with a buyer that is even better than that—one in which you establish an immediate connection, have a meaningful discussion that uncovers pressing needs, and agree on a way forward that leaves both sides happier and better off.
The first step in achieving this ideal is to get a clear view of what needs to be in place for it to happen. The ideal sales conversation is one that contains:
Genuine and productive dialogue between individuals who share a common purpose.
What does genuine mean? It means that the flow of ideas, information and insight moves along so naturally that it feels like two minds are in synch, like both sides have figuratively moved to the same side of the desk to solve a common problem together. You feel like you’re talking to a trusted friend, because you respect their competence and you sense their real concern for your interests. It’s informal and professional at the same time. It’s comfortable, but still contains creative tension.
What does productive mean? It moves the interests of both sides along, closer to an intelligent decision. While both sides may personally enjoy the dialogue, neither side loses sight of the fact that they are in the meeting to serve the interests of their employers. At the same time, both sides approach the conversation in a non-zero sum and long term spirit. To borrow a phrase from the real estate industry, it is the “highest and best use” of time for both sides.
What does dialogue mean? It’s not a monologue, and it’s not an interrogation. Both sides talk in proper proportion. We like to say that the best sales dialogues are those in which the customer talks far more than the salesperson, but that is not an absolute necessity. It’s one in which your questions get answered without you even asking. It’s kind of like a tennis match, because each side knows which court the ball is in without having to think about it, except it’s more like a long rally than anyone trying to score a quick point, and we usually let the customer bounce the ball on their side as long as they want. Listening is easy, speaking does not feel forced, and even silence adds to the forward flow.
What does common purpose mean? The common purpose is the improvement of the customer’s situation, which is reached by jointly developing insights about what they need to:
- Achieve a goal
- Solve a problem
- Take advantage of an opportunity
- Respond to change
- Deal with risk.
In pursuing the common purpose, both sides think and learn.
In summary, you know the sales conversation has been ideal when both sides perceive the discussion as having been profitable and pleasurable. You know it has been ideal if both sides are proud to report it back to their managers.
