It is traditionally believed that salesmen are supposed to be problem solvers. Now with technology being at people’s finger tips, society can easily solve it’s own problems without the aide of salesmen. Now salesmen have to take a different role. Instead they need to use their creativity and be problem finders! A problem finder is someone who finds the pain that the client might not even realize yet. The more innovative and heuristic a salesperson is the better luck they are going to have in being a successful problem finder. This skill is discussed by Daniel Pink in his book about sales. It describes it as clarity.
Clarity: the capacity to help others see their situations in a fresh and more revealing way, and to identify problems they didn’t realize they had.
Salesmen can capture this skill through many different means. They can have brain storming sessions with the client about what their pain is and really try to consult them on what is actually at the root of the pain. If you can learn to brainstorm and think creatively you can make a sale. It’s important to realize you cannot methodically sell to people. Everyone has different needs and there is no reductive way to successfully do this.
BoweryJE22
I agree. All the secret to sales books and methods give the impression there is a recipe to make a sale. Being creative and recognizing the different needs of people will take you far.
I agree with your point here, and think that because we live in the digital world we more than ever have the chance to be creative because of all of the resources and tool we have at our fingertips. We have so many outlets for looking up information and ideas that people before have not had. We can use these to create more and more and continue to make ourselves salespeople who go the extra mile/
I really enjoyed this chapter from Pink. I think that you raise a good point on each sales situation being different. Some people may see the need for the product and the sale will be easy but some people may need a lot of convincing. Helping the people to see their pain can really help move a sale along.