If you listen to most sales coaches today, they often agree that the best sales methodology consists of a good needs analysis and asking a lot of questions, especially open questions that make the customer talk a lot. What they forget to mention is that there is a paradox.
What often happens when you only ask questions and listen? The salesperson often loses their inner sales drive and their so-called “Vibe”. What does this often lead to? A disengaged salesperson with no creativity and who has difficulty following the customer to the last step and actually selling.
Why does this happen?
When you express yourself and have your flow with your spontaneous self-stirring emotional state, you feel good as a seller and that is also when you transmit the positive emotions to the customer, which means that you sell. If, on the other hand, the seller does not express himself and does not show part of his personality and only focuses on questions and needs analysis, you become more and more dependent on the customer’s behavior and emotional state and unfortunately the customer often has the wrong (no, the customer is not always right) emotional state or attitude to what you are going to sell.
What is right?
Experienced sellers know that a customer should not be able to negatively affect your emotional state, the seller should have a positivity inside and not be dependent on others to feel good. It is your job to draw the customer into your reality. When you maintain your positivity, you will inspire the customer to take action and follow the path you set out.
So the paradox is that needs analysis and the right questions are an important part of figuring out how to sell, but don’t let the customer walk all over you, because then he won’t do what he wants.
