I was talking to some salespeople about techniques to figure out what is up at a prospect.  You’re working with them for a while – they show some interest – you do some selling – and then everything gets quiet.  What can we say or do to get things going?  We also had some cases where we just could not get insight into what is really happening at a customer.

We kicked some ideas around, and I noticed the same pattern in all the approaches:

• We would say something
• Based on what we say, they would say another thing
• We would respond
• They would then admit what we wanted them to say

It was like we were setting them up with a “move.”  I went through this Sandler training once where the instructor talked about “moves” – little tricks each salesperson had to get something done.  It was like salespeople were a pitcher, we just need to throw the right pitch to get the result we want.

The problem with this approach was that the conversations never went the way we wanted.  We would plan it all out and then something would just go wrong.  We compromised with another Sandler approach by doing some negative selling – we tried to find reasons with the customer why they should NOT do what we wanted.  This worked better.

Still, the salespeople had some goal in mind when they talked to the customer – they hoped that by being negative, they could get the customer to a positive place and get that stuff bought.  They all had some purpose behind what they were saying.

It made me remember a call I was on a little while ago.  I got pulled into a conversation suddenly, and I was completely unprepared.  The prospect started to talk about their concerns and some of their issues.  I really did not have any context – I honestly did not care too much about the conversation – the deal was not too crucial.  I found myself really listening to the customer and responding to their concerns.   I sort of forgot about what the “objective” of the call was – I just listened and asked some questions as if I were a co-worker of the prospect.

The call went really well…..we accomplished a ton and won the business.  I started thinking about what made the difference.  I think it was my attitude….it reminded me of all the cheesy stuff people say about Zen Buddhism.  They talk about losing yourself and “hearing the sound of one hand clapping.”  Maybe we as salespeople should let go of all our goals and moves and tricks (try it once) and really see if we are the right choice for the customer.

This will be a different approach for the prospect, and your attitude might make the difference.  I wonder if people can even make this adjustment.  Remember, wax on, wax off.  Simple!

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