Last week’s column was about the need for salespeople to get out of their own way, and how too many salespeople don’t. Then, a couple of days ago, I saw a perfect example of a salesperson who got in his own way.

I had lunch with a friend of mine who runs an industrial manufacturing company, and on the way back, we stopped by a distributor of shop equipment – my friend’s company needed to buy a couple of machines. The salesperson eagerly showed my friend a machine, and my friend asked the salesperson, “What’s the duty cycle?” The salesperson – using the finest sales techniques that the 1970s had to offer – asked, “Is the duty cycle something that’s important to you?” (It was the old, “Always answer a question with a question” technique.) My friend whipped out his smartphone, Googled the model number of the machine, and found the duty cycle. He looked at the salesman and said, “You have just become superfluous,” and we walked out.

When we got back to the office, my friend got online, found the machine, made sure the specs were what he wanted, placed the order, paid, and arranged shipping – all in about fifteen minutes. He probably had the transaction complete before the salesperson at the equipment distributor figured out what he did wrong (if he ever did).

And what did the salesperson do wrong? You’ve (hopefully) figured it out already. He used a 1970s technique in a 2016 sales environment. Yes, I once learned the “Always answer a question with a question” technique, too. And I know why it’s thought to be a good idea – by using it, it theoretically can help you home in on the customer’s primary buying motivations. But it’s a bad idea for three reasons:

1. It’s annoying. When a customer asks you a question, they’re seeking an answer, and when they don’t get it, they become annoyed.
2. If you’re doing your job, you should already know your customer’s buying motivations through your own questioning.
3. The world has changed. Once upon a time, customers had to put up with #1 and #2 above because we (salespeople) were the repository of product knowledge that the customer wanted. Now? You got it. Just like my friend did, a salesperson can become superfluous to the process when the product information is easily available via the Internet and smartphones.

In today’s world, when the customer asks you a question, they expect an answer, not a BS question right back. And if you won’t give the customer an answer, they’ll find someone – or something – that will.

Another example of the salesperson getting in their own way is related. Few things strike fear in the hearts of salespeople like the customer who asks for their price “too soon.” You’re only partway through your presentation, and the customer interrupts and says, “How much?”

Your stress meter goes to ten because you haven’t gotten through all the benefits that justify your price. What do you do?

Simple. You answer the question. Yes, I just said that you should tell your customer the price, even though you haven’t gone all the way through your presentation. The reason is simple – if you tell the customer, “Hold on, l haven’t finished my presentation,” or some such nonsense, your customer knows that you’re scared to death of your price – and if you think your price is too high, your customer will, too.

When the customer asks for the price, every word you speak before giving them the price costs you money. Again, the successful technique here is no technique at all – just answer the question.

Of course, sometimes you need more information before giving a price. That’s okay. Just explain why, gather the information, and then give the customer the price.

The common thread here is that in today’s Internet driven sales world, what your customer wants – no, demands – is straightforward communication. We can no longer keep the ‘golden product knowledge’ in our hip pocket – not when the customer can simply tap a few buttons and get it.

The best way to get out of your own way is to drop the old techniques and respect the customer’s intelligence.

A while back, I was in Las Vegas and decided to catch a comedy show. I do this a lot, so unfortunately, I can’t remember the comedian’s name that I’m about to quote, but he was hilarious. He described going to the grocery store, putting his purchases down, and the cashier saying, “Do you have our card?” He replied, “No.” She said, “Would you like one?”

He yelled to the audience, “NO! I DON’T HAVE YOUR CARD! I HAVE MONEY! I GIVE YOU MONEY, YOU GIVE ME MY STUFF! THAT’S HOW THIS WORKS!” It cracked up the entire audience, and why? Because we’ve all been there. You have too. The ‘rewards card’ used to be a cool thing; now it can be more of a nuisance when every place asks you if you have one, and all you want to do is pay and go. That’s but one example of how, with the best of intentions, businesses can become their own worst enemy when it comes to sales.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m used to being asked if I have ‘the card,’ and (since I never do), if the cashier simply says, “OK,” rings me up, and gets me out of there, it’s no problem. On the other hand, if the cashier acts offended, or worse, makes a contest out of it, then the transaction itself might not happen. At a bookstore last summer (I like bookstores), the cashier took things so far that I simply left my books on the counter, walked out, and I haven’t been back.

For the retail industry, I think some store chains have gotten so obsessed with data gathering that they’ve forgotten that their primary purchase is to sell their products and services. And, if the transaction becomes too inconvenient, the customer just might take their business to another store – or to Amazon.

That’s not the only instance of companies, or salespeople, getting in their own way. There are any number of others, and you might have committed some of them (I have.)

Defense first: Oftentimes, when we’re challenged by a customer, our first instinct is to defend, rather than to understand. A good example is this. There’s a bar and grill very near our house in Kansas City, and I do love a good bar burger. I typically don’t drink alcohol, so my wife and I ordered Pepsis. When we received them, they were flat. As a pancake. I said to the waitress, (politely) “I think your carbonation needs to be changed. These Pepsis are flat.”

The waitress immediately got her back up and defended, saying, “That’s just our Pepsi. All of our other customers drink it just fine.” In other words, there’s something wrong with me for wanting carbonation in my cola. I couldn’t help myself. I said, “You don’t really get the concept of Pepsi. You see, there’s no such thing as ‘our Pepsi’ and ‘their Pepsi.’ It’s supposed to taste the same everywhere.” We left. I would say that we haven’t been back, but we have – the place has undergone two changes of ownership since then.

