Welcome everyone. I'm Kim Christiansen and this is The Peaceful Productivity Podcast, where I share strategies to help you get the most outta your time and feel better in the process.
Hi everyone. Welcome to this episode of the Peaceful Productivity Podcast. Today I've got an interesting topic for you. I wanted to talk to you a little bit about sales. I was listening recently to Seth Godin. Seth is an entrepreneur, an author, and a speaker. He's written 20 bestselling books. In this conversation that I was listening to recently, He was saying that effective selling cannot be done without empathy.
This really struck a chord with me because it caused me to start reflecting on a couple of very recent sales experiences that I've had as a consumer. The first experience was when I was shopping for a marketing coach, and the second experience was when I was shopping for a used car. And ironically, despite the stereotypes about used car salespeople, the used car sales experience was far superior for me than the experience of the marketing coach.
After a little bit of reflection on why that was, I realized that the key difference in both experiences was empathy. I felt like the person selling the used car, really understood. Took the time to understand what it was that I was looking for, why I was buying a new car, what I really wanted from this car, and it seemed like the salesperson was intent on matching my needs and wants with the inventory that this person had on hand.
And I even went so far as to look at inventory that wasn't on hand, whereas the marketing coach didn't really take the time to understand what I was looking for or why, and instead offered their solution as a blanket solution to whatever the problem they assumed that I had. I'm really wary of solutions that are positioned to solve all of the problems.
Especially when the salesperson doesn't take the time to understand what it is that I'm struggling with in the first place. All sales at the end of the day are matching up a solution with a problem, and if the salesperson doesn't take the time to understand the problem, then there can't be effective sales and understanding the problem requires empathy.
With the marketing coach, I felt like they were a hammer salesperson trying to convince me that what I needed was a hammer, when what I really needed was a screwdriver. This lack of empathy is also probably why they struggled to explain the value of what I would be getting in their marketing program.
The cost for their three month program was $20,000. And when I asked what results I could expect to receive at the end of the program, the response was, well, it depends on what you put into it. Uh, what can you imagine if you went to a university and the price tag on the program was $20,000? And when you asked what you could expect to get in return for the $20,000 they just responded with, well, you know, it really just depends on what you put into it.
Needless to say, I was very confused. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and I asked for some more information. I asked about the features of the program. I was thinking maybe they're just having a hard time articulating the value. So I asked what was involved in the program, and the response that I received was, well, you get the opportunity to pick my brain every single week.
I was shocked. From what I could understand, this program wasn't dissimilar to an extensive Google search. The premise of the program appeared to be that as long as I kept showing up and asking questions, answers would be provided. Now, there could be a couple of different things going on here. One is that indeed this program was nothing more than a weekly office hours call for three months straight, and what I had understood was actually the reality of the offer. Or two, it's possible that this coach was just not very effective at explaining the value of their program and how it might actually be the solution to my marketing problems. If the problem was the quality of the program was insufficient, for example, maybe it was nothing more than an elaborate weekly office hours call, then their sales issue would be that they had a quality issue with their product and services. If a quality issue isn't corrected by the company, then it will eventually be corrected by the market. You will know if you have a quality problem with your product or service because there will not be repeat sales. There will be a lack of customer retention and loyalty.
There will be negative reviews and there will be above average refund requests. However, if you have a high quality product or service and you're still experiencing lower than desired sales, then the issue might be more related to your ability to communicate with empathy. Empathy is the skill that is required to understand what the problem is at a level that enables you to suggest the best possible solution for the problem.
Even if it's not the solution that you currently offer. I once had this experience where I was shopping for something and the salesperson actually suggested that I go somewhere else to get what I was looking for, and they gave me a couple of referrals. Now that is empathy in practice, empathy requires you to really focus on the customer.
It requires you to ask questions. And listen deeply to the answers. Empathy doesn't allow you to just take the surface level understanding of the customer issues, and it definitely doesn't allow you to make judgements and assumptions about what the customer wants and needs as a consumer, when I feel like my needs are heard, that they're understood.
And they're actually factored into the proposed solution. That's when I'm more willing to entertain the solution as a viable option for myself. That's when buy-in happens. That's when trust is formed, and that's when I'm willing to listen to the offer. The moment that I feel like a salesperson is more focused on making the sale than they are on solving my problem, that's the same moment that I emotionally, mentally, psychologically disconnect from that person.
This is such valuable insight that you can apply when it comes time for you to offer your solutions to your ideal clients. If you're interested in elevating your sales skills, the best place to start is by practicing empathy. Tune into your own thoughts. When you are having a sales conversation, what are you thinking about?
What are you focused on? Are you thinking about the customer and what's best for them? Are you asking questions from a place of curiosity? Or do you notice yourself just going through the motions, having an agenda, making assumptions and trying to convince your client that your solution is a screwdriver, when it's actually really a hammer.
When you notice yourself recommending the best possible solution for your client's issues, even when it's a solution that's offered by someone else. Then you'll know that you've shifted into a service mindset. The beautiful thing about a service mindset is that even when customers don't buy from you in the short term, you've created a bond of trust, which then allows that customer to return to you in the future repeatedly, in fact, and refer you to others with confidence.
Basically, you can ask yourself if you are willing to sacrifice the quick sale for the long-term loyal customer relationship. If I asked you whether you would like to make a hundred dollars a day or $10 every month for the duration of your business, then it becomes really simple. It can be helpful to remind ourselves of this when the pressure and the fears of today overwhelm the long-term goals and that the sustainable desired impact of your business.
If you want to uplevel your sales skills, the best place to start is to pay attention to where your thoughts go in the midst of a sales conversation. If you notice that you're having more thoughts about what it is that you're trying to achieve over and above what your customer is trying to achieve, that's when you really want to start to pay attention.
Pay attention to what's going on in your own brain and shift your focus over to your customer. If you need any help with this whatsoever, please feel free to reach out to me via my website, financialwellnesscoach.ca. Take care, everyone.
Are you looking for a coach who will help you increase your business profit while protecting your time and your wellbeing? If so, I'll invite you to check out my website, financialwellnesscoach.ca.