Average Salespeople Talk About Their Products. Great Salespeople Talk About Their Customer’s Business.

Do your customers really care about what it is you sell?

Sorry, but more times than not, the customer’s interest level in what you’re selling is at best top-level only.

If this is the case, then why do you spend the limited amount of time you have with your customer talking about things your customer really isn’t interested in?

Conversely, if you are spending time discussing with your customers their business and the things they are truly interested in, then you’re behaving the way a valuable salesperson should.

This does not mean you don’t talk at all about what you sell.  What it means is you’re placing the interests of the customer ahead of yours, and when you do talk about what it is you sell, you’re doing so in a way that wraps it around how it is going to help the customer’s business.

Too many salespeople who sell in the B2B (business to business) sector seem to forget about the fact that if the customer they’re selling to is not successful, there is no way they as a salesperson will be successful selling to them.

Our customers have to be strong and healthy. The last thing we want to do is to sell to a customer who can’t pay us.

Take a few minutes to ask yourself what you know about your customer’s business.  Ask yourself when was the last time you had a solid discussion about their business.  When I ask salespeople this question, I’m met too many times with a blank stare.

I’m a firm believer that unless you’re having serious discussions with your customer about their business and how they can improve it, there is little chance you will ever be a great salesperson.

The beauty in having this type of discussion with your customers is the information you’ll learn.  Very quickly you’ll learn insights and strategies that will help you maximize opportunities, not only with the customer to whom you are talking, but also with other customers.

This knowledge will quickly work its way into all of your discussions, which in turn will have customers sharing with you even more information.

The end result is simple — you’ll be seen as somebody valuable, and they may actually look forward to meeting with you.  You will stand apart from other salespeople, who the typical customer can usually do without.

Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.