| The first book I read about sales emphasized inquiry before advocacy. Let's get real or let's not play by Mahan Khalsa. I read it at a point in time for my startup when we had done as many Customer Discovery interviews as we could in our local market, and were trying to achieve a first sale or pilot project with customers in more innovative markets. The inquiry phase of solution selling connected with and reinforced the customer discovery process, but provided some indication of how to move forward, and cautions about moving forward too early with a proposal. The key to sales is solving problems. You claim to have a product that addresses a large "potential" - what problem, and for who, does it solve? Can you measure the impact of the solution? If you have a product that solves a problem, what is the least intrusive thing you can ask of a potential customer for you to identify if they perceive they have that problem, and if they recognize the impact of solving it? If you cannot mutually identify the problem and impact of the solution, a prospect may only entertain your talkative nature to solve the problem of looking busy to their superiors. Track the observable characteristics of your prospective customers that are the best indicators of if they have the problem you solve, or not. Figure out how long it takes you to identify if they have the problem, or not. |