I was in an electronics store this weekend. As I selected and purchased my replacement hard drive (big fan of the solid state drive), I noticed a professional-looking woman enter the store. One of the sales reps asked "May I help you?" She replied "No thanks. I'm just looking."
As I was waiting for the data from my old drive to be copied to the new drive, I wandered through the store. I happened to end up in the same section as the woman I saw earlier. As I walked past her, she asked "Do you know anything about these cameras?" I asked a bunch of questions about why she was looking to purchase a camera, and how she intended to use it. Ultimately, I gave her my input based on my limited expertise. I then suggested "You may want to ask one of the people who work here." Her reply provides some valuable insight: "These guys are commission-based, and they are going to recommend the most expensive alternative regardless of whether or not I need it."
Given a choice of getting information from the in-store expert or a complete stranger who might not have reliable information, she chose the stranger. Why would someone do such a thing?
The simple reason she chose the stranger is that she did not trust that the rep was going to lookout for her interest. Rather, the rep was only interested in selling her what would most benefit the rep. Though this example was in a consumer setting, the same thing happens every day in Business to Business (B2B) transactions. Specifically, the rep wants to deliver the pitch about their product and service regardless of whether or not it is in the client's best interest. Here are three tips salespeople and professionals can use to avoid the "just looking" response.
As I was waiting for the data from my old drive to be copied to the new drive, I wandered through the store. I happened to end up in the same section as the woman I saw earlier. As I walked past her, she asked "Do you know anything about these cameras?" I asked a bunch of questions about why she was looking to purchase a camera, and how she intended to use it. Ultimately, I gave her my input based on my limited expertise. I then suggested "You may want to ask one of the people who work here." Her reply provides some valuable insight: "These guys are commission-based, and they are going to recommend the most expensive alternative regardless of whether or not I need it."
Given a choice of getting information from the in-store expert or a complete stranger who might not have reliable information, she chose the stranger. Why would someone do such a thing?
The simple reason she chose the stranger is that she did not trust that the rep was going to lookout for her interest. Rather, the rep was only interested in selling her what would most benefit the rep. Though this example was in a consumer setting, the same thing happens every day in Business to Business (B2B) transactions. Specifically, the rep wants to deliver the pitch about their product and service regardless of whether or not it is in the client's best interest. Here are three tips salespeople and professionals can use to avoid the "just looking" response.