At this moment, millions of salespeople are out promoting their products or services.   They are shaking hands, pitching, demonstrating, and presenting.  They are also (hopefully) spending time asking questions, listening, learning, and facilitating mutual discovery.

Interestingly, the majority of these salespeople (and the leadership of the companies they represent) are operating under popular misconceptions about the TRUE reasons people buy.    They are consequently wasting tons of time and losing out on reams of sales, opportunities, and profit.   If a salesperson doesn’t understand why or how a person buys, and what motivates someone to buy from them instead of someone else, that salesperson’s chance of actually making a sale fall astronomically.    Here are just a few of the most popular misconceptions…: 

“If a Company needs what I sell, they will buy from me.”

Companies do not make purchases.  People do.  Decision Maker People.  Committees never make decisions.  In fact, ‘Committee Decision’ is an oxymoron.   If you are being told that a committee will decide, you can be sure that ONE PERSON on that committee (the one will the most influence, power, and commitment) will get their way.

“If a buyer needs what I offer, they will buy from me.”

The vast majority of salespeople believe this myth.  As a consequence, there are loads of ‘hot projected sales’ sitting on company forecasts right now that do not have a snowball’s chance in hell of closing.  It is highly likely that you need something today that you have not yet bought, and may not buy for months, years, or perhaps ever.  Need is just one component that leads to a potential purchase, but only emotional pain will actually trigger a purchase and make it happen.  Do your salespeople know how to uncover pain, and if so, are they doing it?   

“People buy from people they like”  

Can you think of a salesperson you like that you have not (or would not) buy from?  I certainly can.  Research shows that people do not buy from people they like.  They buy from people they TRUST.  They buy from people that help them create a new buying vision.  They buy from people when they enjoy and respect the process of their interaction.  It is great to be liked by your prospect and I would always encourage you to strive to be liked.  But many salespeople avoid asking vital questions for fear they may not be liked.  Bad idea.  Game over.  It is great to be liked, but it is much more important to respected, competent, and trusted.  

“If I demonstrate ROI, we’ll win!”

There is nothing at all wrong with outlining that a financial return on investment would result from a purchase.  In fact, there are many cases where it absolutely makes sense to do so.  However, don’t think for a second that because you showed someone you were going a save them a million dollars that they will buy from you.  The dominating presumption among ROI sellers is that people buy mostly for financial or rational reasons.  Again, statistical, psychological, and brain science research have all blown this misconception to smithereens.  While there are selected situations where demonstrating ROI is important, it has been proven that in ALL cases that buying decisions are made much more for emotional reasons and feelings that for rational reasons and spreadsheets.

“If my product (or service) is the best, they will buy from me”

A recent survey of 5000 C-level buyers has revealed that 19% of purchase due to “quality or service”, 19% buy due to “reputation”, 9% due to “price”, and 53% due to the quality of their “interaction with the salesperson or company representative”.  FIFTY-THREE PERCENT.  In other words, the process of buying is more important than everything else put together, far out-distancing the product or service.  So if you are currently focusing your sales interactions on either trumpeting or teeing up opportunities to demonstrate the wonderfulness of your product or company, you may wish to reconsider.  Once again, I am not suggesting at all that you should not have a great product, service, reputation, or a great offer at a fair price.  Nor am I suggesting that your marketing should not highlight your unique advantages.  However, managing the sales interaction will take you to the bank much more often with Decision Makers.    

These are just a few of the most popular incorrect beliefs that create ineffective selling behavior (and many lost sales).  There are more.

Do these myths and beliefs exist within your company and salespeople?

If so, I’d encourage you to take a close look at changing them (and the selling mistakes they create) soon.   The rewards will be great.

Continued Success,

Joe

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