Think You Know Your Buyers? You Don’t! Stop Guessing!

Been selling for a while? Yes? Then I’m sorry to tell you that you probably have a very serious case of “I’ve-got-this-all-figured-out-itis” and it is usually dually diagnosed with the equally serious “I like to speak for my buyers” syndrome.

Now brace yourself because I’m going to share two tough love messages with you:

1) Get over yourself! You don’t have it all figured out so stop guessing!

2) Your guessing is losing you sales.

Let me break it down for you because believe me, I’ve been diagnosed with “I’ve-got-this-all-figured-out-itis” and “I like to speak for my buyers” syndrome repeatedly and have to keep vaccinating myself against them!

When you “guess” at what is going on with your buyers you run the risk of three very dangerous scenarios:

1) Getting into a pattern of “no” with your buyer

2) Placing disproportionate amounts of importance on things that are actually of low importance to your buyer

3) Bringing up objections and weren’t there

Let me break these down so we can all be cured.

Getting Into a Pattern of No

A very disturbing symptom of “I’ve-got-this-all-figured-out-itis” is asking very pointed discovery questions to a buyer in the attempt to steer the conversation in your desired direction.

This is how the pattern can look:

Salesperson: Is X important to you?
Buyer: No
Salesperson: Has Y been a problem for you?
Buyer: No
Salesperson: I bet you want to know about Z, right?
Buyer: Not really. You know what, I think I’ll just look around on my own.

When we ask pointed discovery questions instead of broad questions, we don’t allow the customer to take the conversation in the direction that they want and need it to go.

We often get ourselves caught in a pattern of “no” and after too many “no’s” the buyer gets annoyed and pulls the plug on the conversation.

The cure? Broad questions that look more like this:

Salesperson: What is important to you?
Buyer: Thank you for asking, _________ is important to me.
Salesperson: What is the main problem you’re facing right now?
Buyer: Oh, the main problem is ____________.
Salesperson: What can I help explain?
Buyer: I’m really confused by ____________.

Place Disproportionate Amounts of Importance on Unimportant Items

I’ll play the other side for a moment.

Let’s say that you ask pointed discovery questions, but the buyer doesn’t give you a no.

They answer.

You asked the question so they figure they should give you some type of answer, right?

But, even if they answer you, there is still a problem.

Why? Because now you will place disproportionate amounts of importance in the wrong area because you steered the conversation.

For example, if a sales person asks if a warranty is important to me and I say yes even if I don’t care that much about the warranty, the sales person may launch into a whole monologue about warranties because they think that is what is going to “sell” me.

But I get bored and lost in the details because I didn’t really care and I ultimately find a way to get away from the “annoying” sales person.

Make sense?

Bring Up Objections That Weren’t There To Begin With

This is like the sales person’s version a Tourette’s and it is a side effect of “I like to speak for my buyers” syndrome.

It happens like this: the sales person hears an objection and starts shouting out explanations that often times cause more damage than assistance by actually introducing additional objections that they buyer didn’t originally have.

Example:

Buyer: I’m not sure about this plastic.
Salesperson: Don’t worry! It’s been tested non-toxic by the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics and the PETA (in case you have animals).
Buyer: Huh, I just thought is was ugly but now I’m concerned about my kids chewing on it. I better go research this some more before I make a decision.

Want to change people worlds including your own?

Stop guessing! Stop working so hard!

The buyer will tell you how to sell them if you will let them.

Just ask and listen.


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About the Author: Amy O'Connor

As one of the most in-demand sales training consultants in North America today, Amy O’Connor brings a decade’s worth of industry experience and knowledge, along with a fresh female perspective on leadership, to her impactful and enlightening seminars.