April 2019

How good is your "I don't know"?  

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 The more I sell, the more respect I have for sellers who do it well.  The more I teach sales skills, the more respect I have for sellers who work hard at developing their craft.  The more workshops I lead and executives I coach…the more I’m reminded I need to help develop “the human” in people! 
 
At least that’s how I felt last Friday after a workshop when a seller approached me with this toughie…

​“I get why you task us to proactively differentiate our offering in every customer interaction, but how can you steer me given I feel I must know everything before I can initiate a conversation like the one you recommend?” asked Roberto.
 
“Everything?  What do you mean by everything?  Everything about your offering?  The competitor?  The market?”  I replied.
 
As an ex-software engineer turned seller, Roberto was used to a clean and clear path towards solving problems.  Sales isn’t like that.  Circumstances and a plethora of variables – both business and personal – dictate the unwritten rules of selling.  If one master blueprint for sales existed, I wouldn’t be writing these words because there'd be no market for my services.  But alas, the sales profession represents the best of what work is about as sellers must solve the business and the people puzzle too.  Understanding personal buyer motivations is as important as understanding a prospect's business challenges and needs.  That is why those who will win in B2B sales today are those who can engage with, and connect best with their clientele.

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Understanding personal buyer motivations is as important as understanding a prospect's business challenges and needs."

First, I counseled Roberto that it’s quite okay to say the words “I don’t know” to a buyer.  That Roberto didn’t feel comfortable uttering those words means he thought it was okay to fake it.  Nothing could be worse than trying to buffalo a buyer, of course. 
 
I explained to Roberto that while it was quite okay to say those three little words to a buyer, it was not okay to not follow-up on providing the answer.  “More importantly”, I continued, “you must qualify the buyer after saying ‘I don’t know’”.  In this scenario, it goes like this: “To be honest, Mr. Client, I don’t know the answer to that…I will check on it and get back to you.  Just so we’re clear, how important is that question – and answer - to you?  What’s the reason you ask?” 
 
The best blueprint I can provide for Roberto is to guide him to master baseline selling skills…qualifying skills certainly, yet also presentation skills, communication skills, objection handling skills, differentiating, negotiating!  The essentials….the core skills.
 
But the blueprint has no upside unless Roberto applies his human skills.  Connecting with buyers on a human level and being yourself is what buyers want the most – not slides and data, and certainly not regurgitated cliché marketing language.  We exhibit humility when we admit we don’t know something.  We express care and an invitation to collaborate when we ask how important a question is to the buyer.  And when we tell a customer we’ll “check and get back to them”, and we do it…that shows dedication and commitment.  Again…human skills.
 
Roberto reminds me of my wife, Maureen, an excellent seller in her own right.  Like Roberto, she started with technical and product skills – yet for her it was as an economist.  Six years ago she hung up her “forecasting” jersey and started selling one of the industry’s most sophisticated econometric stress-testing models to the globe’s biggest banks and investment houses.  She’s the prototype of the modern era B2B seller: her technical expertise and knowledge as an economist gives her a sharp edge…her ability to connect with people in a genuine, human way put her amongst the best.  Maureen will admit she struggled to learn core selling skills (and she’s still learning), but now she’s the complete package.  She’s comfortable in her own skin saying “I don’t know” to a client.  I’ve heard it. 
 
Roberto has a bright future if he stops trying to know everything and be everything and just focuses on his human skills.  Our conversation was a blessing as it reminded me of the secret to the success I’ve had in sales, all because I simplified my approach on three areas:

1. Customer first.  Always.  Everything you do.
2. KISS.  Keep it simple.  EVERYTHING.
3. Be a human being.  As Mr. Wizard famously says to his turtle buddy: “…be what you is, not what you is not.  Folks what do this has the happiest lot.”   (Check it out if you want more philosophy from Mr. Lizard and Tooter Turtle!)

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