In sales, you learn it’s important to talk to the person across the table. You learn how important it is to ask questions and make sure all concerns are addressed for all decision makers before you sell. For regular sales, that’s fine, but for entrepreneurs it’s important to go one step further. A perfect example of this is the M16.
The U.S military was looking for a new gun for the Army, one that would replace the outdated M14 (Pictured left). The M16 was lighter, had better accuracy, and higher armor penetration. The hope was that this gun could win us the Vietnam war. Special forces adopted it immediately, with ordinary military branches following their suit (With the last branch, oddly, being the Army). In each of these branches the M16 replaced the M14 overnight. High command was pleased at their decision.
Imagine their Suprise, then, when soldiers started demanding the M14 back. They said the new M16 was heavy, inaccurate, and constantly jammed. What was going on?
What was happening was a lack of customer involvement. Think about it this way:
At an empty firing range, the M16 far outperformed the M14 in almost all categories. Now take both of those guns, dunk them in a tank of mud, throw them in a pile of leaves, and leave them to bake in the sun for a day. Those were Vietnam conditions, and the M16 had not been built for those conditions.
To top brass, who had only seen the firing range conditions, the M16 looked like an absolute win. To the boots on the ground, it looked like a gun that couldn’t handle a light gust of wind, let alone the dense jungles of Vietnam.
Luckily for us, there is redemption in this story. Colt, the company building the M16, heard the complaints of the soldiers. They updated the gun, making it more resistant to weather and wear. The M16 went on to be the standard service weapon for several decades, only recently being replaced by another, almost completely untested weapon. History seems to always repeat itself.
What does this story teach us? First, when we sell a product don’t just think about decision makers. Make sure you are considering everyone who will have to deal with your product or service. Especially for entrepreneurs, making sure your product looks equally good to both corporate executives and their employees will earn you a lot of client trust.
The second is that the sale is never the end of your selling. After you sell a client a product, make sure you check in on them to see if it suits their needs. You’ll build not only your customer’s trust in you, but the general public’s trust as well. There’s a reason the AR-15, the civilian version of the M16, is one of the most popular hunting rifles in America.
So before you go through with that sale, make sure you’re not just selling the CEO on your product. Make sure everybody who has to live with your product will not only use it, but love to use it.
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