Don’t Make the Sales Mistake HP Made With Me

A few weeks ago I called HP because I needed a new printer. A girl, a very cutesy, uber friendly, saccharine sweet sounding girl answered the phone. I was immediately concerned.

I told her I wanted a Laser Jet. She told me I should have an Ink Jet.

I told her I wanted a Laser Jet. She told me an Ink Jet would be better.

I told her I wanted a Laser Jet. She told me I should purchase an Ink Jet because…

“An Ink Jet makes the most sense for your budget.”

I never told her, nor did she ask me what my budget was.

She assumed I had a small budget. In fact, the printer she wanted me to buy was 30% less than what I was prepared to spend. 30% less!

3 Things We Need to Remember About Selling

• Assumptions can kill a sale. She assumed I had a small budget. She assumed I wanted to save money. But what if I didn’t want to save money? What if I wanted a capital expenditure that would help me with taxes?

• Diagnose before you prescribe. This is one of Dr. Stephen Covey’s more brilliant points in his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Before we sell a solution, we need to diagnose the problem. The most effective way to do this is to ask questions, lots and lots of questions.

• Listening to the customer is more important than our agenda. I believe the HP rep had good intentions. However, she was so focused on her agenda (saving me money) that she couldn’t hear me. She couldn’t hear what I wanted or needed. And that’s why she (and HP) lost the sale.

Anything else we can learn?

Shut the Front Door! There are more posts like this? Yes!

• The Fight Club Guide to Selling (Part 1)
• The Fight Club Guide to Selling (Part 2)
• How a Cat Killed a $5k Deal (My first blog post ever.)