Understanding your customer’s goals is critical to success in sales. If you don’t know what the customers goals or needs are, you may be left perplexed with how to land the deal. And you most certainly won’t help them know how your product is their solution.

Get Real with the Customer

In his best seller, Let’s Get Real, or Let’s Not Play, author Mahan Khalsa reminds us,

“If our intent is to help clients succeed, we have both the right and the obligation not to guess about the key elements of that success.”

Four Principles to Prevent Guessing

To prevent guessing situations Khalsa suggests using four principles.

  1. Ask the person what he or she means. When customers make a request, do you assume you clearly understand what they mean? The reality is both you and the customer may be unclear as to the true request. It is critical to listen carefully to key words or phrases used by the client and ask for clarification on what specific words mean.
  2. What assumptions went unchallenged? Assumptions are a form of guessing. Assumptions can be particularly insidious because they often happen unconsciously; you may not even realize your assumptions are “guesses”.
  3. Don’t hesitate to ask a question. If a question concerning a client forms in your mind … ask it!
  4. Do I really understand the criteria on which I am being judged? Never make a presentation or proposal to clients until you understand the criteria they will use to judge your presentation. Build a relationship based on mutual understanding before you agree to present your solution to the client’s problems.

Become a Discerning Leader

In his work, John Maxwell on Leadership, Maxwell states, “Discerning leaders [and sales professionals] are usually good listeners, flexible, intuitive, optimistic, well-networked, [and] perceptive.” These attributes are all indicative of someone who seeks to thoroughly understand the client’s needs before ever considering a solution. In other words, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Improve your sales techniques and find more tips and stories like this in the Art of Sales Books.