We may not have sales, marketing, or business development in our titles but we all are responsible for selling and marketing ourselves. In every interaction, we are being evaluated to determine whether another interaction is warranted. It applies whether you’re making a presentation to other members of your company, interviewing for a job, dating, or even when you’re searching for a golf or tennis partner.
If you accept my premise that we’re all in sales & marketing, then it’s quite important that you know how to be successful. The best salespeople understand that you will only succeed if you know what your prospect wants. It’s not about how good your product is but rather what they most need and how well you can satisfy that need. Let’s consider the following two examples:
- It’s dinner time and the phone rings. You reluctantly answer (assuming you didn’t screen the call) and are assaulted with a high pressure pitch. One of the problems is that the salesperson has no idea what you need and also no plans to find out. Is it possible they have an excellent product and perhaps even that you need it? The answer is yes but…..that truth will never be discovered….
- How about the person in transition who confidently delivers their elevator speech, which is a concise and perhaps even entertaining summation of their job search? Unfortunately they have no idea what you need – perhaps you’re also unemployed and frustrated that everyone you meet wants to tell you what they need.
In both instances, the person is self-centered. Successful salespeople know the value of establishing trust and rapport in a user-centric conversation. Dave Palmer’s Incyte Strategies LLC website has a lot of helpful information about shifting to user-centric marketing.
Marketing Strategies
I want to give a shout out to Dave as he represents the best of our brave new world. Not too many years ago, we thought it was the responsibility of government and large companies to take care of us: lifetime employment, unlimited medical assistance, etc. We are shifting back to reliance on friends, family, and trusted colleagues….I think it’s a good shift! Dave has spent his career learning how to effectively market products and services. His experiences were quite different from my career, which was always internally focused. While it is now clear that I would have been wise to hone some business development skills, the sad fact is that it wasn’t on my “To-Do” list. Dave has been very gracious in spending some time with me to develop a user centric-message and two things will result. The first is that I will hopefully acquire some new skills which will help in all aspects of my life. Equally important, I now have firsthand experience with Dave and am quite comfortable recommending that you spend some time on his site and consider hiring him if you think your marketing needs an upgrade.
Start by learning about his “5 Whys” for more powerful messaging.
Then, look around some more as his site is filled with useful advice!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Ed,
Ironically, I have an interview tomorrow for a sales opportunity. One of the important aspects that I have learned during the interview process is that the interview is not about me, it’s about what does the manager get from hiring me. It may sound like a simple approach, but too often as salespeople, we often get consumed with talking about ourselves, our product, and our goals and never do we find out what the person needs or wants.
There are some other sales concepts that I have picked up on as well. Please let me know if you are interested in me sharing.
Regards,
Brian
Thanks for the comment, Brian. I really think that’s the theme. If we make every interaction about what the other person wants/needs, we are much more likely to prove valuable to them. This does not suggest you should be victimized, only that you should be attuned to the needs of the other person.
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