What About Retail Sales?

SST^® Newsletter December 1997 - January 1998

Recently, I had a conversation with Al Murray of the J.C. Ehrlich company. As you likely know, Ehrlich is one of the major players in pest control and lawn and tree care. Like many businesses, they have both residential and business customers. If you guessed that the nature of our conversation had something to do with SST^®, you would be correct.

Predictably, our discussion turned to the emphasis SST^® places on business-to-business selling in general, and to major account selling in particular. I cited Neil Rackham's research showing that major account selling requires a different skill set than what is typically taught by sales trainers. The "puppy dog close" might be cute, and actually effective, when the customer drives the new car home to show the family. However, sophisticated buyers see through those manipulative tactics. Research indicates that they actually have an inverse impact on selling success with sophisticated buyers and major accounts.

Consistently, I encounter people in sales management who relate tales of upper end buyers who have completely lost their tolerance for those "seller centered" tactics which are still being taught by many organizations and their sales trainers. It is increasingly common for buyers to interrupt when they detect a closing script, sometimes identifying it by name, and threaten to end the interview if they hear a second.

It's clear that business-to-business selling success requires processes that promote active listening and understanding of, both the buyer, and his or her business problems. Moreover, our experience, supported by empirical research, demonstrates that SST^® provides an easy to master system to enhance the consultative approach and build lasting business partnerships.

Acknowledging the case that old school manipulative techniques do not work with major accounts, the conversation with Al Murray focused on the converse. Does SST^® work as effectively in retail markets as it does in business-to-business selling? Intuitively (and Al and I are both Intuitive types) one would believe that it must. Major account purchasers certainly do not have the market cornered on wanting to be understood. And, there's plenty of evidence from research on psychological type indicating that people have preferred ways of communicating and react more favorably when their "language is spoken".

Anecdotally, we know that SST^® makes a positive difference in fields like real estate, higher education and investment management. What we really need, however, is a carefully constructed study to research the question. Anyone interested?

I'll throw in the study for any client who schedules SST with a residential or retail application. Now, would you like to schedule that for February or March? (Just kidding about that alternate close.)