How do You Sell? A Tale of Two Andys

Jenn, Dan, and I just got back from our Monterey Symposium optometry conference. It was an absolute blast! What was most interesting for me was that we really had to sell our website builder to prospects and potential partners to a large audience for the first time. Watching other exhibitors and analyzing our own behavior brought back many memories from Google when I worked with some amazing sales (and business development) people - three of whom were named Andy (not really). As I watched Jenn , Dan , myself , and others, I started to notice a real differences in how they approached selling to prospective and existing clients. Everyone had something that worked for them (probably), but they tended to fall into spectrum of two main strategies, from what I noticed. And these two strategies were personified so well, and in such contrast in two of the Andys I was lucky enough to work with at Google. Andy One was what I’ll call a connection/relationship-first sales person, whereas Andy Two was what I’m calling a process/product-first sales person. I personally fall towards Andy Two, but I wish I fell more towards Andy One. I’ll tell you more about what I mean.

Connection/Relationship-First Salesperson

Andy One worked purely on his connection and relationship to his prospects - it was amazing. He almost never talked about the actual product he was selling. He wouldn’t worry about whether or not the projector was remembered.What he would spend his energy on was going to conferences and saying hi to all of his friends that he knew. He knew what they did, he would play golf with them. Andy One would go to the casino and stay late until he left with the last person there. He would know all their kids names and what year they were in school (roughly).What was most surprising to me is that up until a handshake agreement was made, the actual product he was selling or deal terms he was making was an afterthought. Instead what would happen is he would ask them for a lunch or dinner meeting (or just drinks or a round of golf), and after he asked them how they were doing and what they were working on, they would ask him the same thing. And when it came around to asking him what he was working on, he would casually mention it, mention how passionate he was about it, and they would want to join him.Of course, after the handshake was made, Andy would follow up on the deals and the due diligence, but the actual selling just seemed like a piece of cake. Even more importantly, he could bring his contacts with him from project to project, and company to company (if he hadn’t retired at 33 or something like that ;-)).

Process/Product-First Salesperson

Andy Two was at the other end of the spectrum. He was also really effective at closing deals, but in a completely different way. Andy Two was always about refining his process and refining his pitch. He’d have a list of clients neatly organized with a status on each of them. When he’d go to a potential partner or client, there would be some small talk at the beginning about how things were going - usually work related - and when the meeting really started he was all about making a solid presentation that touched all the points, and explained the product and the benefits really well.What Andy Two was really incredible at, however, was follow-up. One way or another he was always so organized that a warm lead wouldn’t go more than a week and a half without a reminder email or a how-are-you phone call. His pitches were very convincing from a product point of view (and always correct, never overly salesy), and with aggressive follow up, it was a winning combination.Andy Two did end up forming relationships with his clients and partners, but it was always a result of focusing on the product and offer, rather than the other way around. If a client offered to go out for beers afterwards, he wouldn’t always partake, as I recall, whereas I doubt Andy One would have turned it down. Simply different styles, but both are effective.

Me (Engineer) Salesperson, And the Other Andy

In case you’re wondering, Andy Three fell somewhere in between. He was very cool, and probably had a personal style more similar to Andy One (and he wouldn’t turn down a good beer!). However, he still was a little more process driven like Andy Two. And most people probably do fit between these category.

As for me, I’m still more like Andy Two, but am trying to be more like Andy One. The thing is, I’m an engineer by training, and have been for a long time - my instinct is to cut to the chase, cut the fluff, and work through the details. Perhaps I’m also a bit excited about the actual product, because I helped build it. But unless I work my buns off at aggressive follow-up, this is not the easiest strategy.

Of Course Relationships - But Why?

Instead, I need to focus on building relationships first - and I think most engineers probably have to work, and work, and work on this. There are a couple reasons relationships first is so powerful. It’s been said so much it’s a cliche, but it’s really true. When someone buys something from you, it’s usually because they’re buying you - not the product; and this is especially true in partnerships.Nobody can completely understand a product and its implications before they buy it and start using it; so most of the time when they buy from you or close a deal with you, they’re just making an educated guess. And that guess is based on a combination of the reputation of your company (which they might not even know), and how much they trust you. And where does trust come from?It comes from them understanding your character. And that will not completely come through when you’re only talking about your product. It will come through, however, when you build a relationship with them.

PS - They’re probably not as passionate as you about what your product does.

Another reason that relationships are so important, is because chances are, your prospective partner or client probably isn’t nearly as excited about your product like you are. You’re lucky if you’re in an industry where they are, but it’s not very likely. If they were as passionate as you, they would be working for the same company or one of your competitors.For example, optometrists do want a website and think they’re a great idea, but at the end of the day it’s the care they provide to their patients that they’re super passionate about. Instead, they rely on who they trust to be passionate about websites for them.

What you can do if you’re like me

To be up front, my end goal is simply to close as many win-win deals and customers with as little effort as possible. And when I analyze which part of the spectrum to be on to accomplish this, I have to be as close as possible to Andy One. But of course, as of now that goes against my instincts a bit. There are a few things I know about that I can try to do to change - although I welcome all of your ideas on this in the comments. The first thing is to fight the urge to be shy when saying hi to someone new. Be bold! Be daring. It’s either you, or them. And you’re the one with something at stake.Second, is smile and laugh a lot. Perhaps it’s personal style, but a smile can disarm people with their guard up more easily than anything else. And third, and lastly, ask them three questions before you tell them more than a sentence about your product. Dale Carnegie said the best way to seem interesting and intelligent to people, is to get them talking about themselves (and saying their name) - because people’s favorite word is their own name, and people’s favorite topic is something having to do with them and their passions. And if you get them talking about themselves, they’ll think you’re the most interesting person they’ve met in awhile - and along with that, comes trust.That’s all I’ve got for now - I welcome your ideas too, as always. I did notice that when Jenn started to talk to the optometrists at our conference about patient care and how they got their start in optometry, they opened up. And naturally they started to ask what we did, what our product was. And *then* they learned how cool it was - precisely in that order.