Ryan Dohrn argues salespeople should solve problems, not push products. Seventy percent of buyers purchase to fix something, not gain something new. Come to meetings with assumptions about what the client needs, based on research into their LinkedIn and website.
Hey friends, Ryan Dohrn here, your global sales coach. Hope you're having a good week out there in sales land. I've got some stats and facts that I want to share with you today, so I'm gonna look at my little monitor over here to my right. Were you aware that 70% of people make purchasing decisions to solve problems? Okay, 70% of people make purchasing decisions to solve problems. Okay, next stat for you. 30% of people make decisions to gain things. Okay, 30% of people make decisions to gain things. So the vast majority of people are looking to solve problems. So here's the tip this week: are you a problem solver or are you a salesperson? Are you a helper or are you a salesperson? Now we go back to that old— I think it was an SAP study done a few years back about buyers, and we know that the vast majority of buyers would rather go to the dentist than meet with a salesperson. And that's sad because, like, I'm a really nice guy. I'm sure you're a nice person too. But when you think about it, if 70-some percent, 7 out of 10 people are looking to solve a problem, are you able to identify problems maybe by looking at LinkedIn, seeing what they've got posted on their website, looking to other customers that you've solved problems for? You know, one of the things I love about the Challenger Sale— maybe you've read the book— is there's a lot of assumptions that are made. Like, I assume that you have this problem just like so-and-so has that problem. Is that a problem that you also have? It's one of the beauties of the Challenger Sales Method. Friends, are you looking for ways to solve problems, or are you looking to sell somebody something? You know, my next book that I've come out with maybe will be The Less You Sell, the More You Sell. And I don't know that it'll sell well because it doesn't sound like a great title, but I truly believe that The less you sell, the more you sell. The more that you solve problems for people and you look for ways to be solving problems, be highly relevant as we've talked about before, you're going to get so much further faster by being a problem solver for somebody. Now you might be saying, well, Ryan, how do I know what problems I can help them solve? Look around, talk to your colleagues, look on LinkedIn, see what you've done for other customers. Now Maybe you're a startup. You've never worked with anybody else before. Well, you might be in a different circumstance, but for most of us out there, whether you're selling software, whether you're selling media, whether you're selling digital magazines, whatever it is that you're doing, you're probably not going to run across with a client this afternoon a brand new problem, something you've never heard about before. More than like you might, but more than likely you've heard it before. So it's called assumptive-based selling. We'll talk about it on our next week's tip, but assumptive-based selling is really all about assuming the help that you can give to somebody. Now, you might be wrong, but don't be afraid. You might be wrong. If you're wrong, you're wrong. But at least come to that meeting with something, some way to help them solve a problem. 7 in 10 people are going to buy from you if you can help them solve a problem. Friends, don't forget, if this business was easy, if sales was easy, everybody'd be doing it, and they're not. So we're either crazy Or the chosen few out there. We found careers, friends, that will feed our families for a lifetime. Hey, if you're looking for a sales coach, love to be that guy for you. You're looking for somebody to speak at your national sales meeting, I'm that guy. Looking for somebody to come and train your team live on location now that COVID is somewhat behind us, I guess, you know, reach out to me, ryandohrn.com. All right, friends, we'll see you next week.
