Selling is a sophisticated business

Dec 3 2009 By Richard Lane, The Journal

THE old way of selling was to pitch your product to the person opposite you, bombarding them with information, facts and figures about how great it is in the hope some of it would stick. Those days have gone.

It is no longer appropriate to simply focus on the features and benefits of your product. The world we live in is increasingly complex and competitive (no matter what you produce or what services you deliver). To stand out from the crowd we need to understand the world our customer is occupying. We need to be tuned into their challenges, their hopes and desires in order to present problem-solving solutions in a ‘language’ they understand.

Often the hardest part in converting your sales process to be solution-focused is understanding exactly where you add the most value. Where do you make the biggest difference? It is not always where you think. For example you may sell a software application that does and costs pretty much the same as other products on the market.

However what makes you stand out from the competition is your flexibility, your commitment to customer service and a reporting tool that you include as standard without a second thought.

How do you work out where you make the difference, your competitive edge? Two audiences immediately spring to mind. Firstly ask your staff. Get everyone together and spend an afternoon analysing what you do. Get beneath the surface and into the detail. What is taken for granted by the business? What do your staff believe makes your business stand out from the competition? It is often the things that we do without thinking that are valued the most. Secondly, ask your customers. Pick a few friendly ones and ask them outright. Customers are generally very pleased to provide feedback; it’s just that we often forget to ask for it.

When we stop talking, start listening and ask intelligent questions, we provide our customers with the opportunity to explain their goals, objectives, challenges and desires.

And the way to get there is by asking open questions, borne out of genuine interest in your customer’s business and their industry and from your desire to become a trusted business partner to them. Solution selling is about the long-term, about helping customers become more successful.

Richard Lane is managing director of Engleby Associates, a sales improvement business that helps software and digital firms increase their sales through the development of their people