Sell Means Solving Problems

During my career in business to business sales management I’ve occasionally met salespeople whose natural talent or good timing and luck have allowed them to be successful right from the start of their selling careers.

For most, however, becoming an effective salesperson requires time, hard work, a commitment to success and typically some failure along the way before real consistent results are achieved.

I’m often asked what advice I would give to new or inexperienced salespeople to help them get started. While every salesperson has different strengths and weaknesses, there are a couple of basic concepts I think are critical for all new salespeople to understand if they are going to achieve real, consistent success in their careers.

1. Business customers, particularly decision makers at larger companies, are not so much looking for “products” as much as they are for ideas on how to solve business problems. They need faster computers to speed up billing, or they need cheaper paper to lower costs etc. Their focus is rarely on the product (computers or paper), but instead on their business problem (billing or controlling costs). The products are tools they use to solve problems, but resolving the problem is more important to them that the actual product in almost every case. The more senior the customer’s responsibility level, the more this is true. So, it’s usually a good idea for the salesperson to focus on making sure he or she understands the customer’s problem and how their product solves it before shifting gears to bragging about all of the products whiz bang features. Features and benefits are how to differentiate products vs. competitors, but it’s usually best to focus on highlighting them after you’ve established firmly with your customer that you understand their problem and have an idea how to solve it

2. Selling is not a zero-sum game. In other words, the customer does not have to “lose”, in order for the salesperson to “win”. The customer who feels they are manipulated into buying at too high a price, or into buying before they’re ready, may place an order today out of necessity, but will be reluctant to give much repeat business. The best, longest lasting and most profitable customer relationships are ones in which the customer and the salesperson both win. The salesperson gets their order and the customer gets the product or service that meets their needs at the right time, price etc. Salespeople who focus too much on “getting the order” at all costs and not enough on making sure the customer feels like they’re winning too will occasionally win a deal but will likely lose out in the long run.

Like most professions, consistently good results in sales are rarely the result of just good luck or natural talent. Hard work, preparation and an understanding of your customer’s challenges are the cornerstones of long term success. And while good luck and natural talent help (it beats being unlucky and talentless), It seems to me like there’s never enough of those commodities to go around.