THE 60-SECOND SALES TEST
Regardless of what business you are in, you are selling something. It may be a product, service, or advice. Today’s article focuses on a common mistake that many professionals make when talking to prospective clients or customers. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be in sales, read on–the message is universal to how anyone talks with prospects about his or her services or products.
Recently, I coached a small business owner who wanted to hire two new sales reps. She wanted to construct some sort of test so she could check out the candidates’ selling skills. I suggested an oldie but goodie: “sell me this pen.”
You may have heard of this exercise. You hand someone a pen, salt shaker, or any other simple object, and give the simple instruction, “Sell me this. You’ve got 60 seconds.”
My client interviewed 16 people for the position. 13 candidates did some version of the following:
“Check out this amazing pen. I think you’ll be impressed with it’s quality. First of all, its ergonomic design makes it very easy to handle. Take it and feel how good it feels in your hand. And it writes like a dream. Notice how smoothly it glides across the page. It has a high-capacity ink cartridge that lasts up to 45% longer than other pens. By the way, it’s priced way less than the other pens in its category. We’ve been in business since 1985 and we stand behind every pen we sell with a money back guarantee…”
These 13 candidates all delivered a sales pitch about how wonderful the pen was.
The other three candidates were far more savvy. They led with an approach like this:
“I appreciate you’re stopping by today. We’ve got a wide selection of pens. Before I show them to you, I’d like to ask you a few questions. What will you be using this pen for? Tell me little about the pens you’ve had in the past and what you liked or didn’t like about them. What’s most important to you in a pen that you’d like to have and use on a daily basis? What kind of writing tip do you prefer? Is it important for you to have the kind of pen that will impress others?”
As you can see, the approach that most of the candidates used was a typical sales spiel: here’s why our product or service is so great. That’s how most people sell. The second approach was needs-based. The three savvy candidates knew that effective selling is all about uncovering the customer’s needs through questions and then aligning the product or service with their needs.
This is so simple and so basic, yet the majority of salespeople and professional service providers don’t get it. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling pens, widgets, dog training, or life insurance. The principles are the same. Before you talk about your product, service, or company, ask questions to find out what your prospect wants and needs. (By the way, my client wound up hiring two of the candidates who led with questions.)
When you ask questions that zero in on your buyer and his or her needs, you help create feelings of trust, confidence, and care. These are the feelings that lead people to do business with you.
If you’ve read my book, Sell the Feeling, you may remember that step 3 in the Sell the Feeling process is to ask effective questions. I’m putting the final touches on a new Sell the Feeling audio program that goes into detail about how to create the feelings that lead people to do business with you. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, remember to lead with questions.
