What we have to buy from our Customers?

As they say - the first step is the hardest. And I will try for mine to be meaningful and a good foundation for further content. So... I went back to my few years in sales and focused on something what struck me as simple yet very hard. An initial approach to understanding the customer.

It is not easy to understand everyone. Nor we are able to do so fully. We have different views, backgrounds, emotions and circumstances where we interact with different individuals. Yet what is crucial for any salesperson, consultant or advisor - is the ability to see the problem through the eyes of the other side. To dig deeper. To understand.

You cannot do it without genuine interest in customer's business:

• how they create value for their customers?
• what are the catalysts?
• what are the obstacles?
• how they interact & what is the company's culture?
• what are the key processes & tools?

For me it starts with these questions. Of course they do not always refer to overall organisation - might be a team, a department or particular part of company you work with. Later the answers can be framed in a methodology, numbers and algorithms. But it takes answers to these questions to provide guidelines, business objects, results.

When I was working in telco industry I had a mentor. He told me something my mother used to tell me when I was young - "Be curious". I believe this is the point - you will not know answers to these questions unless you are genuinely interested. You seek knowledge to act as professional. You seek knowledge to help an organization achieve better. You seek knowledge to be better version of yourself. You seek knowledge to help.

This is what you have to "buy" from your customer. Their way of work, their motivations, their dreams and nightmares. From there you can go together to achieve desirable result. And this is something totally unique - as in 99% of cases seller wants you to buy what he sells. And here seller have to be persuaded to "sell" you pieces of information which will give you knowledge.

I know our end goal is to satisfy the customers needs. To do so fully, next time you're about to engage - to hit your quota, to deliver a project, to fulfill a need... Ask yourself - am I buying this customers business? Am I really getting the clue on why&how he operates? Will I commit myself to learn these things?

If not - it will be a lot harder for you to bring success. So... be curious!