Few people in sales would dispute the importance of bringing insights to customer conversations. One might call this the Jane Austen rule of selling: a seller in possession of a desired prospect must be in want of a relevant insight. Or as one executive says to sellers who call on him: “Your job isn’t to ask me what keeps me up at night. It’s to tell me what should be.”
Why “Tell Them Something They Don’t Know” Is Bad Advice in B2B Sales
Over the years, we’ve observed many salespeople who successfully make developing and delivering meaningful insights a core part of their approach. Their experience and our research indicate that, at a minimum, you need to do more than “tell people something they don’t know.” That approach can lead you to develop irrelevant factoids. Instead, we suggest crafting a strategy based on whom you’re talking to and where you are in the sales cycle.
If you’re talking to a C-Suite or Line-of-Business executive, insights are crucial; if you’re meeting with a mid-level IT Director, you’ll probably want to spend more time on product functionality and ask more questions.
In an early meeting with a senior buyer or influencer, it’s typically important to demonstrate that you can articulate how your product relates to key trends, opportunities, challenges, or evolving best practices in that market. You can do this by indicating who you know (people and companies using your product to drive business value and financial benefits) or what you know (your firm’s viewpoint about industry trends and the so-what implications), or both.
At latter stages, executives want to know how you’ll follow through at the implementation stage and how you’ll marshal your firm’s resources.