There are people who consider themselves professionals in a certain field and are convinced that only those who have a thorough understanding of the specifics of their product or service can sell it. The majority of people fall into this category.
They say that you can’t properly present a product to a client without understanding that product. They’re right. You can’t just present it. But is it necessary? Why present something to a client that, in essence, doesn’t interest them and that they don’t want to spend time on? And how important are the technical details to such a deep level of detail if decisions are made based on a document the size of an A4 sheet?
What’s easier: to train a narrow-profile specialist in the art of sales or to teach a salesperson one more A4 sheet? What’s shameful about a salesperson not always knowing the answers to questions? A good salesperson won’t make things up and won’t hesitate to jot down questions and use the answers as a reason for the next contact.
Let’s take a look at a number of “specific” markets.
Pharmaceutical marketThere, they say you can break yourself into pieces, but you need a pharmaceutical education to sell or manage sales. But why? No one even asks that question. If we are selling a prescription drug, we are communicating with doctors. And we sell anything but the medication to that doctor. An oncologist is the least likely to want chemotherapy for themselves. We sell the doctor’s trust in the drug, in the salesperson, in the company, not just a leaflet with indications and a chemical formula.
Alcohol“You don’t sell alcohol,” even the most perfect salesperson will say. It’s like a rehearsed phrase, a ready-made excuse to avoid thinking. Because if you really think about it, you’ll realize that in a company that supplies alcohol, NO ONE ACTUALLY SELLS the alcohol! Alcohol is sold by distributors, supermarkets, and others. So what does the company do? It sells itself as a supplier. Not a single person involved in “selling alcohol” has ever actually sold a single bottle of vodka. What have they sold? They’ve sold their relationship as a supplier. They’ve sold solutions to the distributor’s problems.
IT Various accounting or CRM systemsWell, if a person doesn’t have IT experience, they won’t be able to sell. On the contrary, a salesperson can be anyone but a “nerd” digging through code. A salesperson is an extrovert, a listener, someone who absorbs information. However, IT companies are convinced that decisions (strategic ones, by the way) about software purchases are made by top management based on deep knowledge of the IT industry. I would love to see that.
Ah, here’s another one. example from life, an illustration, so to speak.
And so it is at every turn! In every industry. Why is that? Because no one even tries to understand how to select the right people. What to look for in them and which qualities are actually needed. Those doing the selection wander aimlessly and rely on what they can assess, but not because they are unable to evaluate. They can somewhat assess experience, Ahha. Even quantitatively: “how many years.” But selling skills—no. Because none of those looking for a good salesperson know how to sell themselves. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be searching.
But don’t we resemble rabbits, running across the highway in the headlights, just because we can’t see where to turn into the bushes?
Here’s a test for you. You invite me to your office “to talk,” and I show you, step by step, what you’re selling, what you’re doing right, and what you’re doing wrong. I explain why potential clients are turning you down and what you need to fix. No payment involved. For the sake of spreading the idea, I’m willing to spend two hours of my life with each caller.
P.S. People who believe that a product has some unique specifics in sales are very much like the major from the joke: “…Let’s assume the tank weighs X… No, X is too little, let’s take Y instead…” Yes, there are specifics, there are specifics in everything, but they are not dramatic. Stories about specifics are often just an excuse and a rationalization for one’s lack of success—“oh, the mentality, oh, the specifics.” However, if you replace the variable X in the equation with Y, the essence of the solution doesn’t change, does it? Or am I wrong?