Selling Is Everything. G.F. Tanham

right below salespeople is another listing in the Thesaurus which one can only hope is related, “Salesians.” Salesians, whom I thought at first blush are a special club of salespeople, were in fact members of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, a Roman Catholic congregation founded in Turin, Italy in 1845 and “dedicated chiefly to education and missionary work.” An interesting analogy to selling, St. Francis de Sales should be the patron saint of salespeople, as we, too, believe we are sent to educate and convert the world to our solutions. It would seem that American Heritage has a correct description, but for the wrong thing. One can only surmise that salespeople are in fact doing missionary work and educating the world.

      In looking at the common threads, education is a key component of this process of enlightenment and conversion to a way of thinking, whether it is a sales situation or religious inspiration. The Salesians knew this and made it the foundation of their ministry and charter. They looked at the needs of their communities and saw the obvious need for education and guidance. They were an integral part of their communities so they had firsthand knowledge of the individuals’ and communities’ needs. They understood and provided a solution to the plight of the people they served. The rewards (What’s in it for me?) were satisfaction in the dawning of awareness both educationally as well as spiritually within the people they served, which in turn elevated their status in the community and in the Salesians order. This scenario is what I call a “mutually beneficial relationship.”

      This is a bit deeper than most salespeople will think in relation to our similarities, but in each area we, as salespeople, are consistent in our objectives with the Salesians. This is true in that one of the first things people want to know is who you are and what you do as the baseline of relevance as an individual or in the community. If there is no relevance or understanding of the value of the individual or community there is no interest or perceived value to attain.

      REMEMBER, YOU ONLY HAVE TO SUCCEED

      THE LAST TIME.

      BRIAN TRACY

      CHAPTER 2

      THE DECISION TO BUY

      The Decision2Buy process is a set of four questions or stages that assist in the selling process by learning from the prospect what their needs and value (What’s in it for me?) criteria are. The questions are:

      1)Who are you? Who makes or provides the product or service? Who are you, the company and person? and, what’s in it (the benefit or value) for me?

      2)What do you do? What product or service do you provide and what’s in it (the benefit or value) for me?

      3)How do you do it? How and what makes your product and service so special and what’s in it (the benefit or value) for me?

      4)Who do you do this for? Who is your customer and is it relevant and what’s in it (the benefit or value) for me?

      Inherent in each stage is the personal or professional need/desire factor, the What’s in it for me? driver. In every sale there has to be a value in one form or another whether it’s personal, physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, social or functional. If the value or benefits are obvious to the buyer there is motivation for the action of buying.

      In the act of buying, we all consciously or unconsciously use a mental checklist to determine value. This process is true whether we’re buying a tube of toothpaste, a car, a service or product for business. There is always a Decision2Buy process and value/motivation criteria (What’s in it for me?). When purchasing complex or expensive items, the processes are more investigative, participatory and usually longer in duration, but they are predicated on the same foundational steps. Risks and costs vary and the ramifications may be greater but the actual buying is processed and concluded in the same manner. People rely on this process to sort, verify and match needs and desires through to the completion of the buying process. As in most things human, there are different styles in completing the transaction and working the process, emphasizing different stages, circumstances and timing.

      It is a fact that when we contemplate purchasing, we always ask the same questions iteratively until we make the purchase or decide not to do so based on the value provided in the answers. Buying always starts with the most basic of questions (Who are you?) and builds upon those answers to build trust. The Decision2Buy process ultimately relies on understood information that has come prior in order to develop a path to the future and desired values.

      “LISTENING IS KEY TO LEARNING THE DECISION2BUY PROCESS.”

      In the Decision2Buy process, the value to the buyer may not be what the salespeople are proposing unless the salesperson is intently listening and learning from the buyer. Millions of people purchase cars because of the looks of the car, not because it has 220-horse power, all electric interior and leather seats. All we have to do is look at advertising for automobiles and we see they are focused on certain attributes, size, performance, utility etc. This is true because inherent in Who are you? is the not so subtle question of What can you do for me? and “How can I best spend my money on what I want?”

      It is all about the buyer, not the seller. The seller can change the color, interior or the horsepower, but seldom can the seller change the buying process and criteria of the buyer. This is true in cars (though not through any lack of trying) and in almost every other purchase made in our daily lives.

      If we listen, understand, question and think about the client’s needs, problems, goals, objectives, company charter etc., we’ll always have a chance to sell to a stated need or objective. These factors will shift from person to person, or company to company, but the process of listening and learning about the needs are the same. We must elicit a conversation with buyers, listening and thinking about the communicated information. Once we have overcome the most dreaded of all salespersons’ fatal errors, already knowing the answer to every question, we can truly listen to our clients. It is not a flaw to assume we know our buyers’ hopes, desires and needs prior to meeting with them, it is fantasy. It is critical to ask questions and learn about how your buyers do business differently than their competitors and how this is manifested in their specific Decision2Buy process. I don’t have to be a guru in any specific technology, market segment, industry processes or standards to listen and learn. We were all born with the ability to listen but have tried to shut it down since we were children.

      Listening to people is the most critical of all skills and from my observation the most difficult, no matter what you sell or do. People like to talk about themselves, whether it is work related, cultural, social, economic, or purely for the pleasure of hearing themselves speak. Listening is a trained skill and a developed habit for salespeople because it is the only way to learn from their buyers. As a result, salespeople have the opportunity to develop good questioning techniques based on the buyer’s need.

      I learned long ago that if I’d take notes during a conversation, I would have the opportunity to think about what was being said. For some people taking notes in a meeting is the kiss of death, but for me it does a number of good things that assist me in being a better salesperson and consultant to my business partners. It reinforces what I heard. For me, note taking forces a focus on what’s being said because I am not relying upon memory or interpretation of what was communicated. The process allows the mind to focus on the important factors the client is presenting. It allows the listener to hear the inflection and emphasis of meaning and relevance more clearly as it is spoken.

      Note taking takes practice to learn what to note and what to just let pass, which in itself is worth the exercise. It allows the listener to hear the many meanings of the spoken word and the importance of those words. Taking notes allows time to think about the next questions (write and think, novel but a good listening technique). One goal while taking notes is to be thinking like your client. The client may be a logical thinker so the notes will be linear in nature, but if your notes are nonlinear, is it the client or was it your style of taking