9 Questions to Ask Before Presenting
Many sales professionals think a sales call should consist of a couple of minutes of "rapport building" followed by a speech in which the sales rep describes his or her company and product in elaborate detail. This is a stupid because the focus is on the sales rep and the reps' firm while the customer's needs and interests remain neglected. Dumb, dumb, dumb!
This "show up and throw up" approach is particularly common inside companies that are proud of their products and services and believe that the quality and capabilities of those products and services are what drives their customers to buy. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
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Many sales professionals think a sales call should consist of a couple of minutes of "rapport building" followed by a speech in which the sales rep describes his or her company and product in elaborate detail. This is a stupid because the focus is on the sales rep and the reps' firm while the customer's needs and interests remain neglected. Dumb, dumb, dumb!
This "show up and throw up" approach is particularly common inside companies that are proud of their products and services and believe that the quality and capabilities of those products and services are what drives their customers to buy. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Citibank, a company that's taken billions of dollars in bailout money apparently plans to spend $400 million to stick its logo on a stadium. This giant branding exercise isn't going to help Citibank sell its products, and it certainly isn't going to help relieve the credit crisis. But that's the kind of horse puckey that happens when marketeers convince top management that "branding" is vitally important.
Customers don't give rat's rear end for your business, your company or your products. Customer are interested in their own career, their own company, and the ability of their own company to sell to their own customers. In that order. Your "stuff" isn't even on their list.
With this in mind, here are nine questions to ask yourself before you make any sales presentation:
- How does this individual perceive the problem I intend to solve?
- What is the pithy summary of my idea that will appeal to this person?
- What roles does this person play in the decision-making process?
- What is my goal for this encounter?
- What is the basis for my credibility with this person?
- Will my idea conflict with any of this person's beliefs?
- How might my idea conflict with this person's interests?
- Can I leave the relationship better than I found it?
- What kind of public commitment from this person would best build momentum?
The above is based on a conversation with a couple of brilliant Wharton B-School professors: G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa, co-authors of the new book "The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas." Wicked smart guys, both of them.