Complex Needs Require Diagnostic Selling

You might be surprised that your family doctor could teach you a thing or two about sales. Last time your doctor said that you should buy a prescription and undergo a procedure, how much did you argue? If you’re like me, not very much.  A doctor visit involves a proper diagnosis and a professional recommendation. The doctor will ask questions like “How long has this been bothering you?” and “How painful is this on a scale of 1 to 10?” He’ll run tests to ensure the suspected ailment actually exists. After all of these steps are complete, the doctor makes a diagnosis and recommends a treatment. Because the doctor has done his due diligence, you typically won’t question that the ailment exists or the treatment plan is necessary.

Could you apply this approach to selling equipment?  Yes, according to Jeff Thull in his book Exceptional Selling. Thull provides an excellent resource about selling complex products to buyers with complex needs. The doctor’s diagnostic process is Thull’s analogy for the approach he recommends in complex sales situations.  Although not written specifically for selling machinery, I was struck by how closely this book applies to our industry. Equipment solutions are complex and machine buyers’ operations are complex too. Figuring out where quality is lost, money is wasted, and time spent requires serious expertise and great communication. Plus, when you get all the way to end, you’d like to ensure that your prospects accept your diagnosis and recommended treatment plan so you can close the sale.

Thull goes into much more detail than this newsletter can support. Here I’ll share Thull’s comparison of diagnostic selling to conventional sales thinking (from Exceptional Selling, page 29):   

Thull’s complex sales process can address several issues prevalent in machinery sales:

• Why do prospects beat me up on price and treat my machine like a commodity?
• How do some distributors sell a highly-profitable process and others fight over the machine price?
• Why do prospects only offer a deaf ear when they hear about new machine models?

With fewer buyers out there today, it’s critical to boost your closing ratio. You’ll easily digest Thull’s book because it will help you sell better every day and build your reputation.

David Austin is the Machine Tool Product Manager for EDA
daustin@edadata.com | 704-845-2971

Thull, Jeff.  Exceptional Selling:  How the Best Connect and Win in High Stakes Sales, 2006, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.  ISBN 0-470-03728-8.  www.primeresourcegroup.com