Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Lessons From a Bad Therapist

A friend of mine has been seeing a therapist periodically over the past few years. She has told me on several occasions about her frustrations regarding this particular therapist and a recent encounter caused her to decide not to go back. Here's the story:



The therapist arrived late and spend the first fifteen mintues organizing her desk right in front of my friend. While arranging her stuff, the therapist talked to my friend about her life and the things that she'd been doing over the past weeks. Whenever my friend got a chance to interject, the therapist would use my friend's comment as a springboard to further talk about herself. Midway through the conversation, the therapist got a phone call...and she answered it! Right in front of a client, she answered it. It was her grandson. She spoke to him for a few minutes and then hung up. She offered no apology but instead spent the remainder of the session telling my friend about her grandchildren. When the session was over, the therapist asked my friend when she would like to schedule the next session. My friend politely said that she would have to look at her calendar and get back to her. But my friend told me the truth: she's never going back!


This blog is about the philosophy of helping people in sales. As salespeople, we are very much like therapists. We help people sold through their market issues and come viable solutions. And, just like some therapists, we can be extremely bad at our jobs. The therapist in the scenario above may have wasted my friend's time, money, and mental energy. But she provides a great set of lessons for us as salespeople who seek to act as therapist for our clients. Here are a few things we can learn from this bad therapist:



  1. Don't be late. The therapist was late. Her customer was on time. Being late sends a signal to your customer that you do not value her time. It really isn't an issue as to whether or not you are late; it's an issue as to whether or not you care. And, if you're not there when you say you will be, your customer comes to believe that you really don't care about her. Leave early. It's much better to have to wait on your customer than to leave your customer waiting on you. Your customer's time is her most precious asset; do not take it for granted.

  2. Focus exclusively on the client. Obviously, don't answer the phone when you are in front of your customer. But, it's more than that. Turn off your phone. Don't glance at your watch, or your iPad, or your notes, or the diploma hanging on your customer's wall. When he is talking, your eyes should be on the eyes of your customer. At that moment, he is the center of your universe. Forget your grandkids. Forget your next appointment. Forget your quota. Focus on that customer.


  3. Listen more than you talk. For salespeople, this is easier said than done. The blogosphere is littered with advice on active listening but, when push comes to shove, how many of us actually keep our mouths shut? On the surface, your customer may say they just want you to give your pitch. But what they really want is for you to understand them. My friend may have asked her therapist for a solution to her problems, but my friend told me that she really just wanted someone to listen. Are you someone that your clients can talk to...or can you not shut up long enough for them to get a word in? Don't rush the sale. Don't rush the solution. Always listen first. Always listen more. Besides, the more you listen to your client, the more likely your client will be to listen to you.


  4. When you do talk, don't talk about yourself. My friend told me that her recent encounter with her therapist caused her to wonder who was the therapist and who was the patient. The therapist had spend the entire time talking about her grandkids and vacation plans. My friend should have been billing her therapist! Are we like that as salespeople? Do we talk too much about ourselves or is our conversation tailored toward the client? Your client doesn't care about you or your company. He cares about himself and his company. Talk about what your client cares about. It's not, "we have a great product..." It's, "you seem like you could use some help in this department..." It's not, "we're having a difficult time staying on budget..." It's, "Wow, your budget seems to be stretched pretty thin..." It's not about our problems. It's not even about our solutions. It's about the client's problems and how our solutions can help solve them. You know it's true; now talk to your client like you believe it's true.

  5. Don't be so naive about what your client thinks of you. This is a big one. My friend has no intentions of ever going back to her therapist...and the therapist has no idea. How many times as salespeople have we been secretly fired? We are making a ridiculous assumption of we think that, just because the client doesn't say she isn't going to buy, we are still in the running. Don't make assumptions. Feel your client out. Ask about her future intentions with you and your company. Know where she stands. You could be either wasting your time on someone who isn't going to buy or, more likely, doing something that is turning the client off to you or your company. But you will never know unless you ask. When in doubt, ask. When not in doubt, ask anyway. Never be left in the dark.


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