One of the worst sales mistakes I ever made was assuming I knew what my customer wanted to hear. Here's how it went:
“Katie, can you quote the X monitors for us? Oh and do they have the capability to connect directly with our computer system?”
“Absolutely, we just released that technology recently and it’s really great because it allows –”
“Katie,” he interrupted. “Never mind. We’ve tried that before and it was way too complicated. I don’t think you’re actually the right fit for us.”
WHOOPS. Major mistake. Instead of launching right into my pitch, I should have asked one simple question: “Is that something that would be important to you?”
If I had, I would have realized his concerns and pitched accordingly. I only understood WHAT he wanted, and not the WHY he wanted it. Customers can have so many different factors that are motivating them to purchase. It’s OUR job to figure out their why before we pitch anything. If we don’t, we might risk pitching the wrong thing entirely and having to backtrack.
The best salespeople don't just know what questions to answer. They know what questions to ASK.
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