Be a Salesperson, Not an Expert

Better questions create better lives.

Anyone who has been in sales and is really good at it knows something that trips up almost every small business owner: all the knowledge in the world about your product is not what sells it. People buy from people. They do not buy from experts, and they do not buy fancy words. And here is the uncomfortable part for anyone who started a business because they are very good at their craft. The better you are at the craft, the stronger the pull to prove it.

The expert speech

You have sat through it. The salesperson in front of you starts demonstrating what they know. Feature after feature, specification after specification, industry words you half understand and are too polite to stop them on. I see it with computer technicians who open a store and speak in a language most of the public cannot follow, and I have seen it with roofers, financial advisors and kitchen designers. They forget to find out a few very simple things.

What will this do for you? What problem might it solve? Why do you need it at all? Are you even thinking about buying something like this soon? Does the person in front of you ever get asked those questions? Most of the time no, and in my experience that is one of the most common reasons the sale does not happen, unless somewhere in the speech the expert lucked out and accidentally answered them.

There is a second cost to the expert speech, and it is quieter. If you make someone feel stupid by using too much of your industry language, one of two things happens. Either you lose them, or they agree to something they do not fully understand. The second outcome looks like a win on the day, and it costs you later: that customer will not refer you, because they cannot explain to a friend what they bought or why.

What is this person trying to gain?

The fundamental of selling is always the same. What is the person you are talking to going to gain from this, and how do they want to buy it? Do you buy things you do not believe you will gain from? Neither does anyone else. The gain is different from person to person. One homeowner wants the new patio because life will be easier with somewhere to put the kids on a Saturday. Another wants it because the neighbor just did theirs. A third is buying from you specifically because they believe you actually want to help them, and they have been burned by someone who did not.

Same patio. Three different purchases. If you give all three the same speech about pavers and drainage, you will connect with maybe one of them, and by luck. So the first step toward becoming a salesperson instead of an expert is to stop, before you say anything about your product, and ask yourself: what is the person in front of me looking to gain?

How do you find out? You ask questions. Good questions. Questions that get you both the answer they say out loud and the one running underneath it. “What made you start looking into this now?” tells you more than “What size are you thinking?” “What would have to be true for this to feel like a good decision a year from now?” tells you what they are afraid of. If you know nothing about the person, you have to ask. There is no shortcut.

Your knowledge still matters, in its place

I am not telling you to hide what you know. Your expertise is exactly what lets you help someone decide well, once you know what matters to them. The order is the whole point. Questions first, then present the pieces of your knowledge that speak to what you heard. The expert gives the same tour to every visitor. The salesperson finds out where you want to go and then, because they know the building, takes you straight there.

One more thing to remember. When you figure out what triggered your own last purchase, you have learned something about yourself. You have not yet learned what will trigger the person across the counter. That is why the questions never stop.

This week

Before every sales conversation this week, whether a phone quote or someone walking in, write down one question you will ask before you describe anything. After each conversation, note what the person said they wanted and what you think they were really trying to gain. If those two are identical every time, you are not listening deeply enough yet. And answer honestly for yourself: do I ask before I explain, or do I give everyone the same tour?

What it takes

Nothing to buy, just a notebook and about ten minutes a day for a week. Breaking the habit of leading with the speech takes longer than a week, but you will notice the conversations change by the third or fourth one.

When was the last time you gave the expert speech, and what did the customer’s face do while you gave it? If you were buying from you, what would you want to be asked?