Sales Laundry

Archive for May 26th, 2011

Getting ready for the Austin IT Symposium on Tuesday I made a few calls trying to find a 30” monitor for our table to loop a great video clip related to virtualization.  I was also on a mission to find something nice to raffle off as part of the event.

First stop, the AV company providing the equipment for the event, figuring this would be the easiest option with the least amount of work for me.  I was right, but I was not counting on the fact that $250 was the going rate to rent a monitor for 1 day.  That is the approximate price as a new TV/monitor.  Something is wrong with that model but that is a topic for another day.

Cut to Best Buy….

At Best Buy I admit I had high expectations and was not disappointed by the quantity and brands of televisions on display.  However, even with four+ Blue Shirts in the area and another guy trying to sell DirecTV systems, I could not get any assistance.

Cut to Sam’s Club…

At Sam’s Club, I was greeted in the TV section and asked if I needed any help.  He did a nice job of explaining the features and helping me figure out what feature/function trade-offs happen at different price points.

I asked him how he came to know so much about TVs and he said he did a little research on his own and asked the guys at Best Buy to explain the pieces he did not understand.  Sam’s guy got his TV education by walking down to Best Buy at the other end of the shopping center, but that is not the most interesting part.

A few more minutes of conversation revealed the guy did not even work for Sam’s Club.  He worked for DirecTV and was there to sell satellite systems.  Once I had my TV for the event he asked me if he could explain how DirecTV could give my new HD TV more HD channels, a lower monthly price and true 1080p HD quality that I was not getting from my cable provider.

I said yes.  Yes, because he earned it helping me.  Yes because he helped me solve a problem that many would say it was not in his best interest to do.

Through blind luck or careful planning, he discovered that helping me solve my problem of which TV to buy created an opportunity to talk about DirecTV.

Helping me solve my problem created a problem he could solve.

Contrast this guy with his counterpart at Best Buy selling Direct TV.  That guy was not interested in helping me buy a TV; he was only interested in selling DirecTV.

The lesson here is that even if you are the best and most knowledgeable sales professional on your particular product or service you are still going to miss opportunities if there are problems your customers need to solve before they can focus on your offering.  Get good at identifying the problems that keep your prospects from even considering your offering, learn how to help them solve those problems, and your sales efforts will be rewarded accordingly.