Less How; More Why

Hi Friends,

Welcome back to Win Rate Wednesday!

[This Week on The Win Rate Podcast]

Joining me on this week’s episode of The Win Rate Podcast to discuss the role universities are playing in developing the next generation of B2B sales professionals are:

Howard Dover, Director of the Center for Professional Sales at the University of Texas at Dallas and author of the book 'The Sales Innovation Paradox.'

Dawn Deeter-Schmelz, Director of the National Strategic Selling Institute at Kansas State University.

John Kratz, former Sales Program Director at the University of Minnesota Duluth. John is now Co-Founder, Story Consultant & Coach at StorySeekers.

Listen to the episode here: Educating the First Generation of Sellers for the AI Era

If you have a question about any aspect of B2B selling that you’d like to have answered by me or my guests on The Win Rate Podcast, please submit them via email at [email protected] or DM me on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you.

[Today’s Win Rate Advice]

Enough with the “How.”

You need more “Why” in your selling.

The sales advice industry is consumed with telling salespeople “how” to do their jobs.

Everybody wants the answer.

Everyone wants the recipe; the step by step instructions for success (and for how to write the perfect cold email, how to make the perfect cold call, how to conduct the perfect discovery call, etc.)

The problem is that when you’re overly focused on "how" to do your job, you're essentially becoming a technician; content to just follow instructions using rote methods and sales processes that become stale as markets and buyers evolve.

You run the risk of becoming obsolete because machines can follow instructions more reliably than you.

So, it’s important to move beyond focusing just on “how” to do something.

Instead, use your curiosity to probe and understand the “why” behind the “how.”

‘Why does this (method, tip, technique, process) work? ‘

‘Why do my human buyers respond positively to this (method, tip, technique, process) and not to that?’

If you can’t articulate the reason(s) why a certain sales action is helpful to your buyer, then why are you doing it?

Focusing just on “how” locks you into thinking there’s just one way to work with your buyers.

Leaning into the “why” will help you adapt and innovate how you sell to more effectively help your buyers make their decision.

When you seek to understand the “why” you’re acknowledging that becoming better at selling requires constant experimentation. You’re demonstrating that you're driven to take ownership of your results and your career.

Understanding the “why” behind the “how” also means you’ll remain relevant and be a source of value for your buyers, even as markets, technologies and industries evolve.

Focusing on the How is about methods.

Focusing on the Why is about principles and understanding why humans operate the way they do.

Sales methods evolve quickly.

Humans less so. Focus on them.

[The Guide to Winning Buying Experiences]

Sell Without Selling Out is the definitive sales guide to creating the buying experiences that lead to higher win rates.

If your win rate is less than 50%, then this is the book you should read to kick off the new sales year on the right foot.

If you’re a sales leader and your team’s average win rate is less than 50% then it’s a book your team should read.

Click here to order your copy of Sell Without Sell Out.

If you’re a sales leader who would like to order copies for your team, email me for information at [email protected] or DM me on LinkedIn.

Good selling,

Andy