They talk in torrents. They spew enough verbiage to soak the most resilient listener. They conduct a drop-by-drop word torture that swamps and then drowns their audience. They more than answer all questions with merciless waves of responses. They are traditional salespeople.
When faced with the reality of a sales situation, traditional salespeople fall drearily into the stereotype - not qualifying, answering questions without reservations, and always, always presenting.
They are what we call “I” focused. They can’t wait to tell the client about their product or service. They have endless enthusiasm for the features and benefits they bring and are totally convinced the prospect must have them. It’s all about them and their ‘dog & pony’ show.
In the professional selling world it’s all about the prospect. There are no assumptions and while there is absolutely a time and place for features and benefits it’s not in the early part of the relationship. We must focus on only those problems that are uncovered by your superior questioning and qualifying.
You are not there to sell anything. You are there to help the prospect make a buying decision. Your product or service is only relevant if the prospect believes the problem they have is necessary, if they willingly want to fix the problem and believe you are the person to provide the solution.
Get out of the selling business. Fulfilling needs is a much better career.
Dave Fischer, President, Chartwell Seventeen Advisory Group
Sandler Training NYC
