Revenue Journal®

We had a lot of reasons for moving from Silicon Valley to the New England coast, about ten years ago. None of them had anything to do with the weather, though we liked the idea of having "seasons." We also wanted to live on the water for less than, say, seven million dollars. We had many family members here, and both of us were born here - although we also both moved to California when we were young. Many of our clients were on the East Coast. And we knew it would be a great place to sail.

This background sets the stage for my little salesman's story - a perfect example of selling the wrong way, using the "tell, tell, tell" method instead of the "ask then tell" method.

In the course of our search for a house in New England, one April day we were being driven around some waterfront neighborhoods in Connecticut. The real estate broker was a typical congenial salesperson, a large man who had obviously enjoyed his share of drink, food, and smoke. He was chatting away as he drove us around. We didn't say much, because he was doing all the talking.

All he knew about us was that we were from California, which he learned from the first phone call. That's when he decided he knew all he needed to know about us. That's when he jumped to conclusions. That was his first and most egregious mistake. But he didn't know that. He thought he was smart, because he "knew" so many things about us - all because we were from California.

So here we were, driving around looking at houses, in New England, on a partly sunny spring day. He was chatting away, talking about how the weather is pretty nice almost all year in New England.

"Sure we have seasons, but we also have nice days like this one," he was saying. He assumed, since we were from California, that our biggest objection to moving to New England was going to be the weather. He was having trouble figuring out why anyone would want to move from California to New England - because he had often thought of moving to California, especially in the dead of winter. All of these assumptions were coming from him, not us. We had never said a word about the weather.

As we drove past some waterfront houses, a few clouds gathered in the sky. He was still chatting away about the weather. "Yes, the winters are pretty mild, actually, especially along the water. It's April, and we're pretty much done with winter by now."

Of course, just as he said this, it started to snow.

The broker was horrified. As he turned on his windshield wipers, he stammered, "Well, OK, once and a while, it snows in April. But it doesn't snow hard."

Of course, right then, it started snowing really hard, even though the sun had been out just ten minutes before. Typical New England spring weather.

We couldn't help ourselves. We started laughing. The salesman, who was now speechless for the first time that day, nervously tried to chuckle along with us. In his own mind, however, he had just blown a sale. Here he was driving people around who were from California, and it was snowing, hard, in April. He had nothing left to say.

We didn't leave him in his distress, of course. We told him that our move to New England had nothing to do with the weather.

He was relieved, and as we drove through the snow, he then did what he should have done in the first place: He finally asked us why we were moving to New England.

Want to sell? Ask, then tell.

This salesman's behavior is a perfect example of the typical, dysfunctional "tell, tell, tell" sales method.

Salespeople like to talk, and they need to make a sale. Combine this character trait and this need, and you get the typical unsuccessful sales interaction. The salesman talks and talks, while the customer is standing there with all sorts of questions. The salesman doesn't answer the questions the customer has. The salesman answers the questions he thinks the customer has. Truth be told, he answers the questions he has answers for.

Not only does he fail to answer the customer's actual questions, but as he prattles on, he adds to the customer's concerns.

By the time his verbal spring winds down, the customer has decided that she doesn't want to buy anything from this salesperson or his company, or that the product or service isn't what she wanted anyway.

So she walks away. The salesperson doesn't understand why. Sometimes he finally starts asking questions as the customer is drawing away. But it's too late then, because the customer has already rejected the salesperson's pitch and is making her exit.

What he should have done is start with questions. Sellers don't like to face it, but during the selling process, the customer is playing poker. The customer has no intention of playing into the salesman's hands, because the customer doesn't want to part with her money until she's convinced it's the smart thing to do.

It's a little battle of the wits, and the salesperson is at a disadvantage from the start. The customer knows what the salesperson wants: the customer's money.

The salesperson doesn't know what the customer really wants. That's why he must start by asking questions. He must find out what the customer really wants. If he assumes, he loses.

If the real estate broker had asked us, from the start, why we were moving to New England, by the time it started snowing, it wouldn't have bothered him at all. He could have said, "Well, it's a good thing you're not moving here because of the weather!"

Here's what every good salesperson has to know, before he can successfully sell: What does the buyer want, and what is the buyer concerned about?

That's really all any salesperson has to remember to ask, in a selling situation. He has to overcome his natural tendency to prattle on nervously. He has to be a calm, interested investigator.

Want to sell successfully? Ask, then tell. Find out what they want, and what they're concerned about. The answers to these questions will put you on the right track. You'll be answering their real questions, rather than the questions you think they have.