Asher Sisneros
In the eyes of America, the quintessential salesman is a blood-sucking parasite, comparable to a leech: continually taking and giving nothing in return. The negative connotation associated with salesmen is especially notorious in the automotive-industry. According to Browne, the cunning, smooth talking, manipulative approach to selling is ineffective. Browne believes manipulation is a supplement for not providing the client with what he wants. Manipulation is an unnecessary tool the salesman’s tool box. If he were successful in defining the customer’s dilemma and accurate in his prescription, then there would not be a need to manipulate the buyer. Selling someone something they do not want is the antithesis of what the successful salesman strives to accomplish. The successful salesman discarded manipulation at the beginning of his career, and instead tried to find the prospect’s motivation and appeal to it. He argues that a good salesman is not defined by his cunning aggressiveness and persistence to make the sale, but based on the customer’s value of his merit. Being a smooth talker does not justify one as a good salesman. The good salesman is appreciated by his customers. His genuine desire to solve his clients’ problems define him. The question is, how can one see success in selling without manipulating people?
Browne divides his solution into five parts: “Discovering the prospect’s motivation, defining the problem, presenting your product, answering any questions and closing the sale.” He calls the first three steps, the “listen-agree-suggest” approach.
Browne discusses the importance of the salesman’s philosophy. When he enters a sales interview, the successful salesman does not wonder if he is going to make a sale, but if the customer is going to buy something. This tiny mindset alteration shifts the focus from the salesman to the customer. As Browne put it, “Most sales are lost because the salesman presented his product before he knew what motivated his prospect.” He emphasizes that effective salesmen listen to their customers and put their needs first. The successful salesman asks questions determined to understand his client’s situation. It is ludicrous for salesmen to believe they can sell someone something before they understand what that person needs. Once it is clear what the client’s needs are, then the successful salesman will agree. The purpose of this, is to accurately define the customer’s problem. He must clarify that he has a proper understanding of the situation at hand. He makes his customer verbally agree that he understands and then attacks the problem. This salesman recognizes that if he has an accurate interpretation of the problem, his solution will be accepted. Now it is finally acceptable for the salesman to suggest his product. In Browne’s words, “Your job is now to talk to your prospect in ways that will show him how he can get what he wants. As you talk, stick to those things he’s indicated are meaningful to him.” The successful salesman has identified the problem, confirmed the problem, and provided a solution.
At, this point the customer will start asking the salesman questions. Understandably, he wants to be certain that is the right product for him. Truthfulness is not an attribute commonly associated with salesmen. It gives the successful salesman an edge. He answers the customer’s questions and does it truthfully. Remembering his integrity he refuses to promise more than he can deliver. Even if his product is right for the customer, he will not exaggerate its benefits. Browne makes the following analogy: “Never promise more than you can deliver. If you’re a stockbroker, you don’t have to guarantee a stock will go up in price. Why should you? Any intelligent investor ought to be afraid of the broker who does.” The successful salesman stays ethical and stick to his morals rather than “fib” and gamble tarnishing his reputation. Such a gamble is not worth it long term. Browne says, “In any case a quick reply is a mistake. You may not realize it but in his eyes you are contradicting him. You raise the image of the stereotyped salesman whose only reaction to objections is to overpower them.” A quick response to critiques and questions is the sign of liar whether they tell the truth or not. Browne recommends salesmen take their time to think about the question, and answer it honestly.
Closing is viewed by many salesmen as the difficult challenge. Browne argues that the successful salesman does not face the close as a challenge, because he has handled everything leading up to the close properly. “To fully understand how ready he is to buy, just put yourself in his position. Suppose you had been looking for something. And suppose you ran into someone who was anxious to understand what you wanted–instead of trying to make you buy something else. And suppose he helped you get a more definitive picture of what it was you were after. And, finally suppose he showed you how much easier it would be to get it than you thought it was. What would your reaction be? Surely you wouldn’t be very hesitant about taking advantage of this opportunity.” If the salesman’s offer is rejected then he has not executed Browne’s strategy correctly. Either, the salesman did not understand the problem accurately, he did not provide a solution, or the “solution” was unappealing to the prospect because of: price, quality, etc. Browne said in an awkward closing, the salesman is, “asking the prospect to do something he hasn’t yet decided he wants to do.” Everything leading up the close should be easy. According to Browne, “this is the essential difference between high pressure and low pressure selling. Suppose your best friend were encouraging you to forget the cost and take your vacation in the one place you’ve always dreamed of. No matter how aggressive he pushed you, you’d never consider him guilty of high pressure.
“But suppose he were trying to get you to vacation in a place that seemed unattractive to you. No matter how tactfully he states his case, you would soon get irritated with his insistence.” High-pressure selling occurs when the salesman tries to force his way on the customer; when he is intended on selling something unattractive to the customer. In contrast, low pressure selling is when a salesman productively tries to solve a problem. America doesn’t hate salesmen. Without them the country would fall apart. America hates high-pressure selling.
Asher Sisneros 