A friend and I were discussing auto sales in preparation for a presentation he will be delivering tomorrow on that topic. It got me to thinking … are salesman, at least in some industries, an anachronism? Those who do survive and succeed will, I am certain, have a markedly different mindset than what they have known before, and they will use a different skill set: that of purposeful and insightful questioning.
In my comments, I reference “GREAT questions.” In Choice Analysis, our proprietary decision-making training, we teach the questions that decision makers need to ask and answer in order to choose wisely. These same questions can be used to facilitate another’s decision process to truly help them get what will best satisfy their needs.
This knowledge, employed by a TOTALLY customer-focused “purchasing advisor” (my suggestion to replace the title “salesman”), sets the stage for valuable information exchange, increasing trust and, ultimately, more sales. In fact, this framework would assist anyone involved in “consultative sales.”
What are your thoughts on the state of sales? How would you advise those who are in the business of pushing commodities to reinvent themselves in the face of the information onslaught that is the Internet?
Two employees are responsible for designing and rolling out a new initiative. One is a hard charger, ready to plunge ahead, develop this new training and take the bull by the horns. His attitude is “we can do it, let’s get it done.”
Another employee wants to thorougly think through the training before diving in. He is concerned about the integrity and completeness of the assessment data on which the training will be based. Focused on the quality of program, he thinks that we are moving too fast. His attitude is “let’s make sure that we get it done right.”
I’m in the middle, and I need to make a decision
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The 5 Why’s and / or Fishboning are “problem solving” tools we frequently run across working with clients. Both tend to work well when:
However, as anyone who has used these tools knows, you can not always count on 1 – 5 above being in place.
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Here is a test: Do you believe that …
I’m hoping that you’re answering with a resounding “yes, of course. So what’s your point?”
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