Selling has always been something that you "do to a customer". A sale does not take place till a customer buys. Traditional selling is relegated to the history books. How about exploring a new paradigm? The buying game! Connect with me on LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/kalpeshdesai) should you wish to have a copy of this deck.

1. The Buying Game

2. “Selling” – What Has Changed ?
SALESPEOPLE TRAINED TO “CLOSE THE
SALE” NOT OPEN THE RELATIONSHIP
TAUGHT THAT SELLING IS SOMETHING
THEY “DO TO” CUSTOMERS, INSTEAD OF
“DO WITH”
THINK IN “WAR” METAPHORS
“HARD CLOSING” AND “HARD SELLING”
ARE TRIUMPHS OF MIND OVER “PATTER”
Cause
Effect
The Customer Buys!
Is not ”sold to”..

3. When Does A Sale Occur?
A sale does not take place till the customer buys
The attitude of “Caveat Emptor” (buyer beware) is being replaced by “Caveat Venditor”
(seller beware)
“Manipulation” is being replaced by “influence”
Every time you influence people, you are “selling”

4. Why Do People Buy A Product Or Service?
People buy products
and services to move
them from the
situation they are in,
to the situation they
would want to be in
The “need” is the
gap they perceive
Customers do not
care about the
products or services
we sell
They care about
whether we can fill
the “need”
YOU cannot “create”
a need
YOU can only make
the customer
“aware” of their
need

5. Their decision to buy is
governed by their values, and
the job they need to get done.
Products have features ,
advantages and benefits
Customers buy benefits
What Are Customers Actually “Buying”?

6. How Do You ”Uncover” Benefits
Uncover the customer’s needs
Explore their values and concerns regarding
the sale
Build on existing sales
Become their favorite relative
Rapport is built by asking
the right questions
Remember –
Garbage In/Garbage Out

7. Uncovering Needs Through Appropriate Questions
Closed Questions
Framed to extract a “Yes” or a “No” answer
Used when you want to get down to
specific detail
Allows you to control the conversation and
keep it focused
Is
Isn’t
Does
Doesn’t
How
specifically
Open Questions
When you know that the customer is
unable to articulate, help them
“chunk up” to extract their values that
determine the need
Open questions open up possibilities
How
What
Where
When

8. Direct questions
Designed to arrive at the truth
Make it easy for the customer to
say what they want to say
Make it easy for you to understand
what they mean
“What do you want?”
Directing The Response
Designed to get customers to say what you
want them to say
Leave the customer with no choice, because
you have already decided the route for them
“You do want this, don’t you?”
Driving A Conversation With Questions

9. Getting The Response You Want By Asking Questions
Loaded questions
•“Bearing in mind that you have announced
your expansion to new markets, don’t you
think we need to .......?”
•“Almost 90% of the companies that have
bought from <Name> are dissatisfied and
opting for change. Do you share this view?”
Polarized questions
•Designed to solicit a “yes” or “no” response
•“Are you not concerned about the reliability
and security of your data in your current
software?
•Designed to gain acceptance of an unstated
condition
•Creates guilt or negative feelings in the
person answering
False negative questions
• Worded to sound like there is an
universal opinion to the contrary
• “Would you not agree to this point?”
• “Is it not true that you would….?”
• To disagree would mean to run the risk
of sounding foolish

10. Statements!
PRESUPPOSE AN ANSWER
•“Clearly, our other customers cannot be wrong”
•“Obviously, you would want to consider the following
options”
Answers
OFFER AN ANSWER
• “What's important to you when you buy a new
software, a vendor that has addressed the
localization issues, I expect?”
Hidden assumptions
OFFER A HIDDEN ASSUMPTION
•“Where would you like to sign the order, in your office
or mine?”
•“Do you now understand why our service is the best in
the market?”
Drive The Conversation

11. Ask The “Right Questions”
• It will give you either the sequence of events to the action or the reason for the action
• Example:
Customer: I think the price is too high!!
Why: Why do you say that?
What: What price do you think is fair?
How: How did you arrive at that conclusion?
“Why” is the least useful question in sales
• Example:
Customer: Let me have your proposal next week
What: What do I need to put in the proposal for it to be meaningful to you?
Where, which, when, who , what, how are your 6 honest serving men

12. Clarify what the customer means
• Never assume the customer wants
• Example:
Customer: “I want better service than my last software provider”
Incorrect response: “Yes sir, of course!”
Correct response: “Can you tell me what specifically was
unsatisfactory about the previous service provider?”
Do NOT Assume

13. Listen for words like
“always”, “never”,
“everyone”
On face value, they
stop any argument
But there is always
an exception to
“always”
Question absolutes
by asking for
exceptions and
then build on that
Watch Out For “Absolutes”
Examples
Statement: “I always buy from
XXXX”
Response:
“What is it about XXXX that
you find so satisfactory?”
Statement:
“I will never look at changing
my accounting system again!”
Response :
”Never? What would happen
if you did?”

