Fuentes Friday Edition #0039

This past week, I heard a lot about Thanksgiving. The people I spoke to shared their traditions, memories, anxieties, travel plans, etc. Some of these conversations happened before, and others after serious conversations about deals, strategy, forecasts, and budgets.

This reminded me of one of the 7 P’s of sales professionalism—People (the other 6 are Preparation, Process, Product, Presentation, Pay, and Post-Sale). When we teach the 7 P’s of Sales Professionalism, we spend a lot of time on People.

However, the lesson can be distilled down to one simple phrase: “People are people.” Shoutout Depeche Mode! The saying sounds overly simplistic, but the reality is that, as sales professionals and business people, we often overcomplicate things and forget this very simple reality.

This is why we start our training having our students define what sales is to them. For us at Maestro, sales is “two parties moving in parallel, deciding when to bend toward one another.” Yes, sales to us is physics, and also poetry.

So, what do we mean by “people are people” and “two parties moving in parallel, deciding when to bend toward one another?”

People are people – The reality is that most of the things we are selling are not that important. Especially when we stack them up against…life. In the order of priorities, buying software, hardware, goods, and services ranks below family, friends, paying bills, etc.

So, what this means for you as a seller is that the sales process is influenced by things you have no control over and sometimes no knowledge about. I have had deals stall out over a buyer dealing with their kid’s school, going through a divorce, a death in the family, being in the wrong head space and they “just couldn’t” (their words, not mine).

I have also had deals slow down because someone hates (fill in the blank). Well, not really hates, but just doesn’t get along with him/her. That’s why I say the most important thing to remember about people is just that they are people and have all sorts of baggage and stressors. You cannot forget to be human.

If there is an event or holiday coming up, it’s ok to talk about it. If something is newsworthy (and not controversial), you can talk about it. If someone mentioned something they were excited or nervous about on the last call, go ahead and ask them about it.

These are the things that can help you as you move down the path with your buyer.

Two parties moving in parallel, deciding when to bend towards one another – If you have ever taken Maestro’s training, you have heard this before. For those of you that haven’t, let me explain. I don’t believe our job at Maestro is to teach you to get people to say “yes.”

Our job is to teach you how to gather enough information from and provide enough information to your buyer that you earn the right to confidently ask for the sale or, alternatively, let them know that you must part ways. We believe at the beginning of the journey with your buyer, you both are walking in the same direction but on different, parallel paths.

Your job during the journey is to ask questions and provide information as you both continue down the path. The bending toward one another is the point at which you can both make a decision to continue down the path together (doing all the things necessary to close out a deal) or part as friends.

Now, with the end of the year upon us and many deals marked for Q4 closes in danger, you have to keep the two lessons above front and center.

First, you have to understand that not only is your buyer dealing with holiday stress (yeah, I said stress), but so are their colleagues, and getting your deal done might be WAY less important to legal, IT, procurement, etc. You have to see around this corner and work with your champion to sequence things correctly.

Second, you have to take a DEEP look at every deal and see whether you have earned the right to ask for the sale. Otherwise, you pushing on the deal while your buyer is dealing with work, and the holidays may end up costing you more in the end than just a little delay, and you’ll find yourself “All Alone on Christmas.” (Author’s note: I really wanted to work in a link to my favorite Christmas song—please excuse the last sentence!)