Blog From Jim Lawless
April 30 2009STOP SELLING! Start solving problems.
We’re well into the 21st Century. “Salesmen/women” exist in only small pockets now. Darwin’s laws in action.
Those who are still “selling” are in trouble. In 2009, they may die out. There is a new mindset. “Features, benefits and objection handling” are still in there - but they are buried deep and barely visible within a new framework. If these elements plus a few “closing techniques” plus some half remembered NLP “mindtricks” multiplied by the number of calls per week made make up a cornerstone of your strategy for claiming an increased share of a market with decreasing total spend - I wish you luck. You will surely need all you can get.
Instead?
Make friends, earn trust, solve problems. This does two things:
1 It makes “selling” a whole lot easier to deal with (and more fun and stimulating) for the person “selling” - It removes the Tiger for most people once you phrase it - and approach it - like this. And whether you are reading this with “HR Director”,”Head of Market Research” or “Events Organiser” on your card or whether you are in “sales” - you sell something and in this particular year you’d better deal with the Tiger and up your game. And we’re already nearly at the end of January (Rule 1 is currently paying big dividends to Tiger tamers in a tough market).
2 It increases your chances of making a successful “sale” to your internal or external clients.
Why? People want to deal with people they like and, critically, trust. Did you ever trust a “salesman”? Thought not. Me neither.
People buy things to solve their problems. Whether that problem is how to impress when they pull up at the office in their nice car or whether it is to get their accounts done with the minimum of time and effort or [insert your customers’ problem here - and if you cannot, take a walk NOW and think it through] , they buy from you to solve it.
Find out that problem. Don’t assume. It’s subtler than that. Make friends with the person and demonstrate your ability to solve it for them. Act with integrity at every stage and demonstrate that you deserve their trust.
And care. Care beyond hitting the numbers. I know if you care because I have budget. I know if you care because you want to work with me to solve my problems. You know too. So do “they”. If you could fake it well enough that “they” couldn’t tell, you’d be in Hollywood.
And, of course, deliver.
Simple as that folks. Except, of course, it’s not. It’s a big shift in mindset and involves skills that may or may not be intuitive. If you want to ensure that you and your people are making friends and solving problems rather than selling, take a look at the Taming Tigers Learning course “Sell”.
Or ring up your current training partner and see if they want to solve your problem for you.
Every success out there!
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