Learn Selling Skills From Politicians
Dr M Muneer
Election season has just ended with Modi-magic at its best as compared to a lame-duck opposition performance. Voters were wooed in more ways than one this time with social media at full play. The kind of messages used in different parts of even State, and in different States can teach many lessons to companies in selling.
While every political party brings out a poll manifesto, most of the offers are from the older ones. Yet, most voters do not see the oddity and continue to vote one or the other depending on the local nuances. The fortunes of any party are so unpredictable that every politician tries whatever best for him or her given the circumstances. There may be a national or State positioning like the “sabka saath sabka vikas” campaign of BJP in the just concluded state elections, yet each region used many shades of this campaign. Result in UP was historic and not so for other states. What companies would like is a more stable and predictable outcome from their marketing efforts, which only a few politicians have been able to deliver. What companies can learn from such nimble-footed tactics of politicians is the ability to adapt to a changing and volatile marketplace.
In national elections, generally people are not decisive about any candidate. This causes the uncertainty amongst candidates. If there are hot issues such as a Babri Masjid, assassination or scandal, the outcome is pretty certain. Else people struggle to figure out what the right issue to connect with. In most rural areas, all it takes to get a vote is Rs 500 and a bottle of liquor. Interestingly all these behaviours can be explained with the brain science. People have the best motivation to take a decision when it helps their wellbeing or survival. Folks are more motivated either for avoiding a major risk or to get personal gains. In the case of selling, this is precisely the same. For instance, if a prospect is indecisive about a new or different product, it is tough to persuade him. Just as in an election, in order to make people make a change from an existing situation, a salesperson will have to make them see their current situation and explain why a change is needed. This is precisely what Modi has done with the general elections, and is continuing to do in subsequent State elections.
In a company, salespeople need to seek out opportunities and then convert them to a pipeline of orders. Essentially they need to get potential customers to say “Aye” to three questions: Why they should change, why them and why now? Sales people need to be proactive in order to ensure the yes answer to the above questions. They need to use something that will shake the existing thinking. One of the best ways to do this is by way of showing them the burning platform. Stagnant sales, shrinking markets, demanding customers, rising costs, and so on. They need to change not because they are doing the wrong things but because the new changes in the market place demand them to change and adapt new ways. This is positive and will get the attention. Most salespeople make the mistake of pushing the products instead of leading the prospect to come to them.
Most salespeople want to present themselves coming from a great company, especially in the B2B sector. On a first call it is always wedding-day best face. No one wants to be in the bad books on first meeting. People like to make the customer like them. But this is not going to swing a deal their way. No employee is fired for missing on an opportunity no one has seen. But people lose their jobs for missing out on a risk that will cost company a lot more. Therefore it is not easy for a buyer to risk going for a new supplier when things are not yet broken just because of good impressions.
It is not at all beneficial therefore to barge in with your product benefits and showing the buyer your differentiators when he is not even thinking of changing status quo. Good salespeople know what goes on in the brains of buyers. They know that it is not good to go that distance without getting the buyer primed for change. Which is why more than 70% of qualified leads do not result in a solid sale. This is not enough for a company to drive growth. The sales force need to improve the conversion of the qualified leads to at least 50%. This cannot happen without first making the prospect to consider changing. So how can the sales process be modified to drive better conversion? As a process companies should do a thorough research on the industry they are selling to and understand the trends that is shaping it. Do not send a questionnaire to prospects to understand their critical problem issues. Most prospects will not share this information if they do not think there is a need for a new supplier. Remember, most customers have pain points but they are not as big as a change of existing methods or supplier. What a company needs to do is bring out its point of view given the market, industry dynamics and the possible issues that may be facing companies in general.
The best way is to drive in with case studies where your solution has helped similar companies, but avoiding educational route on your solutions. You need to make their current problems bigger than the problem of changing from status quo in order to start discussing specific solutions.
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Dr M Muneer is the CEO and Managing Director of CustomerLab Solutions and a well-known author. Customerlab has collaborated with leading minds of the world for strategy execution and service excellence. Feedback and queries may be sent to him at [email protected]