THE CUSTOMER COLLECTIVE: THE BANKRUPT LANGUAGE OF SALES
This week on The Customer Collective blog, Michael McLaughlin reminds sales people to refocus on the customers’ needs rather than focusing on his or her own goals. By placing a focus on the sales persons’ goals, the customer is cast as a prey to be caught and won over.
The Customer Collective Excerpt:
If you’ve been around the sales business long enough, it’s likely you’ve heard someone refer to selling as a hunt, or use a worn-out sports metaphor to describe a sales effort. In this sort of thinking, a sales opportunity is a chase or a game, and clients are the prize.
The language of sales is full of bankrupt, counter-productive language that hinders your ability to win. One seller characterized his company’s sales strategy as “you eat what you kill.” Another referred to a prospective client as a “wallet with legs.”
Language like that shifts your mindset to your own goals, instead of focusing it on what clients need. If you’re a “hunter,” your tactics to snare your quarry might be stealth, guile, and fire power, which rarely work for selling services.