Another in the series on UnSelling™: Sell less…to win more
I recently read a book called Questioning Evangelism and it makes a compelling case that if you want to share your faith with someone who may be struggling with theirs, one effective approach is to ask great questions (as opposed to trying to provide all of the answers).
When it comes to UnSelling, the same basic principle applies. When we’re tempted to provide all the answers that we’re convinced our clients (or prospects) so badly need – resist the temptation! Instead, ask the client a provocative question that will demonstrate both your credibility and your ability to collaborate (instead of pure telling or selling).
Here’s an example from my business: When I meet a new VP of Sales I’ve become fond of starting with a provocative point of view and then asking a related question: “I’ve found that over 50% of new sales rep hires have not been successful. What percentage of new sales reps that you’ve hired in the last year or two have been good hires (defined as making objectives, demonstrated effectiveness, etc.)?”
This simple example demonstrates a couple of things to the client:
- That you have the experience and expertise to have a point of view (“most sales reps aren’t good hires”)
- It also encourages the client to give his perspective (which in many cases they don’t know the answer – unfortunately)
- And, it creates a dialogue between the two of you – which is what you really want (vs. “dashing to a demo” of your solution). The more you learn about what they’re struggling with, the better equipped you are to help them solve the challenges.
What about your selling environment – can you think of a few provocative-point-of-view statements and questions that would create a dialogue between you and your clients/prospects? Some of the smartest people I know in life ask great questions – the type of questions you can’t always answer and you sense they likely can!
Did you miss last week’s UnSelling webinar? We registered over 300 people for UnSelling™: Sell Less … To Win More! And have had over 2000 Kindle downloads in the last few days!
We understand that with everyone’s busy schedule it’s not always easy to attend these pre-scheduled events so based on the response to this topic we are making available a replay of the 60 minute webinar that you can view at your convenience.
You can view the webinar and also download a free copy of Peter Bourke’s newly published eBook UnSelling™: Sell Less … To Win More. The free eBook is available in several formats, including Kindle, Nook, iBook, PDF, and more.
This topic is all about helping sales (and non-sales) people to realize that winning new business is not about selling (or “telling”) more aggressively. It’s about changing the nature of the relationship between buyer and seller to one of collaboration.
Feel free to forward this email along to your colleagues and friends so that many can benefit from this powerful resource.