PSYCHOLOGY
ence should have taught us better. It’s a guiding fiction, for example, to think everyone should like you. Of course, that’s impossible, yet many people spend all their days trying to please each and every person around them, trying to be liked at all costs. So many guiding fictions exist that they all cannot be enumerated. All the false “shoulds” and “oughts” that any of us have are guiding fictions. In sales, there are a few important guiding fictions worth addressing. There’s the “I should never be proven wrong by a customer” guiding fiction and the “I shouldn’t let the customer think I’m dumb” guiding fiction. There are the “If I don’t make the sale I’m bad” and “Good salespeo- ple never lose” guiding fictions. Just think of the many ways salespeople set themselves up for feelings of fail- ure and insecurity, and chances are you can find a guiding fiction at work preventing their success. Remember Bill, the salesperson who “moves away” from his buyers
SELLING TIP
Invest Your Selling Time in High-Profit Accounts
Value-added selling means an or- ganization selects key value-added targets, defines value in customer- oriented terms, and delivers this value consistently.
How do companies select their value-added target accounts? They live the Jumbo CD philosophy. What’s that? Assume someone be- queaths you $100,000 with the provi- sion that you do one of these things with it: 1) invest it in a passbook sav- ings account that draws 4-5 percent interest; 2) invest it in a CD that pays 7-8 percent interest; or 3) invest it in a Jumbo CD that pays the current prime interest rate. In each case, you must leave it in the investment for
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each time they object to his prod- uct? Bill’s guiding fiction is that, if he “presents the product right, no one should object.” Of course, when Bill gets an objection, he feels a failure, he feels insecure. That’s when he tries to hide his feelings by moving safely away from his buyers. His withdrawal is his way of protecting himself. Then there was Hank, who moved “against” his customers whenever they questioned his facts and figures. Guess what Hank’s guiding fiction is? That’s right: Hank thinks that, to be successful, he should always be seen as intelligent. When he gets ques- tions from buyers, Hank feels stupid and insecure. His angry moving against customers is Hank’s way of covering up his insecurity. Finally, there’s Tom, who believes he must always be in command to be successful. When a customer doubts Tom, Tom feels weak and unsure of himself. His “moving toward” his buyers is his way of hiding his feelings and of trying to regain his customers’ favor.
one year before removing it. What would you do?
Most people quickly select the Jumbo CD option because they get a better return on their investment. This is the Jumbo CD philosophy: in- vesting your money (time) where you get the greatest return. It’s unlikely any of us would intentionally throw money out of the window, but we do it daily with our sales time. We waste it on low-profit, high-aggravation business.
Conversely, organizations that sell value-added invest their resources on Jumbo CD targets: the top one- third of the customers. Value-added organizations understand that time is one of these valuable resources to be maximized. Investing one’s sales time in these high-profit potential targets means letting the competi- tion fight over low-profit accounts. Some value-added organizations
Each of these hard-working sales- people lets his own false notions of himself prevent his real talents from showing. All stop reacting to their buyers and start reacting to them- selves. All start reading their inner language of insecurity. The moment they turn inward, they face much more than a cantankerous buyer. Each battles himself, and – regard- less of how hard anyone tries to win that battle – there can be no winner.
WHAT ARE YOUR GUIDING FICTIONS?
Think for a moment about what you believe concerning your success as a salesperson. What do you think you “ought” or “should” be to achieve sales success? Must you be an expert? Must you be liked by all your buyers? Must you always be in charge? Increasing your awareness of what goes on inside you is the first deci- sive step toward sales success. With nothing to hide from yourself, you will have no need to move toward, away from, or against.
have discovered how to cripple the competition by simply getting out of their way and letting them win the price shopper’s order. Sooner or later the low margins take their toll. Value-added organizations ac- cept the reality that every customer deserves the value-oriented philoso- phy – but not everyone deserves an intensive value-added sales effort. It’s reserved for those who are willing to pay for it.
How do companies know which value-added extras to offer? It’s simple! They view life through that unique prism the customer uses. Value-added organizations define value in the customers’ terms. These companies understand that value is a perception. It’s subjective – value is anything the customer wants it to be. Consequently, one must think in the customers’ terms to sell value. – THOMAS P. REILLY
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