Episode #285 A Different Value Based Selling

I was contacted by an international training organisation about facilitating training for their clients here in Japan. They solemnly announced they do “value based” selling. Well I think all good salespeople do value based selling, so I checked out their website to see what they meant when throwing this type of terminology around. As I suspected, it was another one of those persistent re-inventions of something old, but cunningly repacked to appear shiny and new. Basically, they find out what the client needs and then supply it. Wow, why didn’t I think of that?

It led me to think about values in selling, rather than value delivery in the sales process. When we meet salespeople, we are going to be impressed by a number of superficial elements. The way they dress and carry themselves are the first indicators we look at. It takes a while to get to know someone, but you can spot a slob very quickly and have severe doubts about any of their claims to be a quality organisation.

If they drive a luxury car and are well dressed, with the watch, pen, suit and shoes all obviously expensive, we take these as visual indicators of success. They must be good at what they do, because enough other people are giving them their business, that they can afford such high quality items. It is the same psychology of the crowd waiting to get into the restaurant. It is a clue that the food must be good, because experienced, in the know people are lined up trying to get in. We follow the crowd sourced feedback when making our decisions.

When we talk with these salespeople, they know their line-up of products. They can answer in depth and with accuracy. They don’t need to tell us “let me get back to you on that“, because they have the knowledge at their fingertips. They are articulate, concise and considered in what they say. They allow us to do most of the talking, rather than trying to railroad us into a buying decision or by trying to overpower us with their ambition to get the deal done.

They are calm and in control and are leading us to a buying decision by asking us very well crafted questions. They turn all of their statements into questions. For example, they could just say “this comes with a twelve month guarantee”. Now that is a statement from a salesperson and as the buyer, based on our previous experiences with salespeople, we may or may not believe that statement. But if we can have the buyer say the same thing then it is true and that is what the professional salespeople would have the client doing. In this same example, they would say instead, “If you were able to have a twelve month guarantee would that give you more confidence in agreeing to the offer?”. As soon as the buyer says “yes”, then they have validated the proposition that the twelve month guarantee has legitimate value.

The real “value” component however comes from a different angle and this goes to the heart of who they really are and what are the “values” they hold. I often talk about kokorogamae or true intention. What is in the heart of the salesperson about serving me as the buyer? Are their recommendations around the proffered solution to my problem in my best interests or their best interests? We can never know their entire line-up of products or services, so we depend on them to help us select the right outcome. They know what the margins and profitability tables are for each solution, so are they pushing one that we don’t need, but which earns them the bigger commission?

This comes back to who are they really? Are we being snowed by their suave manner and obvious competence? Is their kokorogamae about getting the sale or about getting the re-order. There is a world of difference between those two intentions. After we have bought the solution, we will start to understand whether what we have been told is correct or not. It is too late if we have been taken for a ride, because the monies have been paid and the solution delivered, but we will become very unhappy with the treatment we have received. The possibility of an upsell or the next sales are extinguished immediately. Their real values have been exposed and our trust is destroyed.

The smooth talking salesperson is the greatest fear of every buyer, because we don’t want to be revealed as idiots who fell for it. Once bitten twice shy of course and so that means for every sales interaction with buyers, we have to keep that thought uppermost in our minds. The buyer has plenty of fear already and our job is to be congruent with our values when we deal with the buyer. That would include walking away from the deal if it isn’t in the buyer’s best interests. This sounds easy, but requires a lot of integrity, because there is that constant pressure to get the revenues and meet the quotas. If you live your values and you have the right values, then that walk away decision becomes consistent with who you really are. That is the key to a long and successful career in sales.