Part 3 of Why the Sales Culture today sucks. Bad discovery questions are ruining your credibility and discounting the entire profession. We’ve become manipulative talking heads. We need to break free.
I am on a mission, if you haven’t seen it already, to change the sales culture of this world because the sales culture in the world today is a shit show.
This is part 3 of why the sales culture today sucks. I did a post not too long ago many of you saw it where I go on and on about how bad the sales world is and so I am on a mission to fix this self-centered, self-absorbed, seller-centric, zero value to the buyer world. Buyers are fed up with it, they don’t want to talk with us and it’s all because of the stupid shit we do.
Here’s an example of the world we live in, this is the advice people are getting and people are buying into. Check out this advice given to this person – now this isn’t awful but it’s not good and I’m going to walk you through why.
This person on LinkedIn said “one of my favorite Discovery questions in an old CRO of mine taught me was what would be a compelling reason for you to change what you’re doing today?”
No, just no. That is a horrible question. That question does one thing and one thing only – it tells the buyer that you have no idea what’s going on in their organization. You just freely advertised to your buyer that you have no understanding of their environment, their world, what they’re struggling with, the challenges, the issues, and it’s just simply designed to get them to what they need to change so you can run it and try to sell them. You’re asking the buyer to do the work for you.
Guess what? They see it coming from a mile away. Asking a buyer “what is it going to take for your to change today” is horrible and obnoxious and here’s why: You should know.
If you’ve done a proper discovery and you’ve uncovered the problems, the impacts, the root causes, you should know. If you and the buyer did this together you two will get to an understanding in unison, in a collaborative environment, where you both understand what it’s going to take to change. Not only will you know what it’s going to take you’ll also know why! That’s the key piece.
This understanding allows the buyer to appreciate you recommendation. You just walked them through the entire process, you opened their eyes to the problems and impacts. You’re not just a seller anymore, you’re an active participant and consultant in their problem solving journey.
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We have got to stop with these self-centered, self-absorbed questions – what will it take for you to change or what would you need to see to change? They’re bullshit. They’re designed to get the buyer to agree giving you a little time so you can formulate your plan of attack. It’s manipulative. You’re not helping anyone with these questions.
So here’s my advice folks, stop selling. If we are going to change the world of sales the first thing we have to do is stop selling. Our job is not to sell our job is to help and we cannot help if we don’t understand what the problem is. You can’t ask someone to change or tell you what they want to change until you understand why they should change.
What is happening today that they cannot continue to endure? What is intolerable and untenable? Where would they like to be and what is the value of that?
You cannot sell without all of that and you cannot get that without a proper diagnosis, discovery, and working together. So enough of these manipulative questions that try to drive a buyer into some place where you can pounce on them and sell them.
It’s time we stop selling. It is the 21st century, almost 2023, who’s with me in changing the whole sales culture and actually positioning and branding sales as an enablement tool for buyers? Let’s build something that they enjoy and embrace because they see our value in making their businesses better. Let’s be better.
If you or your organization want to start changing the sales culture, click here to schedule a call with our sales team.
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