To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink

Author:Daniel Pink
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joosr Ltd

Asking customers the right questions helps you identify problems and sell solutions

There’s a well-known sales technique sometimes referred to as “selling the problem.” This involves reminding potential customers of a problem they face before offering your product as a way of solving it.

Unfortunately, unscrupulous sellers have given this method a bad reputation as a way of conning money out of the unwary: dodgy salespeople exaggerate a problem or even manage to convince customers that they have a problem they don’t actually suffer from, and then sell them an overpriced and often ineffective “solution.”

But there is a more ethical approach to this technique that involves actually engaging with people so both of you can better understand and address the issues they face. In this approach, you’re more akin to a doctor diagnosing an ailment than a salesman trying to flog a dubious product. In fact, you’ll even have to unlearn a traditional sales skill and replace it with its opposite.

Most people are familiar with the stereotype of the sleazy salesperson churning out slick, rehearsed answers to customers’ questions. In this old-fashioned school of sales, successful selling is all about having the right answers and always staying one step ahead of the customer. But to “sell the problem” fairly and effectively these days, you need to have the right questions —questions that help you understand a customer’s need, and help you find out where they’re having problems, why these issues exist, and what they think might help solve them.

Unlike the old-fashioned and devious approach, this sales technique doesn’t entail inventing or exaggerating problems. Instead, asking the right questions helps you identify actual problems in people’s lives and offer them genuine solutions. For example, if you’re selling cell phones, ask customers how they use their phones: do they use a lot of data or make regular international calls? Their answers will help you identify a phone and contract that they’ll want to buy because it truly meets their requirements.

Similarly, if you’re pitching an idea to colleagues, ask them what factors influence their productivity, or how they could be better supported by the company. Learning about their working lives will help you tailor your proposal so it fits their needs, encouraging them to accept your suggestions.

By learning to ask questions instead of simply answering them, you can develop relationships with customers that are focused on helping them identify and overcome issues. And the better you get at it, the more unexpected opportunities to both help a customer and make a sale you’ll discover.

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