Warren Buffet appeared on the Today Show this morning. He made a very concise, profound comment — as he always does. Here are his words:
“Lack of clarity leads to confusion. Confusion leads to fear. And fear leads to inaction.”
Now, of course, he was talking about the economy in general and the ineffectiveness of the President’s communication to the people on this front.
But he could just as well be talking to you.
As a sales trainer, I’m always observing how sales people approach me. The world is one big laboratory for us.
I had a sales person call on me from a referral last week. It should have been a ‘laydown’ for him (or ‘layup’ coz of March Madness). I really wanted what he had.
But by the end of the phone call, he had me so confused with so many options that I decided to “do nothing.” Afterall, I didn’t HAVE TO HAVE what he was selling. it was a “nice to have.”
Too many options. Too confusing. Too much Fear. Too little action.
Do you do that to your prospects? Do you get ahead of yourself? Do you fail to realize that they aren’t in your business? You’re in college–they’re just in grade school, comparatively. Do you overplay your hand to the point you scare them?
I hope not. But if you’re experiencing a slow market, don’t be too quick to blame that market. Look in the mirror and see if you’re easy to buy from.
Slow down. Be patient. Ask better questions. Tell stories. Be more clear about your value. And watch your results change. Don’t confuse your prospect.
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Excellent post bill. Too many sales people have the opinion that having a “check list” to follow for their sales process is too “amateurish”.
However the top sales pros have a system down cold and even they review it once in awhile to make sure they don’t get of track.
Have a sales road map, then follow it.
Two points. First, I simply do not put credence in to the words of Warren Buffet. As a business person and it his level and magnitude, he has a vested interest in seeing markets come down from time to time, and down a lot. It directly contributes to his buy-low-sell-high AND buy low-hold branch of his investment portfolio. When he’s got his fill, he stews over another ice cream and uses some nice Greenspaneque terms which gets people to buy, thus the price goes up. But, his quote is of course true.
Selling is a process. It can be broken down in to steps, just like a project plan. Each step must be mastered and the transitions between steps must shift as subtly as the colors of a rainbow – “fluidity.” Transition too quickly and the prospect gets confused and his mind moves back to his daily “To-Do List.” Once that happens, you may as well hang up the phone and place your next call.
Thanks for comment. Keep em coming. Warren is a wise business man regardless of your opinion of his market impact. Like to have big name celebrities say things I can post on. He was convenient today.
Hey Bill!
Great message. It is a good thing for us all to think about. Are we confusing our prospects? Do we talk too much? I know for me, I have to be careful of talking too much. Talk less, ask questions more, listen the most.
Thanks for the post. Keep up the great job!
Mark Bowser
http://www.TakeActionSales.com
I loved this post and love when appeals to authority come up such as this. Hesitation truly has caused to many headaches. I believe norman shwarzkopf said some similar statements. Would you be willing to mention your post in my own sales blog http://ultimatecloser.blogspot.com I very much enjoyed your take on this subject!
Bill – I enjoyed reading this. It was short and pointed. One of my favorite ways of driving this message home is with role plays. In my company, we conduct these frequently – once or twice a month. We make them easy which is to say we give our rep a scenario, followed by a short time to prepare and then we put them in a room with a couple of execs and have a 15 minute conversation. It has been interesting to see the development of the reps as they begin to veer away from the script of what needs to be said (complexity) and actually begin to engage in dialogue and listen to what the customer/prospect is saying. It is situational thinking and makes the job of selling by the rep much easier.
Brian, Thanks for the visit…and for commenting. Hope you can come back…
Thanks for coming by. Me too, on the talking too much…and I teach this stuff. Confusion confounds.