Selling Is What the Customer Does

 

I recently heard a great quote by John Jacobs a legendary golf instructor, “Golf is what the ball does.” John’s explanation of one of the most complex sports was incredible. The simple statement hit on every aspect of the game with precise accuracy.

The idea behind stating, “Golf is what the ball does” was Jacob’s ability, and many others after him, to diagnose the swing fault from the flight of the golf ball. Too often golf instruction is focused on the golfer; analyzing every inch of the swing from address, to takeaway, to follow through. Was the error in the set up? Hand position? Golfer’s stance? Swing plane? The list goes on and on to the point where it is nearly impossible to accurately tell what the true problem was.

The result of how the golf ball flew tells a trained instructor exactly what the problem is and even in many cases what needs to be done to fix the issue. Selling is very similar. This leads me to coin a similar term, “Selling is what the customer does.”

Focusing on the customer, not the sales person can tell a great deal, to a trained instructor.

The fault of too many sales trainers is that they focus their attention on their customer, the failing sales person. The sales trainer is actually following my idea correctly and focusing in on the customer. The problem is that doesn’t help the flawed sales person better understand their customer. The trainer looks into how the sales person sells; not how the sales person’s customer reacts to them.

Let’s continue with the golf analogy to keep things simple. If the golf ball flight is a large slice; the club face is too open at the point of impact. If the golf ball flight is a large hook, then the club face is too closed at impact. These are the two most common mistakes in golf.

A slice in selling is not explaining the value proposition of your product or service fully; causing the buyer to be unable to see the reason for buying. A hook in selling is talking too much; not taking the time to listen to your customer and understand their position. These are two very common selling mistakes.

To improve your ability to sell and solve your slice (poorly explaining why a customer should buy your product) review your customers reaction.  By focusing your attention on how your customer reacted you open your mind to be able to identify the problem and work to correct it.

Did you customer respond negatively to the price? Did your customer see a need for your product? Was your customer a fully qualified potential customer? Did your customer offer a reason why they would not be purchasing your product? Did your customer listen attentively or did their attention wonder?

From these reactions you will be able to understand what area of your sales presentation needs work. By focusing your attention on how your customer reacts to you; you will greatly improve your ability to understand how you are performing with each and every customer.

Now let’s look at the hook in selling (talking too much). How do you know if you talk too much? Focus again on your customer’s reaction. Did your customer ask you any questions during your sales presentation? Did your customer ask to try your product? Did you get any feedback from your customer? Did you learn key information about your customer? ie: name, age, family situation, reason for purchasing. If you know very little about your customer and seldom receive feedback from your customers; it is likely you talk too much when selling. You simply can’t learn about a person if you do all the talking.

Many sales people think by doing all the talking they are ‘taking the lead’ or ‘warming up the sales call’ or even better ‘reeling them in’. The only thing you accomplish by talking all the time is displaying arrogance and ignorance at the same time.

Effectively listening is harder than most people think. You will need to start slowly if you suspect you talk too much. The most effective way to get a customer to talk during a sales presentation is to ask a question about the person directly. Everyone is an expert on one thing, themselves. Take note of what the person says even make a quick note about one particular point. Taking notes helps commit a fact to memory and creates a pause when the customer may offer more information assisting you greatly in learning more.

If during a sales presentation, you feel you are talking too much and things are going poorly, come clean. Early on in my career I remember coming clean a few times. I would say something like, “I am having a tough time here; is there something in your opinion I could be doing better?” If the person blows you off you have really lost nothing because they were going to blow your off anyway. On the other hand, if the person senses you are genuine they might give you some free advice that you one day come in very useful. In my career I found many people were willing to help me after I came clean.

By reading your customer’s reactions you will be able to tell what area of selling you need to improve on. However, if you are really unsure and very new to selling, seek out an experienced colleague then explain how your customers react and get their advice.

You will see improvement in your selling skills just by focusing in on how your customer reacts to you. It won’t solve all your problems over night; but it will demonstrate your genuine interest in your customer and they will take notice of that.