They Don't Want Advice - Sales Influence Podcast - SIP 626

Welcome to the Sales Influence Podcast, where we talk about finding the why in how people buy. I'm your host, Victor Antonio. Thank you for joining me today. Always a pleasure of being with you.

Thank you for being a listener. Anyway, today I want to talk about something that's, you know, this topic is often talked about, and I just feel the need to talk about it just one more time. So last week I was doing an event, and to make a long story short, I was talking to an individual. He was asking me questions about what he should do to sell more effectively in his business.

Now here's what was interesting about this conversation. I could tell I could literally look at him and I could tell that he was not really listening to what I wanted to say or was saying. Here's what I think what's happening. He asked me a question.

He said, Victor, give me some advice on this. And I proceeded to give him advice. And I could tell that the advice I was giving him was not the advice he wanted to hear. See, sometimes people ask you a question, and what they really want is not an answer.

What they really want is you to validate their way of thinking. Let me say this again. This is important. Sometimes people will ask for your opinion, not because they really are seeking an answer, a new perspective, a new way of looking at things.

Sometimes they just want you to validate their thinking. They want you to empathize with them. Say, you know what? I hear.

I understand. And, you know, that also happened to me, and I'm also lost. They want to hear something like that, something to make them feel good. But as soon as you start giving people real advice, which is what I love doing, giving real advice, real strategies, real tactics on how to sell more effectively, and the person feels uncomfortable saying, I could never do that.

I know in my mind, this person is not really listening to me anymore because I am telling them something they don't want to hear. Do you know somebody like this? Do you know somebody who always asks opinions, right? Ask you for advice, but they never take action on that advice.

And then a year goes by and guess what? They ask you that same question again. And again, what they're seeking, they think is advice, but all they really want from you is your sympathy if not empathy So here what I want you to do The next time somebody asks you for advice really pay attention to whether they're listening to you or not. Because I think this is key.

When somebody isn't listening to you, then what's the point of giving them any advice? Now, you're saying, well, Victor, what does all this have to do with sales? Well, here it is. People often ask me, Victor, how can I close more deals?

How can I be a better presenter? How can I negotiate more effectively? How do I block objections when I'm talking to a customer? How do I sell my features, benefits, advantages, gains?

How do I position my product? How do I differentiate my product? And every time I walk people through what they have to do, through the process of what needs to be done, I can tell just by looking at them that they're not going to put in the work. because selling is work.

Selling is about making changes to how you think in order to sell more effectively. Let me give you an example. The other day, I asked a group of folks, and there's about maybe 100 people in the room during a workshop, and I asked them, I said, what differentiates your product? And one person, you know, they immediately said, it's our value proposition.

Ooh, you often hear that a lot, right? Our value proposition. And I said, well, what do you mean by a value proposition? Can you be more specific?

And she said, well, we really care about our customers. To which I said, so what? That's what your competitor tells them also, right? That's what your competitor is saying.

So that's not really a differentiator. What else you got? Somebody else chimed in and says, well, we don't treat our customers like numbers. We personalize the experience.

To which I said, so what? That's exactly what your competitor says. And I kept going on for about two or three minutes with this because all I kept getting was all these soft answers. We're different.

We support our customers. We're always there for them. None of this is a differentiator. And so when I then told them, I said, here's what you're going to have to do.

In order to find your value differentiator, you're going to have to find out what you do that your competitor doesn't, but your customer wants. Let me say it again. In order to find your value differentiator, you're going to have to find something you do that your competitor doesn't and that your customer wants. And my question to you is what is that What is it that you do that your competitor can do but your customers want And nobody could answer the question And I could tell at that very moment they didn want to listen to me anymore.

Because what I was doing was holding up the mirror. See, I wasn't telling them what they wanted to hear. I wasn't telling them, yeah, you know, customer service is important. That really differentiates a customer at a company.

You know, really personalizing the experience, that also means that's a differentiator. I wasn't saying that. I was challenging them to push beyond what I call the benevolent bromides, the simple-mindedness of, you know, we treat our customers fairly. We love our customers.

Beyond that, why are you different? And at that point, I can tell that they just shut down because they didn't know how to answer the question. And then I said, well, let's walk through an exercise. I'm going to show you how to find this value differentiator.

And what was interesting, as we went through the process, as hard as it was, listen to me, as hard as it was to arrive at those value differentiators, when we finally went through all that work, and again, and I'm giving you the short version of the story, because this was a workshop, and they were kicking, they were screaming, and I was dragging them with me. And I said, just follow me. I'm going to show you how to find a true value differentiator. I'm going to show you how to develop a true value proposition.

And at the beginning, there were resistance. But when I got to the end, when I finished with them, and we laid it out all in front of them, what the real value proposition was, guess what? They were super excited. They were happy.

Now, think about this. Initially, they fought me. They didn't want to listen to me. They wanted to hear what they wanted to hear.

And when I told them, you're wrong, they shut down. But then when I said, let me show you how to create a true value proposition, guess what? They kicked, they screamed, they pushed back, they argued with me. But when I got them across the line and they now knew how to differentiate their products from their competitors offering something their customers wanted, all of a sudden they were super excited about selling their products.

So this story has two points. One, oftentimes people ask you for information, but they don't want to hear the truth. Your job, whether you're dealing with a customer or not, is to give people the truth. And then your job, second part, is to help them arrive at that truth.

Even if they don't see it, your job is to help them. So in selling, it's no different. When you're talking to the customer, sometimes your customer doesn't want to listen to you, doesn't really want your opinion. But I telling you if you push through if you really believe in what you offering if you believe in the value of your product or service if you truly believe it and you can show them how you can actually create a differentiation in the market so they can sell more, they can be more effective, they can grow their business.

If you can show them that, then they're going to be happy. But it takes courage. By courage, I mean is that sometimes when you as a salesperson deliver a message, the customer isn't ready to hear it. They simply aren't ready to hear it.

Your job as a salesperson is to push through to the point where maybe even they're just getting mad at you. But remember, you're doing this out of love. Yes, I said the L-O-V-E word. Because you love the fact that your product can help them grow their business.

And if you come from that space where you're just trying to help, then guess what? Even if they scream, even if they complain, even if they kick a little bit, if you can show them how to grow their business, be better at what they're doing, And even if they won't listen at the beginning, push through. Again, sometimes people will ask you for an opinion, ask you for advice when they really don't want to listen to it. Your job is to make them listen.

And in selling, it's all about making people listen to why you're different and why you can help them. Anyway, that is it for the Sales Influence Podcast. Don't forget to leave me some feedback on iTunes, Stitcher, or YouTube. Let me know what you think.

I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, check out my online sales trading platform, the Sales Mastery Academy. 26 courses, 300 plus videos, 13 books, all on the platform. If you're serious about increasing your sales ability, go to salesmasteryacademy.

us. That's salesmasteryacademy.us. Lastly, I want to thank you for listening.

This is Victor Antonio always reminding you, selling ain't hard when you know how. Take care. Hi, I'm Victor Antonio. I'm an author, sales trainer, and keynote speaker.

I'm often asked, what makes a great speaker? Is it someone who delivers real content that the audience can use? Is it someone who engages the audience so they're part of the learning experience? Or is it someone who can motivate an audience to push them beyond their comfort zone and discover new abilities?

The answer is yes. But the most important thing to remember is that I'm not there to look good. I'm there to make my client look good. Simply put, it's never about me and it's always about them.