You will often come across this ‘wisdom’.
If you are a founder or CEO you must always be selling.
But this is a trap.
Especially when you are building a new product. Or service.
I fell in to this one myself.
When I started my consulting business, it was all about me.
It was all about what we could do. For them.
We almost always impressed prospects. But we rarely converted. It was obvious, this wasn’t working.
Then I recalled some of my lessons from building products. We did not start selling. Not before we had done this.
Before you sell, you must learn.
It helps to listen. It helps to discover. It helps to understand.
Get to know your customers. Get to know their pain and problems.
Before you start spouting out your expertise. Or product capabilities.
If you listen intently.
And “read between the lines” (or whatever is the equivalent of that for listening 🙂
Then selling will be more about helping.
Helping your customers achieve their best.
And from time to time. Helping them achieve more than they had imagined.
How much do you learn and listen?
Before you sell…