Tag Archives: Think Like the Customer
Jerry’s Laws of the Universe #5: Mindset drives behavior
One of my favorite quotes from Walt Disney is, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” I’m a firm believer that you can do whatever you want, which brings me to another one of Jerry’s Laws of the … Continue reading
Are you telling or selling?
When I read the title of the blog “Diversity Training Doesn’t Work”, I thought it might provide some tips that could help us improve our training programs. Instead, it provided some insight as to why our Thinking Like a Customer … Continue reading
The Sales Manager as a Coach
Part of the joys of being a consultant is helping people in a variety of companies grow and develop. At Delta Point, we often work with sales reps and sales managers. I find it fascinating when I meet with managers … Continue reading
Thinking Like the Customer Mindset
In selling, thinking like the customer makes all the difference. Most sales people tend to think of their agenda and what they hope to accomplish. A change in mindset to thinking of the sales call from the customer’s viewpoint results … Continue reading
Technology Replacing Sales Reps
Will technology replace sales reps? A recent Wall Street Journal article (http://on.wsj.com/m8dEMx) seemed to indicate that this is the trend in some Pharma companies. While the size of sales forces continues to shrink, the use of digital selling tools is expanding. … Continue reading
Customers Reveal Only 20%
The other day I read a statistic about selling—that customers reveal only 20% of what they are thinking. So how do you get them to share that other 80%? It would probably help to figure out why people don’t share all their thoughts. After all, Thinking Like a Customer is our mantra. There are probably several reasons customers want to keep certain thoughts to themselves:
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3 Ways to Create Interest
“Nobody ever sold anything to anybody by boring them to death.” What David Ogilvy (advertising guru) said is so true—it’s hard to talk to someone that you find boring. That’s why being interesting is how we can get our customers want to talk to us and as importantly, pay attention to what we say.
Think about the people you know who are interesting. Odds are that you can probably separate them into two groups. Continue reading
You Don’t Need to Build a Faster Horse—the Art of Selling
I recently read a quote from Henry Ford, “If I’d have asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse!’” Ford is right that customers will often tell you they want one thing when in reality, they don’t have a clue. They are missing the in-depth knowledge and understanding about what is available or how something different could help them. You’ve probably encountered similar circumstances when you are selling.
The reality is that if you ask your customers what they want, in most cases, they really can’t answer that question accurately. Continue reading
The Best Interview Question
Recently, I was giving a presentation about the importance of asking questions when I blurted out that I knew the best question to ask in an interview. It seemed that I had everyone’s attention. My point was to prepare your questions ahead of time, so that they are worded in such a way that the person wants to respond. You ask questions to learn what you need to know about your clients—their needs, their wants, their challenges, their passions, etc. But it seemed that my reference to that best interview question was the pearl of my discussion Continue reading
Think Like a Customer so They’ll Respond When You Reach Out
Recently, I had one of those “ah-ha” moments about a simple yet powerful application of the “thinking like a customer concept”. It started benignly….I was told by a good friend to contact Joe. So I sent Joe an email, mentioning my friend’s name and why we should connect. I didn’t hear from him. Three weeks later I was speaking to a different friend who said I really should speak to Joe. I told him I did and explained that I had sent him an email but he didn’t respond. That’s when he told me that Joe doesn’t answer emails Continue reading
