When I first started selling copying machines for Xerox in London in the early 1970s, we were frequently admonished by our sales manager for selling ‘emotionally’. He told us that such sales based on stories (typical imagined situations in which copies on to –old fashioned- ‘light-sensitive’ paper could be lost) and feelings (about possible problems with old-style copiers), worries (about fading of images and the resultant serious problems) all amounted to ‘weak selling’. It was important not to sell in a ‘weak manner’ because, in those days, Xerox copiers were only available on a rental basis. If you sold ‘weakly’ (with a strong appeal to the emotions, therefore), a prospect might we were told, suddenly come to his senses after signing the contract. He might then realise that he could soldier-on with his old fashioned copying machine and cancel the rental. This rarely happened; nevertheless, we were constantly stopped from doing it.
Instead, we were taught (almost brainwashed into) a method of factual, proof-based selling. It was founded on the ‘scripted demo’, one for each model of copying machine that we sold. And we had to learn each script off-by-heart”. I can still remember most of them to this day. At the end of this regimented sales process came ‘The Close’; this was a summary of all the facts and proof that had been given to the prospect followed by a direct hard-nosed request for a signed contract.
We had a target of 25 sales meetings to arrange each week and each meeting was to be formatted along the same regimented lines.
We were successful; in fact, it was probably Xerox’ most successful period. None of our competitors had a plain-paper copier, so our offering was truly ‘unique’. But the reason we succeeded, looking back, had more to do with the number of sales meetings we were mandated to arrange every week (Throw enough mud at the wall and some of it is bound to stick). This was more important than all the facts and unquestionable proof that we were ordered to use to secure each sale. Indeed once Xerox had lost the plain paper copier patent and no longer had a real ‘unique selling point’, their market dominance rapidly waned. Competitors introduced their own plain paper copiers and very soon they all looked very much the same.
Today, nearly 50 years later, because of the internet and the coming of the information age, most products and services in most markets do all look the same. As far as our prospective clients perceive the situation, there are very (very) few unique products and services out there. Potential clients take it as read that we will each say that we are the ‘best in the market’ ‘best value for money’ ‘most reliable supplier’. And that we can provide a range of facts and proof to back up our claims. But our customers rarely make buying decisions because of them. So, despite what Xerox told us nearly 50 years ago, they were ‘barking up the wrong tree; ‘communicating’ our features, benefits, and proof is not enough.
During the intervening 50 years a succession of psychologists looking into the psychology of ‘decision making’ has revealed how little facts and proof matter in our decision making process. It seems that we are all much more driven to decide based on our feelings and emotions than we ever dreamed possible. Not only that but such decisions are made subconsciously long before we consciously process the thoughts and arrive at what we think is a rational conclusion.
The recent revelation that this year’s new word is “post-truth” (the realisation that most human decision making is based on emotions and feelings rather than facts and proof e.g. Brexit and Trump – two recently cited examples) should therefore not really be a surprise to any of us ‘sellers’. What we should learn from this is (especially in order to differentiate our offerings from our competitors) is the overriding importance of engaging our client’s emotions and feelings and using storytelling whenever we can. Facts and proof are far less important to customers than whether or not the customer likes us because we appealed to his or her emotions.
Continuing to believe today, what I was taught nearly 50 years ago, (The importance of facts, proof, and the delivery of a slick presentation or demo) is now a recipe for low persuasion effectiveness and an order book far smaller than it needs to be.
Bob Etherington
“Europe’s Best Sales Trainer” : [Voted by ‘Sales Innovation Expo’ 2015 and 2016, Excel London.]
bob@bobetheringtongroup.com
