Don’t sell: Understand

In the world of technology sales, one of the most common customer critiques is that the sales manager only shows up when they know there’s an opportunity. They don’t care about the customer or the company as a whole. They’re only in it for the “sell.”?

As someone who has been selling technological solutions to businesses for over 15 years, it’s my belief that understanding the customer should be the goal, not push-selling.?

Time needs to be spent on building a trusted partnership before meaningful, ongoing purchases can occur.?

Invest time

Before a sales partnership can be built, it’s imperative we understand the difference between reactive and proactive sales approaches.

A reactive approach is taking a product or solution straight to a customer, while a proactive approach involves a willingness to do the background work to properly understanding what they need.??

In practice, this often involves meeting with the customer for the sole purpose of wanting to develop a relationship. In such meetings, the sales manager doesn’t need to be armed with a set agenda or an active intent to harvest a purchase order (PO) straight up.?

Rather, the sales manager needs to allow the customer to speak openly so they can discern:

• What their problem is
• What they think they need to solve it
• What they’re hoping to gain from the products and solutions the business sells?
• Whether they in fact need what the business has to offer

From my experience, an open-ended conversation with the customer enables the sales manager to obtain insights into what the company is gearing towards as well as the appropriate solutions for their needs.?

In allowing the conversation to take place, a more fertile ground for opportunities is created. The customer doesn’t feel that they’re being pushed. They’re given space to speak candidly about their company’s predicament and how they envision their situation could be turned around.?

A common issue among sales professionals is a tendency to fixate on the product or service, where they attempt to force it on the customer without first considering how it helps improve their situation.?

I liken this to a waiter presenting diners with the special of the night without first asking what they would like to order. There’s lots of room for error in conducting sales on an assumption-based process like this.

That’s why it’s of no benefit to anyone to cut corners and push for a sale straight away. At this stage, the sales manager doesn’t yet know what they don’t know about the customer or the organization.?

So, time needs to be spent on building a partnership. That involves continually showing up, even when there appears to be no opportunity.?

Relationship first

Customers seek more than a seller. They want a business advisor who cares about their business and whom they can trust.?

The fact is a customer is unlikely to even consider buying from a business if trust hasn’t been established. In my experience, the key to building trust is to stay involved. Keep in regular contact with customers during and after delivery, be ready to help them problem-solve and continue to identify needs and form new ideas as their business evolves.?

Specifically, when it comes to technology sales, a divide that’s often present between the seller and the customer before they’ve even met is the growing complexity of the technology itself.?

As technology becomes more complex, customers have less of an understanding of how it aligns with their needs. This places a requirement on the sales manager to avoid framing sales pitches around product features and pricing options in isolation of the actual needs of the customer.?

Rather, a more consultative approach is needed. I’ve spoken before about how technology doesn’t need to be complex, only beneficial. Framing a sales conversation around the customer’s unique situation is key to making the technological solution more comprehensible.?

This framing allows the customer to see the technological solution through a focused lens of how it helps solve their business challenges. They don’t need to concern themselves with the product in its entirety. They only need to know how it works to transform their predicament.

When a customer recognizes a sales manager’s effort to understand them and make the product more comprehensible, they’re more likely to place trust in the partnership, the key ingredient of a successful sales experience.?

Keep an eye on the trends

Trends ultimately reflect what customers are interested in. As technology providers, it’s our duty to understand the key drivers of customer decision-making so we can continuously provide customers with valuable, informed solutions.?

As an example, a key focus in my work at Lenovo is device as a service (DaaS). This is largely in response to an ever-growing need to streamline device operations. We’ve been working with companies like KPMG to help them achieve greater scalability with their hardware. ?

With DaaS, companies no longer need to purchase multiple devices. They can access IT management services across PCs, smartphones and mobile devices in a single bundle with predictable, per-user, per-month pricing. This ensures companies can reap the benefit of high-performing devices without high up-front costs.?

Being aware of the trends that impact a customer’s business allows us, as providers, to stay one step ahead and readily deliver solutions that resolve the problems of tomorrow.?

In any sale, it’s important to remember that selling isn’t the same as adding value. Rather, adding value is often what leads to the sale. ?