Are You Pushing Business Or Pulling Business ?

Time and time again sales people have pitched me with features and benefits before they have even asked me if I have any knowledge of what they have to sell or program they propose. They just keep talking and move to a close. Two things come to my mind. That poor person just does not get it. Even worse that poor person's boss does not get it. These types of people are the types who give sales people a bad wrap. I honestly could not sleep at night having sold someone something they did not need or want.

We all have to carve a living out of life. Some of us get the chance to do what really turns us on. How good is that? For me I get to do two things that really excite me. One is being the sales leader for a contact centre. I work with companies who have some pain in their processes that I help resolve. Having been an entrepreneur most of my life I know that the biggest issue with business is growing business. More important is growing business profitably. Most successful business owners know they can't be good at all things. Basically I love helping my customers grow their business. I am also a business coach. I help my clients turn their dreams into successful businesses. I also help business owners turn their struggling companies around. This is all very rewarding to me. I am a lucky guy. For me it's not sales.

I ask that you think hard about what I have stated in the previous paragraph. I get joy in helping other people find their success. The only way I can do this is to find out what they want to achieve. I can only do this by asking questions. This is where the pulling business part kicks in. It is only through asking the questions and really listening that the solution become obvious. I should point out that it should also be obvious for your customer or client too. It is when you get to this stage you can then ask your potential customer how would it feel if this was the solution that would benefit their business. Please note that I have asked two questions here. One was the emotional part and the second being the good for your business part. I truly believe if you marry the two questions together and the answer is yes to both you have sale. The potential customer came to the determination of what they need to do. They are making the purchase. I did not sell them anything. This is what I call pulling business.

I agree that at some point of the process there has to be a features and benefits conversation. To be really successful at selling you have to be good at pulling. This is achieved by asking good and thought provoking questions. It is only after answering these questions that you can move to the benefits and successful ending. My experience is, don't rush. It pays to be patient. When your customer has made a purchasing decision it has been made for the right reasons. Have you noticed that no where in this article did I mention price? If you do not focus on the price your potential customer will not focus on the price either. Isn't it time you started pulling your way to successful selling?