My father, Ed Bourke, was a salesman for 50+ years of his life. He’s now retired but still takes his selling skills to the kitchen table, convincing Mom that they ought to have dessert after every meal. When I was a kid growing up in Southern California, he occasionally let me tag along to his office or to one of his clients. I was always struck, in a 12 year-old’s naïve way, by how much his customers genuinely liked him – both professionally and personally. They would go out of their way to explain to me how great my father was and how helpful he had been to them for so many years. And it was these experiences that shaped my early view of what “sales” is all about: serving people really well.
Realistically, I hadn’t a clue about what sales really meant, even up to the point when I joined IBM as a sales rep in 1980. In fact, what I quickly learned at IBM is that they had a set of products (in this case – office products) that they wanted me to convince my customers and prospects to buy. And in order to pay my mortgage and put food on the table, I needed my customers to buy in sufficient volume. Initially, there was a disconnect between what I thought sales was all about as a 12 year old and what IBM expected of me as a 22 year old new hire.
Coincidentally, I spoke recently at an event where an attendee asked me how the average sales person would define the term “sales.” I responded, explaining that most sales people are trained to believe their job is to take a product/solution to prospective customers and explain to them why it would be a valuable solution to a given problem that they have today. The assumption many of them make is that if they do a reasonable job articulating the great features of their solution and the client is reasonably intelligent, they then have a high probability of closing the sale. The problem with this definition (and more importantly, this attitude) is that it feels way too much like “selling” is about convincing someone to buy versus serving someone who determines that they’d really like your help in solving their issue.
The mindset shift that occurred in my second year at IBM was just that. I began to recognize that in order to serve clients effectively, we must first help them define the problem they need to solve and help evaluate reasonable alternatives to solve this problem (regardless of whether they choose you or not).
When you embrace this philosophy of sales, your attitude becomes:
I’m really providing my client/prospect a valuable service by collaborating with them about solving their challenge. In fact, I have done my client a disservice if I neglect to help them make a well-thought-out, informed decision. Because I help clients make these decisions for a living, I am uniquely qualified as a subject-matter-expert to help prospects make good decisions.
A great sales person carries a conviction about the product/solution they represent: “My clients will truly benefit significantly more than the cost they will expend from buying my solution.” When you embrace this attitude you will be successful. If you don’t have this conviction, I’d recommend you look hard at alternative companies (or careers) that will allow you to sell and serve clients with this attitude.
What about you:
- Do you genuinely feel your clients will significantly benefit from buying your solution?
- Do you feel a sense of satisfaction (or guilt) when the prospect chooses and installs your product?
- Most importantly, do you care more about the client’s success or your ability to get the next deal?
I look forward to your feedback and comments!