You may see that as a leading question. Well, it is. It's not a question of if you are biased or not, it is how. Everyone has bias. It's how we make decisions. We all have favorites and things we dislike and those shape our perceptions. How you see the world impacts how you think others make decisions. It's important to recognize that you have a bias and how it affects your judgment. If you really like a particular type of music, you are apt to […]

Nowhere in the sales process does a few minutes of dialogue more quickly determine whether we continue or end our relationship than during the initial interaction with a customer. During the initial interaction, our goal is to understand if we should be talking with the customer and how we can reach a mutual decision on whether there is a good fit or not. In order to make sure that we make the most out of the opportunity to speak with the customer, we use the followin […]

Because solutions have no inherent value and only derive value from the problems they solve and the results they create, we need to understand the business issues our customers face. Mastering a skill we call "Move Off the Solution" can help you to engage your customers in meaningful dialogues where you are able to mutually explore their needs. When you invite the customer to move off the solution, they may push back and say something similar to: "You're th […]

One of the key skills we advocate at Ninety Five 5 is Moving Off the Solution. Acquiring this skill enables us to open a conversation with a customer to truly understand their needs.When a customer asks for information about a solution, this technique allows us to slow down, and switch the conversation to inquiry mode in a courteous fashion such that we have a true understanding of the customer’s needs.Move Off the Solution can have a tremendous positive impact on our custome […]

Change is hard to do. Making decisions can be hard to do. Progress toward a goal usually happens through changes and making decisions. Consider some examples: If someone is deciding on a new CRM system they are looking to change their customer interactions resulting in increased revenues. If someone is deciding on consolidating IT infrastructure they are looking to change (simplify) management resulting in reduced costs. If someone is deciding on a gym membership they are looking […]

The book "Made to Stick" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath discusses the concept of "The Curse of Knowledge." They describe the curse as follows: Once we know something we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has "cursed" us. And it becomes difficult for us to share our knowledge with others because we can't readily re-create our listeners' state of mind. As a salesperson you know a lot about what your products and s […]

Does the customer need your permission to say "no?" Salespeople are often taught to never take "no" for an answer. Bookstores are filled with books on how to convince the customer and get to "yes." Many sales trainers teach tricks to get the customer to say "yes." If you only ask questions that the customer can say "yes" to, you will never gain a good understanding about what the customer is trying to accomplish. When […]

Customers are compelled to act by two basic motivations: Getting away from what they don't want and going toward what they do want. You may think of these two compelling forces as pain or gain, or maybe the carrot and the stick.If a salesperson walks into a busy executive's office and asks, "What keeps you up at night?", would you expect the reply to be, "That is a fantastic question! I'm going to clear my schedule so I can spend all afternoon explaining m […]

Beliefs are the foundation to all behavior… correction, make that ALL behavior. Even behavior that seems crazy is driven by beliefs.The guy who jumps off the bridge believes that down there is better than up here. Actions don't have to make sense.  We all believe differently… and I "believe" that's a great thing.If you want to change your behavior, first change your beliefs.  Henry Ford once said: "If you think you can do […]

What happens when a customer tells us what solution they want? If we happen to provide that solution, it is tempting to skip some critical steps we need to take in order to understand their needs. When presented with a ready-made order, some salespeople may immediately address logistics. They may ask a few questions about timing: "When would they like to have it in place?" Or they may even make a half-hearted attempt at an upsell: "Would you like anything else t […]