Many would suggest that to succeed in sales and service it's important to have all the right answers; but while I too think knowledge is important, I suspect that asking all the right questions is what really matters most.
Let me illustrate by way of example:
Some time back I was shopping for a flat screen TV. My first stop was one of those big box electronics superstores where I was met by a young, yet no doubt very knowledgeable salesperson.
In response to my obviously well thought through first question "Ah...what's the difference between all these various brands and models... and ...um...which one is better?" he led me on a journey from set to set while citing at great length all of their technical specifications.
He talked of DPI, NPR, HDMI as well as the intricacies of NTSC, ATSC and QAM tuners, then compared Plasmas, LCDs and LEDs and even a few 3Ds in terms of contrast ratios and video frame versus screen refresh rates.
Clearly this guy knew his stuff, but after about 45 minutes of this, my head started to hurt and I left the store more confused and no closer to a purchase decision than when I had entered. I also left wondering just how and when I had become so technologically inept.
After a few days of licking my wounds and trying to convince myself I could live with the poor picture quality and rather annoying high pitch squeal that sporadically emanated from the old set, I built up my courage and decided to give it another try. But this time before heading out, I decided to do a little research and find out what some of these seemingly all important terms meant.
A few hours later, armed with the knowledge that DPI stood for dots per inch and that NPR was short for native pixel resolution, but still not knowing what all this meant or why it mattered, I found myself at the entrance to a Sony Store. I believe I was attracted there by the fact that it was much smaller and looked a whole lot less intimidating than the big box shop mentioned earlier.
Nonetheless, I was still feeling anxious and somewhat guarded when I was approached by a friendly looking gentleman who asked "How can I help you?" to which I hesitantly replied "I am looking for a new TV."
Much to my surprise, rather than lead me to the wall of TVs on offer, he invited me to take a seat in one of several comfortable leather chairs strategically placed throughout the store. He then proceeded to ask me a number of questions which included but where not limited to the following:
- What kind of programs do you enjoy watching most?
- How much television do you typically watch in a week?
- What are the dimensions of the room in which you plan to put your new TV?
- What are the main sources of light in this room?
- How far from the screen is your favorite chair?
- When other family members join you to watch television, where do they sit?
- What is the widest angle off center of the screen are these other seats?
While there was no mention of DPIs, NPRs, or any other verbal display of his technical knowledge during the entire time the salesman and I were together, I knew from the questions he had asked, this guy knew it all. And even though I also knew I could get a similar model, if not the very same TV at the big box store for a lower price, after a few minutes of contemplation, I made my choice and called him over to complete the sale.
Once the paperwork was taken care of and a delivery date agreed, I walk away confident that I had made the right decision and knowing I had finally found someone who could guide me through the set up of the system as well as the dreaded programming of the remote without making me felling like a technology challenged imbecile, even if I am.
So now back to our original question - which is more important - the Q’s or the A’s?
I believe that in sales and service (and for that matter in life) success is not so much a result of having all the right answers, but more the product of asking all the right questions… and I suspect this applies to both buyers and sellers alike.
What do you think?
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Like you Jim, I'm singularly unimpressed by the sales people who parade their knowledge as if they were a candidate for MasterMind. It's really sales 101: find out the customer's needs and preferences, only then can you begin to sell.
ReplyDeleteBit late, but have a great 2011 my friend.
Cheers
Mike
Hi Jim,
ReplyDeleteLife is good here on the other side of the pond. I trust it is good with you and yours.
You have done it again; hit the “Nail on the head time”. This is something I am always telling my engineers, when talking, writing - communicating - understand your "customer" so you can then pitch your comms right. Telling a Project Manager technical stuff about the aircraft structure within the argument only switches them off especially if all they really want to hear is how much, when the delivery will be made and when they will be able to fly the aircraft.
Technical geeks are a pain in the proverbial neck. They don’t seem to understand that the rest of the world does not talk in the same language. Some sales people seem to believe that purveying technical knowledge is the be all and end all to achieving a sale – scoring points, I am better than you, etc.!!!!!! And – their bosses employ these people – end of rant.
Cheers
David
This is so true. It will be paradise if all sellers will be like this: Just care about your need.
ReplyDeleteVery good article.
Cheers,
Sarah
Hit the nail on the head it does! I've been trying to get this message across to my team for some time. Thanks for the additional ammunition!
ReplyDeleteRick
When was the Super Bowl party?? Effective probing and understanding client needs are most effective in any sales situation. Taking the time to understand your client needs is key.
ReplyDeleteHi Jim,
ReplyDeleteYour first experience reminds me of the trap that a lot of students fall in to at exam time. When asked a specific question about, say X, they will divulge everything they know about everything from A to Z which basically, totally misses the point.
Your second experience highlights another topic you have often alluded to and which I will paraphrase as "you get what you pay for". And you were prepared to pay a bit more to get it. Sellers take note.
I am not really much of a salesman, in the traditional sense, but the little experience I have had, as well as in other roles I have played, always seemed to require me to do a lot of "probing". Sounds painful, I know, but of course it simply meant asking the right questions until you properly understood what the other person was saying, asking, needing. Invariably, if the right questions were asked, you would get the "right" result.
In business terms this means making a suitable sale, one that matches the clients needs.
Having said that, the extreme I sometimes experience is that if you go in to certain places such as a pub (my most frequent haunt and from which I draw most of my experiences) or a coffee shop (occasional and less frequent), it feels like the third degree inquisition before you finally get the drink you want.
E.g. in a pub: "A beer please."
- do you want bottle or draught,
- if draught, what size (e.g. halp pint or pint)
- Carlsberg, Stella, Heineken or whatever....
- in a straight glass or a "jug" (one with a handle)
- with or without froth
- and if you are in the UK, choice of cold or warm ....
etc.
I shan't bore you with the coffee shop experience which also requires you to speak some broken form of a foreign language or two but you get the idea.
I refrain from any sign of frustration as I understand that the barman is just "probing" to make sure I get what I want. What I remember in times like these is when I am on the other side and I think "why can't they [the customers] be more specific with their request?"
I guess what I am saying is that sometimes I just want a beer, any beer, and sometimes I would like a nice cold bottle of Stella, no glass thank you.
On a side note, (I am now the one who is maybe missing the point of your blog entry....) I am learning to be more specific, when I do know what I want.
At other times I don't mind being taken down the labyrinth of previously unexplored possibilities that may lead me to....a frothy warm halp pint of Carlsberg in a jug?.....
I'll pay for that!