If you coach and manage people for a living, then you already know that insight can come from the most unlikely places. Is it possible that your salespeople might have something to teach you?
Salespeople are under a lot of pressure right now. When the economy is good and things are humming along, they seem to have it easy. But, when the economy tightens up, it’s a different story. They’re often the first ones to feel the impact of a downturn.
Under such circumstances, most salespeople complain and make excuses about how external circumstances keep them from meeting their goals. Many of these people fail because they get stuck in this paradigm. However, there are always a few who figure out how to overcome these circumstances and succeed in spite of the external challenges.
Harvard Business Review published an article last month on how to think, act, and practice business like one of these salespeople. The article is titled, "In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers". It is written by Geoffrey Moore, along with two co-authors.
The basic premise of the article is that in order to be successful, a salesperson must be able to identify problems, risks, and opportunities that the customer cannot see on their own. Here is how Moore quantifies the issue:
“Provocation-based selling goes beyond the conventional consultative or solution-selling approach, whereby the vendor’s sales team seeks out current concerns in a question-and–answer dialogue with customer managers…. Provocation-based selling helps customers see their competitive challenges in a new light that makes addressing specific painful problems unmistakably urgent.”
In essence, the salesperson is doing the strategic thinking for the customer with regard to a small part of their overall business. How could an outsider have an impact like this?
“[Outsiders] aren’t caught up in the dynamics that often make it hard for a client’s own managers to challenge the status quo. This hesitancy to make waves becomes stronger in time of general economic turmoil. When people in your client’s organization are too worried about their jobs to present anything original or thought-provoking, it is easier to come across as a much-needed breath of fresh air.”
Doesn’t this sound like the job description of a coach?
Getting a third-party perspective from outside the normal frame of reference helps people perform better, overcome obstacles, and find solutions that are not obvious on the surface.
Tomorrow, I’ll share additional insight that Moore uncovers in this article. I think you'll find the information helpful with regard to both sales and coaching.
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