Earn Your Doctor of Selling Degree

I once traveled with an insurance salesperson who was meeting with a well-qualified potential client. After a few pleasantries, the salesperson asked a couple of minor questions and then began hammering the potential client with tons of information regarding insurance options. After ten minutes, I could see the buyer's eyes begin to glaze over. That's when I stepped in and asked the potential client, "What are you really trying to accomplish here? What's most important to you?" The client's relief was palpable. It brought home to me a timeless truth about selling: Buyers don't care how much you know until they know how much you care .

"But I really do care," you may protest. And I believe you. Most salespeople care deeply about their clients. It's just that many of us develop bad habits that create the perception of someone who cares only about making the sale. Buyer suspicion is high, and for good reason. After all, haven't you been pressured to buy something by a salesperson who hasn't taken the time to make you feel understood?

Even the best salespeople sometimes offer solutions before they fully understand all aspects of the prospect's situation. And it's understandable. Why? Because we live and work in a nanosecond society, which is all about moving fast and saving time. Potential buyers expect you to have the information they need now , and if you don't provide it, they will go elsewhere. On the other hand, too much information can easily overwhelm the buyer, causing him or her to-you guessed it!-go elsewhere.

In the face of this information quandary, what do you do? I'm convinced that being a sales superstar is all about diagnosing . You must narrow down and sift and sort through the information that's relevant to the prospect's specific needs, and use this research to prescribe a well-tailored, customized solution.

Of course, you know this already. The key is remembering to walk this delicate tightrope at the critical moment. Here's a visualization device I suggest to clients: Think of yourself as a "Doctor of Selling." That's right. Picture yourself in a white lab coat with a stethoscope and an encyclopedia of knowledge in your head and a wealth of appropriate treatment options at your fingertips.

Physicians know they must clarify the patient's problem and conduct a pragmatic diagnostic process before they can prescribe any treatment. Doctors of Selling follow an identical process: They diagnose potential buyers fully to uncover any needs for the salesperson's product or service. Through careful questioning, they assess buyer problems and areas of desired growth, and then lead the buyer to recognize those unfulfilled needs themselves.

The primary diagnostic tool of the sales doctor is questioning . Therefore, you must make sure that your questioning and listening abilities are top notch. Let's admit the truth: Too many salespeople believe that it's the "gift of gab" that makes them successful. They overwhelm, intimidate, and, subsequently, alienate potential buyers. But top sales professionals-those who truly earn the title "Doctor of Selling"-know that the art of questioning and listening is far more important than the dubious ability to "talk them into buying."

Sales doctors practice the 70/30 rule. They talk and ask questions 30 percent of the time and then listen intently to their prospects 70 percent of the time. To make the most of the 30 percent "question" time period, the RPM Questioning model is helpful: Reality, Pain-Gain, and Magnification:

Reality Questions: These questions assess the situation and perceptions of the potential buyer. They're generally used at the start of a face-to-face engagement to gain background information, establish rapport, and gain credibility.

Pain-Gain Questions: These important questions uncover the potential buyer's true need level as it relates to your product or service. Pain-gain questions reveal that the buyer has a hidden need or a very visible need, which in turn indicates the buyer's degree of receptivity. How motivated are they to close the gap between where they are and where they want to be?

Magnification Questions: These rarely used questions help buyers see all the negative ramifications of staying with the status quo. Sales doctors use questions to magnify the problems the prospect will experience if they don't purchase. Magnification questions also help prospects visualize all the benefits of resolving their problem or experiencing their desired growth if they purchase your product or service. In short, these questions magnify the buyer's problem and magnify your product as their best solution.

Do you see the elegant "science" inherent in this method? Of course you do! You're a doctor, after all! Now, I want you to do one small thing. Visit my website at and create your own "Doctor of Selling" certificate. Then, print it out (you can even frame it if you wish) and put it on your wall. This is the first step in retraining yourself to be a diagnostician first, a prescriber second. And it may be the best thing you ever do for your sales career.



Earn Your Doctor of Selling Degree - To learn more about this author, visit George Ludwig's Website.

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Dave Kurlan Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website

George Ludwig George Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website

David Barr David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

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