Another way to contrast traditional selling (dash-to-the-demo) from UnSelling is to consider how we create demand in the first place. A selling-oriented person often leads with the product/solution and hopes to capture the prospective buyer with the extraordinary features and functions of the solution. They make the assumption that the prospect is more than likely to appreciate how valuable this solution must be.
Or, perhaps they’ve read a book or two on consultative selling and they’ve learned the art of effective questioning in the early part of the buyer-seller exchange. Of course, the challenge with this approach is the patience the client may or may not have for what often feels like an interrogation followed by the “light bulb” moment when the seller declares, “Well based on your answers, have I got a solution for you!”
The UnSelling alternative takes a very different approach. Instead of desperately trying to find a pain that I can quickly solve, it attempts to engage in a dialogue. A dialogue that’s relevant to the client’s world. A dialogue that demonstrates that we understand their business and/or industry. A dialogue that engages the client in a conversation that also allows us to have further discussion.
One effective approach to doing so is using provocative point-of-view statements.
Let me share an example in my world of helping clients to transform the way their organization sells. When I meet a VP of Sales, I want to engage them in conversation and the last thing I want to do is be a hammer-looking-for-a-nail solution peddler. One way to avoid this is with a provocative question or statement: “Of all of the VP of Sales I’ve met over the years, almost none have had clarity on the biggest competitor they face in their specific market.” Now consider if you and I were having a discussion and I made this provocative statement. What would you be thinking? Perhaps you’d say, “Really? Why don’t they know?” Or you might say, “We know who our biggest competitor is – hands down!” Or you may react entirely differently – which is just fine for the UnSelling professional because we have accomplished the objective: creating a significant dialogue between two professionals (vs. a subservient buyer-seller relationship) on a topic that is relevant and powerful.
My ultimate goal is to have the opportunity to have more dialogue (perhaps a more in-depth meeting) about what’s happening in their industry – what’s working, what’s not working, or anything that allows us to build a peer-like relationship.
I should explain the “angle” associated with my question above. In most organizations I have worked or consulted with over the last 30+ years, the biggest competitor is often the dreaded, “do nothing” where the client puts us through our paces for anywhere from 3 to 9 months of the buying process only to announce at the end that they’ve decided to stay with what they have today (whether they intend to stay with the incumbent or do it themselves matters little – we’ve still lost to “do nothing”)
In essence, our goal in UnSelling is to engage the client in a discussion that builds our credibility and relationship with the potential buyer and does so without overtly selling. You have one great opportunity in the early dialogue with a client to establish your credibility and your subject-matter-expertise and this allows you to have a business discussion with an executive instead of a game of cat and mouse that so often characterizes buyer-seller exchanges.
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