The problem was caused by the waitress’ first instinct being to defend and fight rather than listen and understand. I have no doubt that she knows that Pepsi isn’t supposed to be flat, but for some reason, she picked a fight. This happens all the time when customers complain, and it can turn a minor issue into a lifelong customer loss.

Selling the product instead of the appointment: When you’re teleprospecting, in most cases, your object is not to sell your product or service, but to sell the appointment. Salespeople who are successful at teleprospecting know this, but salespeople who allow the conversation to go into heavy detail on prooducts and services can kill the appointment by giving the customer an opportunity to give a premature ‘no.’ When you’re teleprospecting, focus on getting the time with the customer, where you can do a quality needs analysis and presentation. (I’ll own this one.)

Upselling past the purchase: I’ll own this one, too, and it’s painful. We’ve talked a little about excessive ‘upselling’ in the retail world. It happens in B2B, too. Here’s what I did:

I had been working with a client on a Recruiting project. This was several years ago, when I was still recruiting. I gave them the proposal and we set a follow up appointment for two days later. During those two days, I thought about it a lot and decided that what the client really needed was a more comprehensive program that included recruiting. You can probably guess what happened. I went back in. They were ready to go on the Recruiting. I presented the other program. They deferred the decision and in fact, have never done business with me. I’m still kicking myself over that one.

When the customer is ready to buy, let them buy – and then worry about upselling.

I often wonder how much business is lost, or shifted, because salespeople won’t get out of their own way. I’m guessing quite a bit.

Here’s one of those questions that I get a lot. Usually it comes after I’ve given a presentation on the need for salespeople to solve problems and improve the customer’s condition. There are variations in wording, of course, but the general gist works something like this:

“Troy, how can I keep my customers from taking my ideas, that I give them, with the appropriate products and services – and running to my competitor just to get a lower price?” Whenever I’m asked this question, I can literally feel the frustration coming from the questioner. I understand completely. I’ve been there, and there are few things worse than spending hours developing a very detailed proposal only to have the customer run to my competitor who chisels a few bucks and gets the deal. And I always have one answer for the questioner.

You can’t.

I know. It’s not fun for me to say. It’s not even fun for me to write, and I know it’s not fun for the questioner to hear, but it’s also true. One of the biggest fallacies in the world of sales is that there is some magic combination of words, “up front contracts,” and other manipulative nonsense that we can use to back a buyer into a corner where, dammit, they HAVE to buy from us. But it’s not so.

I encountered a similar situation recently. A business owner called with a question about an upcoming Webinar that I was doing. He said, “I have a large sales force all over the country, and it would be hard to get all of them on at the same time. Could I pay for one registration, record it, and then distribute it to my people?”

I told him, no, that would not be acceptable, since I charge on a per-person basis. Since I do make the recordings available to paid attendees afterward, however, he could pay for all of his people and then send them the Webinar link to my recording.

He considered this, and then said slyly, “Yeah. But you really don’t have a way to prevent me from doing what I said, right?”

I responded honestly. I said, “Well, if the knowledge that you’d be stealing my intellectual property doesn’t stop you, then no, I suppose I don’t, but I’m fortunate enough to have a large base of people who pay per-person on the honor system.”

Two days later, he paid. For one person. It’s a similar frustration to the questioner, because in both cases, the other person is basically stealing ideas. In my irritation, I was reminded of something that one of my speaking mentors told me.

A few years ago, he had learned that many of his audio programs had been posted on a free file-sharing website. Of course, he charges for those programs, so this was theft. He engaged a lawyer, spent a lot of time and money, and got the programs removed. And they stayed removed.

For six days.

And then they were back up. He considered getting the lawyer again, but then had a profound thought.

“Those people who steal my work? They’re not my customers.”

What he meant by that is simple. If someone is going to steal ideas, they’re not going to buy them – and they’re not the customers that he wants or needs. He made a conscious decision to stop worrying about those people and instead spend his time and energy focusing on the customers who do see his value and are willing to pay for it. I did the same when confronted with the program theif (although I did remove his name from my email list).

The point is this – there will always be people willing to take advantage of you. And yet, there will always be people who are willing to see your value and pay you for it. And if you’re doing your job right, there will be more of the second than the first. Which people deserve your focus?

When you’re confronted with a situation like my questioner, here’s how you handle it. Ask yourself – and answer honestly – these questions:

• Did I do a quality discovery of the customer’s needs and desired result?
• Did I create customized solutions that were specifically directed at that result?
• Did I quote a fair (profitable) price for generating that result?
• Did I demonstrate value in doing business with me specifically?
• And did I lose the deal solely on price, with the customer getting a lower quote for my exact ideas and products/services?

If the answer is “yes” to all those things, you’ve probably been taken advantage of. The key is to not let it happen multiple times. Your mantra should be: That’s not my customer. And don’t let it happen again.

In other words, don’t work with that prospect again – or if you do, don’t work with them the same way. You already know that they are a price buyer, and if you’re unprepared to be the absolute lowest price provider (and don’t fool yourself – ‘lowest price’ is always a moving target), they don’t justify your time.

Getting taken advantage of once by a person happens. That’s their fault. Letting it happen multiple times is yours.