Beliefs drive behavior; this is has been proven true time and time again and I believe it is one of the great laws of the universe. So it makes sense if you are in sales it is probably pretty important to learn what your customer believes. Yet I will be willing to bet that learning your customer’s beliefs is not at the top of most sales rep’s priority lists. Maybe it should be.
Your goal in selling is to have a business conversation with another person and to hopefully change their mind and then their behavior so that they use your product (or perhaps use more of your product). I don’t know how you can attempt to do that unless you know what that person really believes. If you are not able to adequately explain what your customer believes and thinks about your product or service, then you need to learn what these beliefs are. The very best way I have ever discovered to do that is to ask — that’s the best way to find out the information you seek. It makes sense to construct a well crafted question that doesn’t sound threatening, creates a safe environment and sets the tone that you are truly interested in learning about your customer. You may say something like this: “It occurred to me that I am really not 100% certain how you currently view my product. I would love to ask you to share with me how you currently view my product and have it positioned in your mind, if at all? Could you take a moment to help me understand this so I can make certain what I share with you is most relevant?”
