By Sarah Denholm - Dynamic Results

I read a great summing-up of the selling process recently, dubbed ‘The Shortest Sales Training Course in the World’ (author unknown):

1. Know their business
2. Know them
3. Know your stuff

To be successful in sales, it’s essential of course that we know numbers 1 and 3 in depth, if we’re to have confidence and credibility. Research and experience take care of those. Number 2, however, to “know them”, requires more skill and artistry. This article will suggest some ways in which we can gain that knowledge, easily and consistently.

One of the main reasons that sales people miss out on sales that have their name on them, is because they just don’t understand their prospect’s needs clearly enough.

When a prospect doesn’t feel that their needs are understood, they won’t buy. And to make our job harder they will often hide those needs from us (from a need to keep control of the conversation), or, harder still, may not even be aware of their own needs themselves!

So how can we uncover what’s really going on? This is a big topic, but here are a few suggestions:

1. By attentive listening. In order to listen for the assumptions and beliefs that are behind the prospect’s words we need to create a ‘listening space’ in our minds – it’s good to do this just before we meet a client. We can close our eyes (if possible) focus on our breathing, and ask ourselves how we can best serve this particular client (even if that means being willing to walk away if we’re not a good fit).

2. As we talk, we can ask our prospective client: “what’s important?” They may reply “what’s important about what?” and that’s fine; we then say “what’s important right now?” or “what matters right now?” This will engage the prospect’s emotions, and as we all know, without emotional engagement, motivation to buy is extremely low.

What we’re doing is getting the client to drill deeper into how they make meaning, and it’s far more effective for them to supply their own context rather than us doing it for them. What’s important to them at any given point in any day will change depending on both their internal perspective and what’s occurring in their environment. You may now be thinking “well yes, that’s obvious!” but you’d be amazed at how effective the question can be to gain clarity, especially when a few topics are swirling around.

It’s like that red dot on town maps that say “you are here!” It puts both of us on the same page and this is critical for making clear headway. When the client can locate their current priorities in time and space, we’ll have much greater clarity and alignment, and a much higher chance of making the sale.

3. We all generalize constantly, and do it so fast that we rarely , if ever, take the time to test our assumptions. If we hear a customer making a generalization – often flagged by “they always….” or “that never…” or “that’s just how it is” we can very nicely ask: “I understand that you have a reason for saying that, Mr. X. May I ask what that reason is?” We’re like detectives, looking for evidence. Sometimes we might say: “May I ask what evidence you have of that?” Warning: this has to be done carefully with the right tone of voice if it isn’t to sound like interrogation!

Here’s a crucial point: where we think we’re starting out from may not in fact be the correct place to start, for the client or for us. Asking “what’s important?” and looking at evidence anchors both of us over the red dot. It show us what direction we need to go in, and what degree of motion and energy is required. If we don’t anchor ourselves in our day, it’s very easy to end up solving the wrong problem.

Of course we want the client to take action and buy from us, but it will be a win for both of us if we gain clarity and deeper understanding first. When we’re successful at that, we serve better and sell a lot more!

[Back to Archive]

Sarah Denholm is principal of Dynamic Results Group. She runs workshops on powerful sales conversations, listening skills, and has coaching programmes for sales managers and sales professionals. Sarah is a popular speaker on sales, sales management and the art of listening and resonating with the customer.

Web Site: www.dynamicresultsgroup.com.au
Email: sarah@dynamicresultsgroup.com.au