Shifting Perspective to your Customer's View

Let's start with a question. What is top of mind for your current and potential customer or client right now? If they had a list of "Top 10" things that are top of mind for them, what would be on that list?

Chances are pretty high that problems and issues they face are all over that list, and yet, being on a "Top of mind" list is something you want to be on as a company offering a product or service.

This is why so much of what I have seen around training and enablement programs for new and existing employees tends to fall short. The company wants their sellers to understand them, which is needed and necessary, but too little time is spent on enablement and training to see things form the other side of the table.

What happens is a salesforce gets deployed armed with lots of product knowledge and a quota they have to hit. The results are predictable when they do not make the connections that lead to results. Without deeply considering how they solve one of those "Top of mind" problems, they have given no reason to be heard.

Some questions for thought:

1. Does your sales team understand the major issues the other side of the table is facing?
2. Does your sales team understand they may not rank on that list because they don't solve one of those problems?

This is why empathy and "Solution Selling" are buzzing right now, and why they are both important. Yet these two concepts are misunderstood if only viewed through the lens of your company offerings.

Some ideas to get your sales team on the other side of the table:

1. During team meetings, whiteboard the issues your current customers and potential clients are facing. Understand it from their broader perspective, not just through the lens of what your company sells.
2. Rank their most critical issues. Do some research. Resist the temptation to elevate an issue your company can help manage or solve. You need to see where you rank, not push an agenda. Why does an issue matter to them? What happens if they do not handle these issues well, or if they do not find answers?
3. Is your company offering a critical solution to a current problem they do not have a solution for RIGHT NOW, or are you up against an embedded competitor? If you are up against an embedded competitor, then you are probably offering more efficiency, a better price, or a better experience. What this REALLY means is you are trying to create a problem to be able to drive a wedge - and this will meet with RESISTANCE.
4. What can you offer for free, that only costs you a little time and expertise, that will be of value to them?

Take the time to sit on the other side of the table, learn about their critical issues and problems, and find a way to add value to them without requiring them to buy something. By doing so you begin the process of becoming a trusted advisor and growing the relationship that will earn you the chance to be heard.