Sell The Way You Buy – Part Two

📅 2nd July 2020 | 2020/21 Sales Book Reviews

ICYMI – Sell The Way You Buy – Part One

For some time now, I’ve been telling audiences that the biggest competitor you’ll face in business is not who or what you think.

A rival brand may be selling merchandise cheaper or in more colours than you can offer. Or, you may think that a competitor who advertises more gives them an unfair advantage in the market-place in which you operate. But no, these are just a couple of obstacles you may have to overcome – your biggest competitor is the Status Quo Bias. In STWYB, this is prefaced by one of the salespersons frequently caught disease* – Inertia. Whether originating with you the salesperson, or a buyer it tends to result in a big fat zero.

All of us suffer from the SQB and David Priemer shows us examples from our personal lives – unless we make a break with the past, inertia sets in doesn’t it? Buyers and their minions in my area (in the last century) which was capital equipment sales, would often say, “we’ve only just bought a new Panasonic UF-250” or whatever. This was just an excuse to get rid of you. As I’m writing this I can think of several more. Yet the underlying reason is invariably the Status Quo Bias.

This excellent book contains, au fond, a background to the science that sellers need to fully conversant with and examples of how to communicate your ideas and solutions and how to execute them correctly.

The Good

Premier sweeps away sales psychology, brain science and any other sales axiom from the last century you care to mention and focuses on how buyers minds actually work! By getting to grips with the status quo bias, the ROI paradox and the wonderful concept of the ‘sea of sameness’ (I love that phrase) modern sellers will have a better chance of success.

Last week, I briefly outlined how as a junior salesman, I was enlightened by the concept of empathy. Perhaps salespeople in the 2020’s need to be hired on their ‘bedside-manner’ and their ability to be prescriptive! Empathy, along with the ability to listen attentively, remain as crucially important today as they ever were – and there plenty of references in the book on how to improve your skill in these areas.

The most striking thing for me though, is how Priemer explains the science behind decision making. There are various references in the book to Daniel Kahneman and the concept of the two mental systems which is explained in Thinking , Fast and Slow. This when taken together with Loss Aversion enables sellers to grasp the nuances and subtilties of how decisions are arrived at.

The section on objection handling is comprehensive (over forty pages worth), easy-to-digest and to put into practice.

Other stuff:

How to carefully use the word ‘because’ in conversation.

The avoidance of recommending a particular ‘sales methodology’

Zero references to “closing” (this must be a first!)

The Bad

The book is only two-hundred and fifty pages long and it’s too cheap at 15 bucks, which in real money is about £12.50. I would have gladly paid double.

The Ugly

The section called ‘Mindful Discovery’ highlighted a conversation between a hypothetical buyer and a seller. The conversation reminded me of a sales course on questioning techniques fro the 1980’s. “Don’t Jump In Here” was written all over the part of the “discovery and probe” techniques one was learning at the time.(for those of you who are keen to know a little know more, think Open Leading Questions). The author correctly points out that the seller must **hold back and think with a helicopter mind. Having a strong sense of empathy and a high EQ should mean that a more considered judgement on your customers needs would be the result.

* Remember the old quote by Confuscious. “salesman who cover chair instead of territory, always remain on bottom”.

** The Marshmallow Test

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Without doubt, this is a fantastic book for professional salespeople in most B2B and B2C arenas. Particularly those involved in getting new business rather than account handling.

Tags: behavioural economics, behavioural science