14. Example:
“We mustn’t present this
proposal to the CEO right
now”
Wrong answer: “Why
not?”
Right answer: “What
would happen if we
did?”
Question The…
Every client has “rules”
To identify these rules, listen
for words like
“should/shouldn’t”,
“must/mustn’t”, “can’t” and
“have to”
Ask for possible barriers that
have led to the imposition of
these rules

15. Continuous questions trigger
defensiveness
Avoid long and multiple questions
Recognize your voice modulation
when you communicate
STATEMENT: You can do that
QUESTION: You can do that?
COMMAND: You can do that!!
Soften your questions with :
“I would like to know more about..”
“Do you mind if I ask you a question about..”
Watch Out For The Bumps

16. What If We Are Not Speaking The Same “Language”?
Imagine trying
to buy from
someone who
doesn’t speak
or understand
the language
you speak

17. How we think is
reflected in what
we say
Imagine if you are
saying the same
thing, but in
different languages
Each individual
uses predicates
that reflect how
they “speak”
What If We Are Not Speaking The Same “Language”?

18. Neutral
Consider the idea
Demonstrate the product
Discuss
Remind you
I understand
I don’t understand
I know
Visual
Look into it
Show you
Look over
Show you again
I see what you are saying
That’s not clear
That’s clear to me
Auditory
Sound it out
Explain it to you
Talk over
Recall
I hear you loud and clear
That sounds odd
Sounds right
Kinesthetic
Explore
Give you a feel for it
Go over
Take you back
I can grasp the point
That doesn’t fit
I get a sense of that
Detect The Language

19. We Switch Off When We Struggle To “Hear”
Customer’s
language?
Visual
Your
language?
Kinesthetic! Rephrase to
use “Visual”
language

20. Listen
Respond
use
Recognize
the
"language"
Formulate
your
response in
the same
language
Recognize
the tone
Pace or
match the
tone
Use their
translation,
not your
jargon
To Build Rapport, Speak The Same Language

21. Match body
language
Match the
“thinking”
language
Pace 7 times,
establish
credibility
Ask questions to
run a health check
on your rapport
Ensure alignment
Lead the
conversation at
the pace you want
it to continue from
then on
Pace, Pace, Pace - Lead
Hint: We remember best what is said at the beginning and the end of meetings

22. •Reproduce what you have heard
from the customer using the key-
words they used
•Key words are emphasized with
voice
•Check for agreement
How does a
customer
know that
you are
listening?
The Art Of Listening - Reproduce

23. Replace “BUT” with “AND”
“I know you think it is
expensive
AND
that’s why I want you to look
at the benefits we offer”
People stop listening after they hear
the word “BUT”
“I know you think it is
expensive,
BUT
look at the benefits we offer”
Change Your Words, Change The Outcome – But Vs And

24. Change Your Words, Change The Outcome – No such thing as “TRY”
Try implies difficulty
and impossibility
Example : Try to pick up a pen
Don’t say “Try” and
don’t accept “try” as a
response
Polarize to a “yes” or a
“no”

25. Well Meaning Phrases That Produce The Wrong Result
Negatively formed
sentences reinforce
the opposite meaning
Don’t worry, we will deliver
the software next week Rest assured, we will
deliver the software
next week
Rephrase
positively

26. Image a similar situation in the
past where you felt resourceful
What did you see
What did you hear
What did you feel
Anchor that image When you’re stuck, recall
that image
Anchor Yourself

27. Anchoring The Audience
Gesture and emphasize words in a position
Move to a position, and make a gesture, and speak about your product or service
When you face an objection, move away from that position and take up another spot and respond from
there
Whenever you highlight benefits move to the spot that the audience recognizes as your “product”. Move to
this spot when they praise you or appreciate your offering
Whenever you cannot respond to an objection or they bring up competition, move to the “other spot”. The
audience will register that when you move to this spot, their objections are invalid

28. Authoritative
Go on, BUY
IT!!
Guilt
I have put in
so much
effort, you
owe this
order to me
Hypnotic
Don’t you
feel the urge
to buy this
now?
Economic
Think about
how much
money you
will save…
Guillotine
I am afraid
this price is
valid only till
the 25th of
this month
Scarcity
This is the
last piece we
have…
The Old ”Manipulative” Ways Of Asking For An Order Are Dead

29. Authoritative
Go on, BUY
IT!!
Guilt
I have put in
so much
effort, you
owe this
order to me
Hypnotic
Don’t you
feel the urge
to buy this
now?
Economic
Think about
how much
money you
will save…
Guillotine
I am afraid
this price is
valid only till
the 25th of
this month
Scarcity
This is the
last piece we
have…
The Old ”Manipulative” Ways Of Asking For An Order Are Dead

30. Will your product
meet the
customer's
requirements?
Are you doing
right by the
customer?
Are you doing
right by your
product ?
Instead, Get The Intent Right, Because The Buyer Knows!
The “close” is a choice
and
a natural result of “the conversation”

31. Thank you for listening..
@kalpeshdesai