Sell What They Really Need

Billionaire Investor Warren Buffet says, “Never ask a barber if you need a haircut”. The assumption is that a barber would say you needed a haircut even if you didn’t. Of course this is the assumption about salespeople, that they are only interested in making a sale regardless of the fit with a customers needs. This may be true of many sales people but it is never true a real professional. A great sales presentation is always preceded by a great attempt to discover what it is the prospective customer really needs and wants.

Sometimes it means shooting straight and telling them they can’t get their from here. For 10 years I was a wall covering contractor. I hung wall paper, wall fabrics, wood veneer and stuff like that. One my best accounts was secured when I came out and explained to him in painful detail why the wall covering he had selected probably couldn’t be hung effectively by anyone. I took about an hour educating him on what to look for in a wallpaper and how to prepare the walls. This was quite different than what he was used to. Several months later he called me back and offered me a project. We worked together for years. Don’t tell anyone you can do something well if you can’t and don’t sell them something that just won’t work or accomplish what they want.