A Good Sales Conversation Provides Value Even Without a Sale by Shane Smith * [55]

Salespeople are expected to do two things well. First, offer an expert opinion. Second, represent a company that provides an expert solution. If someone is going to buy from us, they should believe we understand their situation and can improve it.

But I think there is an opportunity to create value even before they become our customer. In customer value circles, we talk a lot about value being co-created with the customer, not handed over at purchase. The sales conversation may be where that starts. Before we even present our expertise. Before we even explain our solution. We can create value by helping the potential customer recognize the true significance of a problem they may have overlooked, learned to live with, or assumed could not be solved. And we can improve the chances of them realizing this, not by pointing it out to them, but by guiding them to find it on their own, with our help, of course.

Questions Can Do More Than Diagnose

Consultative selling has long emphasized asking questions. But many consultative sales questions are still designed primarily to help the salesperson diagnose the buyer’s situation and set up for the close. The salesperson asks. The buyer answers. The salesperson gathers enough information to determine the problem and then recommends the solution. Not unlike a doctor before prescribing a solution.

There is another way to think about those questions. What if the questions are not primarily designed to help the salesperson discover the problem? What if they are designed to help the buyer discover it? There’s a difference there. It is closer to what a good counselor does. A counselor does not simply announce, “Here is your problem. And here is how we can fix it.” Instead, the counselor asks questions that help someone examine their own situation, connect things they may not have connected before, and reach conclusions through their own thinking.

The Problem is Likely Already There

Many buyers are living with problems they have never really identified as problems. Or, more commonly, they know the problem exists but have decided it is not serious enough to address, or they assume it is not addressable at all. They have adapted to it. They have created workarounds. They have told themselves, “That is just the way things are.”  Psychology gives us several ways to explain this, including status quo bias: our tendency to prefer the familiar situation, even when it is less than ideal. Imagine a business owner who spends several hours every week manually correcting mistakes created by an inefficient process. She knows it is annoying. She knows it takes time. But she has done it for so long that it has simply become part of running the business.

The sales professional’s challenge is to reframe the issue and get the buyer to simply look at the current situation differently. Hence, the problem begins to feel more real and substantial. Here are 7 questions that can provide illumination on the situation and possible corrective actions.

→ What does your process look like?

→ Are you happy with it?

→ Are there any inefficiencies with it?

→ How much time does that usually take?

→ How often does it happen?

→ What else could you be doing during those hours?”

→ How much has that cost you over the last year?”

Awareness Creates Value

Note, the salesperson has not introduced a solution. Yet, value begins to appear before the sale is consummated. The buyer begins to recognize a problem that they have had for years but have never dealt with it. They realize that a frustration they had accepted now deserves immediate attention. That new awareness has value. The salesperson has helped the buyer understand something important about their own situation that they might otherwise have continued to overlook.

We haven’t even made any recommendations yet. We have not said, “We can fix this.” We have simply guided the buyer toward recognizing that a meaningful problem exists and that it deserves attention.

What if the Prospect Says No?

Say our business owner does the math. The problem costs her $2,000 a year and fixing it would cost $10,000. She probably won't buy. Did the conversation fail? Not necessarily. She knows exactly what the frustration is worth and can finally make a clear decision about it. That’s perceived value. And she’ll surely remember who helped her to see it.

We can call this a transition from defensiveness to curiosity. Many sales conversations begin with a subtle defensive posture. The buyer knows what’s coming. They know our job is to sell. So, they sit back, figuratively cross their arms, and wait for the pitch, prepared to say ‘no’. The salesperson begins explaining expertise. The buyer begins evaluating claims. The salesperson tries to persuade. The buyer looks for reasons to resist.

But it’s different when the buyer arrives at the problem through their own thinking. Once they recognize the significance of the issue, they naturally begin wondering what can be done about it. Instead of “What are you trying to sell me?” They begin leaning forward, thinking, “So what would you do about this?” Only now does the salesperson’s expertise become especially valuable. And the buyer is ready to hear it.

Creating Value Before the Solution

Demonstrating value is an essential idea behind the N.I.C.E. sales framework (Notice, Interact, Care, Execute). Both parties know that a problem exists. But we need to help the buyer find it themself. Rather than immediately announcing a diagnosis, the sales pro uses sequential guiding questions to move the buyer toward recognizing the urgency of the business situation and an effective and efficient response.  

In sum, the described sales process creates awareness and clarity and builds trust. It creates sound value before the seller even offers a realistic proposal. The irony is that when we stop rushing to prove how much expertise we have, buyers are more interested/intrigued with our sales message and become more likely to buy.

* Dr. Shane Smith is an entrepreneur, educator, and founder of The Nice Guy Entrepreneur, where he helps business owners become more confident and comfortable with the parts of entrepreneurship that don’t always come naturally, especially selling. With more than 30 years of experience in business and higher education, Shane combines real-world entrepreneurship with an academic background in business, marketing, and consumer psychology. His work focuses on understanding why people buy, how trust and customer value are created, and how entrepreneurs can sell without becoming the stereotypical salesperson they may dislike. He is the creator of the N.I.C.E. sales method and the author of How to Sell When You Hate to Sell. You can reach out to him at Shane@NiceGuy.biz or visit www.niceguy.biz