Did You Arrive at a Consensus? Oh-oh

Everyone likes to make nice.  To get along.  To get agreement.

But in this rush, the group may not "flush" out all the issues.

The leader's job is to encourge conflict, debate, and healthy disagreement.  Only when this happens can the leader be sure that she has drug out enough conflict in order to flush out bad alternatives--and gain commitment around the final (best) outcome.

There Needs to be a "C" in "Selling"

Slowing down the sales process so that the professional sales person can collect enough of the right information is critical.  The sales person must start by using their ears and mouth in the exact proportion that God designed--listening twice as much as we talk.  Far too often we are so tempted to "explode" on our customers with all of the product knowledge we have--and we launch into a boring monologue that the customer wishes would end.

Why not instead control the selling situation by asking key questions about the customer's needs?  Be sure you've done your advance research first, but ask:

1.  What are the type of business segments in which you operate?
2.  What do you find most challenging in this?
3.  When you are evaluating suppliers and partners, what types of things have you found difficult to find in most of them?
4.  Would ________ be of value to you?
5. We've found that  __________ has been helpful for other customers. Would this be of value to you?

Those are just 5 of the many questions you should be asking--before you get down to selling.  In fact, the answers you get from the customer will tell you exactly how to sell them.

The "C" in selling is "consultative," and if you're not practicing it, your competitor is.