WHY, WHY, WHY

As some of you may already know, I am not a huge fan of subscribing to every new whiz-bang sales method that is out there. I have covered this before and, if you don't know where I stand, I do believe most sales methods are pretty much the same. They cover similar principles generally using different, albeit very colourful, nomenclature.

I am sure, buried within most of these tomes, is something about asking questions. I have covered this as well but wanted to focus on one word today: WHY

Why is an interesting word. It is the question that we believe we want answered:

"Why are you considering implementing a new ERP application?"
"Why would you contemplate switching service providers?"
"Why are you looking out the window when I am saying something very important?"
"Why do I feel the uncontrollable urge to sing at the moment?"

Interestingly, the use of the word WHY generates an interesting response in some people. I have actually observed clients cringe when the word is use. I have also seen clients "shut-down" when WHY-questions are used. Again, let's be pragmatic here, there may be some instances when WHY could be appropriate (I'll need to think of a few). But let's think about WHY this reaction occurs:

Theory I: The 3-year old syndrome
This theory of negative reaction to the word WHY generally applies only to those people who have had considerable exposure to young children. For those that do, you will relate. For those that do not, think hard to when you were a very young child.

What are children notorious for asking? WHY? And they ask this of everything. Personally, I think it is fantastic. This is how children make sense of the world and their place in it. It is how they figure things out. It is how they seek guidance. I honestly wish most salespeople would adopt this mentality. And those that I see that do actually do ask the WHY questions. It is OK to adopt the inquisitive mentality but it is not OK to adopt the behavior! The reality is clients that fall into this bucket-theory will be the "cringers" - reflecting on a young child who incessantly asked WHY of everything. Let's adopt the inquisitive nature but raise the level of discussion.

Theory II: Implied Insult Theory
Let's work through a scenario. The client has agreed to meet with you. You are having a discussion on some of their business issues, some of the challenges, etc. You determine that they have decided to make a purchasing decision for an MPLS solution (inside joke). You are puzzled because this doesn't seem to make sense. You ask the questions "Why would you consider implementing an MPLS at this time?". The client, who is already somewhat nervous about this decision hears the following "Why would you consider implementing an MPLS at this time - DUMMY?". Prefacing your question with WHY can have the opposite desired effect. Again, we need to get to a higher-order of thinking on these things. What do we really want to know?

We may want to know "WHY" but let's think this through with some higher-order thinking. When asking why we are seeking to understand underlying motivations: "Why are you doing that?" - becomes "What is your motivation for dong that?". Now, I am not suggesting that you simply transform every why question to a motivation-based question - doing so will smell of prescribed dialogue and borders on method-acting. All I am suggesting is that you seek to understand more than just WHY. There could be a lot more you could discover. Asking WHY is a lazy way to get at information. Asking WHAT, HOW, WHEN and WHO-type questions are much more effective and a lot less personally invasive. But they do require forethought.

So these are some of my thoughts on this simple three letter word. What I am suggesting is that the thought is fine, the mentality is fine but let's think through and PRACTICE using some different language that leads us to a higher-level of understanding about the client.

Until next time.

Cheers,

Steve

"I object!" If only it were that obvious...

Sorry I have not been around lately. My bad.

I thought I would throw out a rehash of a very common and probably over-discussed issue. What is most amazing is how poorly this issue is understood and how poorly it is executed.

I am referring to objection handling.

So, traditional thoughts on client objections are when the client says something negative. Typical examples have been "The price is too high", "I don't think we need that", or better yet "NO!!!". While these are objections, let's first take our definition to a higher level.

Let's first define an objection is anything that a client does or says in the course of an interaction (or even outside of an interaction as it may be).

We can argue this point but go with me on this one please.

If we define an objection as anything a client says or does that seems pretty broad - and it is. Some examples:

The client asks a question: "Is your company big?"

Our immediate temptation is to assume we understand the motivation behind this question as being "they know we are big so they need someone big" and we eagerly reply "Yes, in fact we are the biggest damn company in the space". We should be very proud of ourselves right? WRONG!!! The client then says "That's too bad because we wanted to work with a small organization that would be more responsive to our needs"....

The client is consistently viewing his/her Blackberry or other mobile device (I guess iPhone's are way cooler)

We have been trained and our ego tells us to ignore this as saying something may be perceived as rude (especially if we are Canadian where we are so damn nice we would apologize for someone stepping on our toes).

The client makes a comment "I am concerned about the recent offer made to acquire your company".

Again, the temptation is to simply go into defensive mode and describe all aspects of the transaction in every manner of detail. HOW MUCH DO YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE UNDERLYING MOTIVATION BEHIND THAT COMMENT?

Let's go through each of these with some high-level thinking.

Question: Is your company big?
Potential Responses: How does your company define big? What aspects of organizational size are you interested in? In selecting an organization with whom to work, what aspects of size are important to you?

Client Action: Not paying attention to you but Blackberry or other
Potential Responses: Mr/Ms. Client, I have noticed you have been looking at your Blackberry quite a bit during our meeting - my concern is that we might not have caught your interest, is this the case?

Client Comment: I am concerned about these recent reports.
Potential Responses: What is it in these reports that is a concern for you? What aspects of the transaction are a concern for you?

The real key here is to gain a deeper level of understand, to understand the underlying motivations and needs of your clients - in everything they may say or do. This will allow you to respond to their specific needs and not the surface-level questioning or objections we typically receive.

I often suggest to sales professionals to adopt the 3 year old mentality of constantly staying in questioning mode - not just when in discovery with the client but in EVERY interaction.

I am not suggesting you do this on every occasion. Let's use a little common sense and courtesy but what I am suggesting is that if you are able to get at the real issues, put them on the table, address them then and there, you stand a much better chance of removing objections, clarifying ambiguity and moving a sales forward than if you were to do nothing or simply respond based on what you THINK the client MAY want to hear. I suggest trying it the next time anyone asks you any type of question - it'll be fun.

Cheers,

Steve