Prospects Lie

This week I would like to talk about infants and their relevance to business, which is somewhat more than you might think. The concept of infancy consumes my mind right now — so much so that I need three alarms to nudge me out of bed in the morning while Skye (sleeps, k?ks, yells, and eats) sleeps dreamlessly after a night living up to her new name.

Babies cannot, or will not, tell you what is on their minds. They have a single mode of medication — the wail. Clients cannot, or will not, tell you why they won’t buy from you. Your job is to interpret the sounds you are hearing and deliver the appropriate solution. (Even a one week old baby knows the difference between a cold wet-wipe between her legs and a warm lunchbox between her lips, so we parents learn to get it right really quickly.)

Unlike babies, most clients lie. At least, in South Africa, they do. People in South Africa are very socially aware, and are usually very gracious people — unless, of course, their mode of “selling” involves a gun. At this point they tend to be very direct about their expectations, and less than negotiable.

Assuming that you tend to subscribe to more traditional sales methods, then most of your success will depend on understanding why people tell white lies when they don’t want to buy from you right now. There are only two reasons why somebody will not buy from you — they don’t really need your product or service right now, or they don’t trust you enough.

For example, selling a life jacket to somebody on board a cruise ship which has all the latest, greatest navigational and safety kit can be very difficult when folk are boarding, irrespective of how low your price is. At this time the prospects feel that they do not need the life jacket, and selling is going to be an uphill battle.

A true salesperson positions herself at a critical point. A true life jacket salesperson waits until the ship has struck an iceberg. An even stronger buying signal would be somebody in the water, flailing in the wake of the ship, who is simply not going to ask for discount at this time.

(My previous high tech business made a huge number of sales after every lightning storm in the old Transvaal – simply by enquiring after the health of a client’s modem the next day. Hint: Lightning is very bad for modems. We simply threw out life jackets when they were needed, rather than trying to sell them before they were needed.)

The trust issue is important. If you’re pushy, I am not even going to trust you with the truth (I don’t trust you enough) because you will continue to waste my time. So I am going to lie to you. You probably won’t even know it is a lie.

“I’ll get back to you.” means NO. “I must sleep on it.” means I am tired, and NO. “Send me your brochures.” means NO, and I am tired of talking to you. “I will discuss it with management.” means NO, and I am busy. The only way folk trust you enough to be honest is if they KNOW you care enough about them that they are more important than the sale. (How many salespeople do you trust at that level?)

Bottom line – the more you can interpret what people are really saying despite the sounds they’re making, the better salesperson you will be – and that’s a critical skill if you’re in business. That’s why women are often so much better at sales than us men. They listen with their entire beings. We guys manage to listen with both ears. Most times.