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Yesterday, I had a discussion with "Mark." Mark is one of the best sales/business
development professionals I have ever met. In the market segments in which he sells,
he is truly an expert.
He's spent many years in understanding the industry, the players,
the key issues facing everyone in the value delivery chain. Customers seek and respect
Mark's opinion. He's helped customers achieve great things with his company's solutions.
Coupled with that, Mark has a very high level of enthusiasm and energy---it's infectious. Meeting with Mark, or seeing customers with him is always interesting. It's often hard to keep up with the ideas.
Imagine my surprise when Mark asked me for some advice today. While he is the highest performer in his company, he was having some challenges with closing deals. He said he was getting sales to a certain point and Then they seem to stall. We were talking about what was going wrong.
Fortunately, I had been on some calls with Mark. I've seen how he interacted with customers. I've also seen Mark in conversations with his peers in his company and we had had many conversations between ourselves.
Mark has a problem---it's a problem I've seen many bright, high energy, and high performing sales professionals have. I noticed that Mark rarely lets anyone complete their thoughts. Mark's mind is racing ahead of the conversation. Before the customer has had a chance to state their issues, Mark knows the answer and is presenting a solution. He's eager to solve the issue, his enthusiasm and energy causes him to interrupt and to start presenting a solution.
Since Mark is truly an expert in the industry, more often than not, he is focusing
on the right issue and presenting a powerful solution. However, this creates a real
problem -- one the Mark is totally unconscious about.
The customer never gets to tell
their story, the customer never really feels that she is being heard. Mark has not
given them the chance to explain their issues.
The problem gets worse. A few weeks
ago, I was in a meeting with Mark and one of his customers.
A few sentences into the discussion, Mark could read where things were going and
jumped in to talk about the issues, their impact on the customer and their customers
and potential solutions to resolve the issues. He wasn't pitching, but speaking from
his expertise and experience --- an in many senses was very credible.
The problem, however, was that wasn't the issue that was bothering the customer.
By interrupting the customer, Mark had cut off the chance to hear the real issues
that were bothering the customer and address those. While Mark eventually discovered
this and corrected it, it took some time. Fortunately the customer was generous and
forgiving, giving Mark the opportunity to explore the real issues.
I see the same
scenario too many times, with some of the best, most knowledgeable and experienced
sales people.
Going back to Mark's and my discussion. He asked me what to do. I started
to tell him, then he jumped in......
First Let Your Customer Finish Their Sentence Then Ask 3 Questions
After I stopped the discussion, I said: "Mark, here is your new mantra: 'Let the
customer complete their sentence or thought. Never, never, under any circumstances
interrupt her. Then, before you respond to the customer, ask her three questions.
If you do this, you will see profound changes in your effectiveness.'"
Mark paused and thought about it. He made a few comments, stopped himself and said he was being defensive. We started discussing it. Some things we concluded:
o Everyone wants to be heard--they want the chance to express their views and know they are being listened to. They want the chance to tell their story---and they need to tell their story to someone who is listening.
o As smart as we are, until we have heard the customer's view, until it comes from their mouths, we are just assuming---and we know what assumptions make us. If we give the customer a chance to complete their thoughts, we will learn something new.
O If we ask the customer three questions before responding, the quality of both our listening and our knowledge increases exponentially. We can then respond more appropriately and have an engaged customer.
I could tell Mark took it to heart. He wrote it down on the front cover of his notebook.
He wanted to see it before each call with a customer.
Before we concluded, Mark asked me, "What are the three questions I should ask?"
So what are the "three questions?" I'm not sure there is a right answer to this.
Also, these three questions will be just the beginning of a conversation in which
you will want to engage your customers---hopefully you will ask many more as you
probe.
When a customer has described a situation, issue, or problem, generally, the
3 key questions I tend to think of are:
1. What is the impact of this issue on you
and on the business?
It is important to explore the impact both from a personal and
business point of view. Try to quantify this impact because it becomes a key element
of your value proposition. Drill down and make sure you really understand the impact
of this issue.
2. If this issue were to be resolved, what would the impact be on you and the business?
This may sound a little redundant to the first question, but here you are trying
to explore new opportunities or things they can do if the problem is eliminated.
Generally, people are so focused on problems, they become blinded to what the problems
are keeping them from doing. This is an area of tremendous opportunity for the customer
and asking this question gives you the chance to explore these opportunities. Again,
try to quantify so that, because this is part of your value proposition.
3. In terms of all the things that you are working on, where is this in your priorities?
If it isn’t in their top 3-5 priorities, it will never get done. As sales people,
we tend to leap on issues that we can address. Customers tend to let us continue
to discuss those issues, even if they are a low priority. For us to make a sale,
generally, we have to be in the top priority of issues they are addressing.
For those of you that have had any type of "SPIN Training," you will recognize these
questions as a variant of the SPIN approach.
Dave Brock is President and CEO of Partners In EXCELLENCE, a consulting company focused on sales performance and effectiveness, channel development, and business strategy. Dave writes for many blogs and magazines, including his own blog: Making A Difference, or follow Dave Brock at www.twitter.com/davidabrock
Copyright 2009 Dave Brock, Partners In EXCELLENCE
