Kids are curious. Many parents are driven to distraction by the question, "Why?" Ten years pass, the pendulum swings and the curious kid is a teenager with all the answers. Unfortunately, the pendulum doesn't always swing back when the teenager becomes an adult.
Businesses are focused on results. Curiosity and information-gathering too often take a back seat, even though these frequently are the ingredients that lead to improved performance. Thus, we're bombarded with business books--especially books about selling--that concentrate on tactics such as power-dressing and the interpretation of "buying signals," rather than information-gathering that can improve performance through an understanding of customer challenges.
No one buys printing. Clients buy business solutions, such as increased sales, increased profits, marketplace awareness of a product or service, compliance with a government regulation, or elevated productivity. This sounds basic, but many salespeople focus almost exclusively on obtaining orders rather than understanding customers' business needs.
This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to engage in "solution selling." It's necessary to first understand an organization's business challenges before suggesting a solution. Medical practice provides a good analogy: Would you feel comfortable with treatment by a physician who didn't ask your medical history?
At Graphic Arts Sales Foundation, we've tested and trained thousands of print salespeople during the past 20 years. We've seen very successful sales reps whose technical competence was marginal, had body odor, and were relatively new to the industry. On the other hand, we frequently see salespeople who appear to do everything right but aren't successful.
The two common denominators of sales success are the ability to quickly engender trust from a customer or prospect, and genuine curiosity about the customer's business.
No one likes to be sold, but people like to buy. An understanding of a customer's business objectives, products and services, culture, and distribution is basic to sales success. Virtually every business, be it a distributor, manufacturer or end user, faces the same challenge: dealing with commoditization and differentiating his business in a meaningful, credible way. Any supplier that can help a customer with the differentiation challenge can greatly elevate its perceived value.
This raises the core question: What is successful selling? I believe it's simply the matching of customer needs with a supplier's products and services in a mutually profitable relationship. It's simple, but not easy. The process requires a thorough understanding of customer needs--needs the customer may not even realize. In an ideal world, every sale should be accompanied by at least one idea for improved product use.
Selling print has grown incredibly complex, especially for forms distributors that have expanded into commercial printing, labels, warehousing, pick-and-pack, mailing, advertising specialties and other products. It's virtually impossible for a salesperson to have all the answers about both production and product applications. Pity the poor rep who believes that education stopped at the age of 18 or 22.
Today, successful selling is rooted in lifelong education. Curiosity is emerging as a valuable attribute. It's impossible to craft a solution without first understanding the problem.
Contributing Editor Dick Gorelick is an award-winning authority on sales, marketing and business strategies for the printing industry. As president of the Graphic Arts Sales Foundation in West Chester, Pa., he travels extensively, consulting, writing and speaking on sales training.
