How Sales has been taught to us? Over the years, we have been taught that our responsibility is to sell. This has been your driving force and guides you to sell the products. You begin this by reaching out to people over phone, email and messages with the single goal in mind to make a Sale.
Your efforts are focused on convincing customer to buy the product and buy it as soon as possible. For this, you try multiple strategies and approach to convince prospective customer:
Highlight every product feature possible
Fine tune Sales Pitch with every details that can be used to convince such as customers & Partners your business has, awards and recognition won by you etc…
The Situation
However, every effort you invest to convince customer goes in vein. In fact, the more you try to sell to the customer, the more he runs away leaving you in desperation and wondering –
What am I doing wrong?
Why I am unable to grab customer’s attention?
Why nobody listens to me?
What is ruining my Sales?
The Problem
Well, the culprit here is the mindest – “Sale is the Goal.” This Mindset “unknowingly” has a major ‘Negative’ psychological impact on your Sales Approach. Let me elaborate,
Convincing is a negative expression to a human mind. It drives us away from anyone who try to convince us. Its effect is profound when we are engaged with a stranger and money is involved in the equation.
You have been a customer too. You too have purchased millions of merchandise (apparels, Gadgets, stationary, Real Estate etc…) from Salesman. When you have been on the other side of the table as customer, did you buy from a salesman who try to convince you or did you ignore him? Exactly, you try to avoid or prefer to come out of such engagements that involve convincing. Why?
It’s simple, human brain sees ‘Convincing’ as a negative impression, a trap that anybody would like to avoid. He feels a fear of being trapped or tricked and as a result try to disengage. And, that’s what happens to your prospective customer too when you try to convince him - he resists. But the question is
Why do you try to convince customer?
How does “Convincing” gets injected in your Sales Approach?
Again, it’s the mind-set “Sale is the Goal.” It breeds & infuses – convincing in your approach. When you want to sell a product to someone, you try to figure out ways of convincing him. This is what runs through your mind -
Show the product features to the prospective customer
Talk about my biggest customers, number of customer I have
Highlight our awards, recognition, media coverage etc…
The Result
And when you try to convince him, by the very nature of the same human psychology, he feels unsafe and resists by:
Showing fake interest in the beginning and then silently walk out and stop responding
Try to be polite and give excuses to come out of the discussion
Hit you hard with a direct “No”
And, leaves you struggling for sales and growth. Now, you must be wondering, if I am not supposed to convince then how am I supposed to approach a client and make a sale. Well, let me introduce “Not Convincing” to fill the void and help you double your sales.
The Solution
In a Sales Engagement, if you wish to engage strangers into conversation over the phone, email or social messages; if you wish people take genuine interest in your proposition and buy from you then switch your mindset from “Sales is the Goal” to “Sales is an Outcome”.
Sales is just the result of a positive and successful engagement that happens between customer and salesperson.
A Salesman approach a customer with the mindset to “identify his pain points”
Salesman initiate a round of questions to understand the challenges
Customer reveals Pain Points blocking his personal or business aspirations
Salesman provides a solution and Sales just happen as an outcome
Yes, Sales is actually an outcome. When you realize it and shift your focus from ‘making a sale’ to ‘finding the problem’, your sales approach upscale from being a Salesman to a Consultant. You begin your Sales Discussions with questions to understand customer’s problem.
What is the problem you are trying to resolve?
When did this happened?
What business function is affected the most?
It’s similar to how a doctor approach his patients. He doesn’t approach them to sell his services, medicines or tests. Instead, he focuses on identifying patient’s problem.
This will have a major psychological shift for the prospective customer too. He will now see the engagement as ‘All About Me and my Business’ and you will be positioned as an expert looking to understand and resolve his problem. This invokes his interest, makes him feel safe, attracts him towards you and sales just happen automatically.
Conclusion
So, remember the Thumb Rule and say it to yourself when approaching a prospective client –
I am not here to Sell. Sales is not the Goal.
Sales is an outcome. I am here to find his Problem.
If you follow this mindset, having no response from the prospective customer will be a thing of the past. Attracting new clients, engaging them into productive and meaningful discussions and closing deals will happen automatically for you.
I have discussed it thoroughly in my book “Sales Decoded - 5 steps to powerful selling and in my online sales courses here Sales Training Books | Courses | eBooks | Workshops | Events | Demo
And, if you are in Chennai, Bangalore or Hyderabad, join my Sales Training Workshop to learn the Top Sales Approach - Authoritative Selling Business Consulting | Sales Training - Chennai | Bangalore | Hyderabad
