Asking Questions, Preparation, and Gap Selling with Keenan - 154

Asking Questions, Preparation, and Gap Selling with Keenan This is an episode that was a long time in the making.  Keenan, author of Gap Selling, and CEO of A Sales Guy Consulting, joins me on the podcast this week.  This is another conversation where you may want to turn the volume down if the kids are around. Keenan is awesome, he cares about the problems he solves, and he helps organizations and sales reps gain a better understanding of how to do this with their customers. We cover a lot of ground, including the fundamentals, Keenan's book, yard work, skiing, and simplifying the process.  Thanks Keenan. Questions Discussed Why do organizations focus on product over the problem? Why do we struggle with questions? How many problems can an organization solve really well? How many problems will you take action on in a given day? How do we help customers reveal problems? Why do we complicate this stuff? Why do we focus on Us instead of the Customer? How can we do better? Why is it important to ask Why? How does Keenan help to create alignment in organizations? What lessons did Keenan learn from the social ski lesson/networking product he created? What one law does Keenan want to pass? Key Takeaways Sales has evolved over time, selling was... People on the side of the road (barking) As complication increased, we started talking about the solution Rackman - Spin Selling first started to get folks thinking about the problem Questions highlight your understanding of the concepts.  Statements demonstrating an understanding of the words. Rarely can an organization solve more than 3 problems at once. Focus on the major problems.  The ones that have the greatest negative impact, create the most pain. We make buying decisions on the problems we cannot solve ourselves. Stop guessing, start asking questions to reveal problems. Your customers care about the end result - they will go with genie if the output is what we want.  Confidence is key. Keenan - 3 questions to support qualification Do they have the problem? Do they want to solve? Are they willing to go on the journey with you to fix it? The buyer journey is about the organization, less than it is about the individual - be aware. Pay Attention You need to understand the problem that you solve. Spend time training on the problems that exist The best salespeople know what they need to get out of the customer, they need to validate it, and get the customer to share it. Show Links Keenan Twitter Keenan LinkedIn A Sales Guy Consulting Gap Selling Seth Godin Drill Bit Story Call to Action Please let us know how you will apply at least one of the concepts or stories discussed today, in your business.  Share this via Twitter or LinkedIn, and tag both of us. Thank You  Thank you for rating and reviewing the podcast via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast platform.  Ratings & reviews help others discover the podcast - thank you for helping us get our message out to the community. Please send listener questions and feedback to [email protected] or contact us directly on twitter, facebook or LinkedIn. Catalyst Sale Service Offerings Growth Acceleration - Plateau Breakthrough Product Market Fit Demystify Sales - the course