This is a report about the sorry state of sales skills that I just witnessed at the Pack Expo trade show in Chicago this weekend.
This past weekend attended show as a consultant for two of our existing clients who are in the packaging equipment space. I was walking around the trade show looking at competitors, looking at complementary products, and trying to understand what was new in the marketplace, gather competitive intelligence, and do my best to understand more of what's going on in the world of packaging.
What I discovered is the sorry state of the sales skills of many international companies, the names of which you would recognize.
As I walked around to different booths talking to the salespeople, I began to notice a pattern. I would find a sales person, they would ask my name and what I did, and I would say my name and that I was attending the show as a consultant working for some of my clients.
In virtually every case, and this was dozens and dozens of companies over a couple of days, they launched right into a product pitch. They would tell me about new features/technologies, something about weight/equipment/benefits to a customer, but in not a single interaction did they ask me about me. They never tried to really understand what I was doing at the show. They were only interested in talking about them and how they could try and show me how smart they were
I heard things like:
- The specific close rates on quotes for specific machines
- The number of a particlaur machine that they sold
- A sales person say that they have not sold the featured machine in their booth
- The names of the specific companies that have bought machines
- Proprietary information about future plans
They didn't ask me who I was, beyond just a consultant. They did not ask who my clients were. Neither did they ask why my clients were at the show. They didn't ask anything about the issues my customers might have and how they might be able to help solve the problems and deal with those issues. They didn't ask anything about my goals or my client's goals or what I do to help them reach those goals.
All they wanted to do was talk about themselves, all while doing very, very little listening.
So, my question is:
Why would companies spend this much money and time going to trade shows if all they're going to do is show up and throw up information about features that we could get on the spec sheet, website, or any other non-smart catalog printed brochure? Why bother showing up if you’re not going to spend any time qualifying, understanding, seeking to learn, and positioning your benefits/features/value in relation to the value that my customers might want?
These people clearly thought they were being helpful, but they were only being self-serving.
It makes me wonder if sales managers are paying attention to these people. It makes me think that they must not be training them, and they must not be really thinking about what it is people want when they walk into a trade show booth.
So, what should you do?
Ask questions. Ask lots of questions!
Did you ever see the comedian's improv game that's called Questions? Basically, the comedians have a conversation where every sentence is a question. That would be a good place to start for salespeople.
To put it into concrete, actionable terms:
Salespeople should ask at least five questions of any prospect that walks into a trade show booth before a statement of any kind comes out of their mouth. They should probe to understand exactly who the customer is, what issues they have, what problems they are trying to solve, what goals they have, where they might be headed, and then, and only then, start in on an explanation. They shouldn’t be pitching at all. They should learn enough to personalize their responses and be helpful. Until then, don’t open your mouth and throw pitches hoping something sticks.
Be helpful, anything else is a waste of time.
Topics: Sales
