YOU MAY KNOW HOW TO SELL - BUT THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO BUY
A sales rep learned from a successful colleague that customers don't inherently know how to make purchasing decisions. The key insight was that instead of asking customers what they want to do next, successful salespeople assertively guide the decision-making process.
Summary
The speaker describes a learning experience early in their sales career where initial success was followed by struggles at a new company. They sought mentorship from a colleague who was exceptionally successful despite having disadvantages like a poor territory, weak sales engineer support, and limited technical knowledge. Through shadowing this successful rep, the speaker observed a fundamentally different approach to customer interactions. Rather than being reactive and asking customers what they preferred to do next, this rep was assertive and directive, telling prospects what steps they should take, what should be important to them, and how to proceed. When questioned about this approach, the mentor explained that customers lack formal training in decision-making and product evaluation. He argued that prospects typically conduct unfocused research, looking at multiple websites and downloading various products, often making decisions based on superficial preferences rather than structured evaluation. The mentor emphasized that their role was sales, not customer service, and that successful selling required taking control of the process rather than simply responding to customer requests.
About this episode
https://www.b2bRevenue.com - Brutal Truth About Sales & Selling Podcast Selling in a New Market Space: http://www.amazon.com/Selling-New-Market-Space-ebook/dp/B002V3RWZA FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maverick-Method/234345506651411 WEBSITE: https://www.B2Brevenue.com LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianburns TWITTER: briangburnsb2b EMAIL: [email protected] - Sales mistakes and the top mistakes that many salespeople make. We all make mistakes but if we learn from those mistakes we will grow as salespeople. Thank you for watching my sales and selling videos. Please check my other videos on my channel. I have several on a wide array of sales and selling topics. They include "sales strategies" "sales prospecting" "lead generation" "b2b sales" "b2b sales selling". Regardless of your selling approach be it "spin selling", "snap selling", "solution selling" "strategic selling" or "customer centric selling". You will found several videos on all of these topics the simple sale, complex sale, sales training, sales workshops, sales closing, challenger sales and selling. We will also cover large sales, sales blog, cold calling, every major sales skill, sales techniques, sales jobs, motivation, b2b sales and selling. We provide highly customized training for all levels of skill. Please contact us with any questions.
Key Insights
- The mentor argued that customers lack formal training in decision-making and product evaluation, often making purchasing decisions by randomly comparing websites and products before essentially flipping a coin
- The successful sales rep claimed that most salespeople fail because they ask customers what they want to do next, when customers fundamentally don't know how to navigate the buying process
- The mentor distinguished between being in 'service' versus 'sales,' asserting that closing deals requires taking control and directing the process rather than acting as a reactive 'service monkey'
Topics
Transcript
I had a great first two years in enterprise sales and then I got a little ahead of myself. I went and I started a new job and there I didn't have much success for quite a while. But what I did was I followed this other rep in the company, but he didn't have the best territory. He didn't have the best sales engineer. He wasn't the most technical. He had this terrible territory, but he was crushing it. So I begged him, can I work with you for a week? Can I follow you around? Can I see what you're doing? And what I noticed was when he was in front of the customer, he behaved very differently…
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ARE YOU A SERVICE CLERK OR A SALES PERSON???
The speaker argues against the idea that modern sales should focus on being service-oriented, claiming that true sales professionals must push back on clients and guide them to the right solutions. They distinguish between sales roles that require challenging clients and service roles that simply accommodate client requests.