Selling: What’s Logic Got to Do With It?

Source: Rain Today

Author Charles H. Green argues that the conventional wisdom—that the key to selling is a compelling value proposition—is “demonstrably untrue.” Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman suggests that 95% of our purchasing decisions occur in the subconscious, which is not addressed by value propositions. Or, as sales author Jeffrey Gitomer puts it, “People buy with their heart—then justify it with their brain.”

In the book You’re Working Too Hard to Make the Sale, authors Bill Brooks and Tom Travesano summarized their findings as follows: “People prefer to buy what they need from people who understand what it is that they want.” And in a recent blog post, John Caddell, of Caddell Insight Group, observed that customers are less interested in value propositions than they are in “things like ‘reliability,’ ‘caring about my business,’ ‘saving me time,’ ‘making me smarter.’ In other words, the deeper, emotional, fuzzy stuff.”

Professionals cling to the idea of the value proposition, says Green, because “to accept the simple idea that an emotional connection might lie at the heart of a sale is tantamount to heresy.” Green suggests that without the value proposition, professionals incorrectly view sales as a moral dilemma forcing them to choose between upholding their principles and being successful.

The answer, Green says, is: “Follow your heart. Build the relationship. Tell the truth. Be transparent. View transactions as stops on the road, not as endpoints. Do the right thing.” Then the real “value proposition” becomes “the value the buyer gets from being able to have a trusting relationship with a seller.”

Ironically, Green concludes, “Those who choose to sell in accordance with the way people really buy end up being the most successful of all.”

For the complete article, click here and see “The Great Myth of Sales: Why Logic and Value Propositions Matter Less Than You Think.”

From Rain Today, www.raintoday.com.