The Problem with Selling

Selling is among the most distrusted professions. No wonder that most professionals within architecture, engineering, and environmental firms are reluctant to fully embrace the role. When stepping into a seller-doer or dedicated business development position, one of the first things I suggest you do is make an honest examination of your attitudes about selling.

When I do sales training, I typically open by asking the group what impressions immediately come to mind when I mention the word salesperson. Predictably, the responses I receive are overwhelmingly negative. Common descriptions include fast-talking, aggressive, self-centered, deceptive, dishonest. The prominent impression is that salespeople are more concerned about their needs than the buyer's needs.

The assessment is harsh and probably unfair to most sellers. But the perception is real and widespread, and you best not ignore it when selling your firm's services. Why? Because if the prevailing image of salespeople is negative, why should you expect prospective clients to view you differently when you're in a sales role? Plus, you can hardly expect to excel at selling if you have reservations about the role.

The thing that you most want to avoid is the buyer's perception that you're primarily motivated by self-interest. The most common complaints from buyers are that salespeople talk too much, don't really listen, and focus on what they're selling rather than what the buyer needs—all evidences of the seller's self-interest.

The many technical professionals I've trained over the years make the same complaints about sellers. But here's the interesting thing: I've accompanied technical professionals on hundreds of sales calls and guess what I've observed—they usually talk too much, don't listen all that well, and focus the discussion on themselves and their firms rather than the client!

Why would those who disdain such sales tactics resort to the same practices? Because that's what they know. That's the persistent image they have of how sellers sell. It's the same thing I experienced when my colleagues (on several occasions with different firms) thought we needed to hire a hyper-extroverted, fast-talking business development specialist to do the kind of selling they were uncomfortable doing themselves.

That's the problem with selling. Too many sellers focus on making the sale rather than serving the buyer's interests. And this mistake is all too evident in our own industry, even though we claim we don't care for the stereotypical salesperson's tactics. A few examples:

Inability to empathize with buyers. Empathy is being able to see things from another's perspective. It's an invaluable trait, not only for selling, but for serving your clients after the sale. Yet it doesn't seem to be a strength in our ranks. I've repeatedly observed the struggle to align our perspective with that of prospective or existing clients.

Case in point: I recently reviewed slides that were created for a sales presentation. The first slide after the cover slide said simply: "Now let's talk about YOU..." Okay, I thought, that's a good start! The next slide was titled "Benefits to YOU." Nice sentiment, but that slide and those following were all about the firm. In other words, "the benefits you accrue are us."

The same is true when I try to steer proposal teams toward centering their message on their value proposition. The typical result is some variant of "Our value proposition is our quality and expertise." What about client outcomes? "You will receive superior service and leading-edge solutions."

When we're the buyer, this kind of self-promotion drives us batty. But somehow we can't imagine how the client feels when our sales messaging focuses on ourselves.

Lack of consistent sales efforts. It's easy to blame this on busy schedules and the competing priorities facing seller-doers. Those challenges are certainly real. But let's again look at this from the buyer's perspective. Feedback from clients indicates that they perceive the lack of consistency in our sales efforts as a lack of interest in them and their needs.

This perception comes into sharp focus when we suddenly begin showing interest with the release of an RFP. Intended or not, this conveys the message that we only care about the client when our potential reward is imminent. And we presume that the client should still hire us even though some of our competitors have been showing interest for months.

Of course, this does happen on occasion. But that hardly justifies this prevalent practice of engaging clients only in the late stages of the buying process—unless, perhaps, you're talking about commodity services where low price is the dominant selection factor.

Difficulty in shifting the narrative from ourselves to the client. Even when we're in agreement that our sales messaging should focus on client needs and outcomes, it's hard to change the habit of pitching ourselves. No doubt, part of the blame for this is qualifications-based selection protocols that have for decades guided how clients procure our services. Surely this means we need to turn the spotlight on ourselves and our firms when selling. Right?

Wrong! All the evidence (and common sense) point to the fact that clients will still choose the firms they believe can best serve their interests—and bend subjective QBS criteria to support those decisions. The most compelling qualification you can demonstrate in the sales process is your ability to earn the client's trust by describing how your firm can help them be successful.

Despite the fact that the vast majority of A/E firms are highly skilled in meeting client needs, most struggle to center their sales messaging on how they deliver that. We in effect are prone to focusing more on the qualifications of the baker than the appeal of the cake.

The problem with selling is that the focus is typically on the seller rather than the buyer. This has resulted in buyers largely distrusting sellers. When you sell professional services, trust is a huge deal. Fortunately, studies suggest that our profession enjoys a good measure of overall trust, but the concern in selling is gaining more trust with the buyer than your competitors.

The best way to earn this trust as a seller is to demonstrate a greater focus on the buyer's interests than on your own. A few suggestions for doing this are:

• Serve, don't sell—be helpful throughout the sales process
• Be a great listener, showing you really care about what the buyer has to say
• Focus on client outcomes, not just services or solutions
• Demonstrate you understand the terms of client success
• Talk about the working relationship; make it personal
• Get involved early in the buyer's journey, and follow up consistently
• Be willing to refer the buyer elsewhere if it's in their best interest

The problem with selling can readily be turned into your advantage. Shift the spotlight to the buyer and focus on their interests, and you'll set yourself and your firm apart.