Be Careful of Client White Noise

Sales people are always under pressure to meet their targets.  In high pressure situations, this creates certain behaviours that are not in tune with the client’s best interests.  We know we should listen carefully to what the client wants, before we attempt to suggest any solution for the buyer’s needs.  We know that by asking well designed questions, we can possibly come up with an insight that triggers a “we hadn’t thought of that” or “we haven’t planned for that” reaction at best.  At worst, at least they know whether we have a solution for them or not.  Under pressure though, salespeople can temporarily become deaf toward the buyer.

Even assuming they are smart enough to ask questions in the first place, they may fall over when it comes to carefully listening to the buyer’s answers.   They can hear some buyer white noise in the background while they are thinking about their own interests.   They are self absorbed and are not plumbing the depths of what the client is trying to achieve.  In fact, they are ignoring the hints and nuances in the sales conversation.  Well then, what are they doing?  They are fixated on their own needs, their own target achievement, their own big bonus and their job security.

The client may have outlined what they had in mind at this stage, but that won’t scratch because the salesperson needs a bigger sale to make target.  They need to expand what the client wants, regardless of whether the client needs that solution or not.   Upselling and cross selling are legitimate aspects of sales, but the purpose has to be very clear.  It is not about making the salesperson more money.  It is serving the client in a deeper way.

The client may not have the full view of what is possible, because they will never know the seller’s lineup of solutions as well as the salesperson.  They will also not have had deep conversations with their competitors.  They won’t have been allowed behind the velvet curtain, to see what their competitors are doing and how they are doing it.  They will not have had a broad exposure to what other firms and industries are doing in terms of best practice.

This is the value of the salesperson, because they are constantly doing all of these things.  They are like butterflies, skipping from one sweetly fragranced flower to the next. They are collectors of stories, problems, breakthroughs, successes and can connect many, many dots together.  In this sense, they can see possibilities the client may not know exists or may not have thought of.  This is where the cross-sell and the up-sell add value, because the salesperson can expand the client’s world and help them to become more successful.  That is a long way from ramping up the number value of the sale, to make target.