Intuitively Speaking

There are steps that go into making sales, and everyone has their process. You’ve heard me write and talk about that before. If you don’t immediately know what yours are, then you’d be well served to sit down, think about them, and try to map them. The clarity you’ll get will be incredibly beneficial.

Knowing the steps is one thing. Knowing when to press forward in the process is quite another. There’s absolutely a ‘feel’ that great sellers have, an intuition if you will, that not only maximizes how quickly those steps are taken, but also creates an experience unlike any other for the prospect.

When do you ask for that next step? Should it be for the order or another meeting? Have you done enough research? Enough discovery? Was that an objection or a buying signal? Is this a dead lead or do you have them exactly where you want them?

No one can teach you this stuff, but you have to learn it.

I spent a couple of days early last week at the Sales Success Summit (which was brilliantly pulled off virtually this year). This is an event I make sure to attend every year because of what I learn. It’s not just the specific practices that top performers share, but every year there seems to be a theme among all the presenters and attendees that makes me think.

The first year I attended, I wrote a lengthy piece on LinkedIn about the various lessons I learned. My biggest takeaway was discipline, particularly around the discovery process. Last year, I was struck by how intentional these pros are with what they do. It goes beyond discipline to not just get things done but to be focused on doing fewer things well rather than making sure you get a lot of things done.

This year for me, the overriding theme was about the “feel” in the sales process, or what I’m referring to as intuition. It’s a huge differentiator between your average sales professional and a professional seller, and that’s for two distinct reasons…

1. Most people talk themselves out of what they feel is the right thing to do because someone didn’t tell them to do it that way. Note well: I didn’t say that most people were told not to do it that way. Too many people wait for specific marching orders and very rarely does anyone ever tell you to trust your gut when it comes to touchy situations.
2. You can only learn it by doing. You have to stick your neck out regularly, be willing to get things wrong, and be willing to learn from your mistakes. You have to find peers and mentors who share an interest in developing this kind of feel, connect regularly, and put yourself in a position to be gleaning these lessons, almost by osmosis.

Let me repeat… there’s no shortcut to the top. You’ve got to be knee-deep in it. You’ve got to be curious and vulnerable enough to learn new things. You’ve got to seek out colleagues and mentors who will go there with you. You’ve got to recognize that mastery takes as long as it takes, and no less. You’d better get started.

Ok, so what’s to gain? Why is all of this self-discovery and mindfulness worth it? 

Let me start by acknowledging that self-discovery processes like these are tremendously personally and spiritually gratifying, but I won’t go any further into that detail here. I mentioned above that this creates an experience unlike any other for your prospects, and I won’t just leave that out there to go unexplored…

Your prospects and customers are begging to be led. If you’re doing your job well, you likely understand their problems better than they do. You’ve got experiences that they don’t have and you’ve likely been able to solve those types of problems many times over in the past. They want someone who’s been there before to show them what is possible.

Well-developed sales intuition helps you to recognize when that surface-level objection is a bluff and for you to call them on it. It helps you lean on your experience and help them recognize that they may be looking at a problem the wrong way. It helps you remind them that underinvesting in the solution may very well lead to a less-than-desirable outcome. 

You may be reading this thinking that I sound combative and abrasive. I’ll tell you after 16+ years of doing this that if those situations are handled correctly they breed feelings of trust, security, and loyalty. That’s quite the opposite of off-putting. Additionally, when you know better about when to push or pull, your prospects feel more secure with you, and deals move along faster. 

How many of your colleagues and competitors are willing to push through that barrier? How much fun would it be to have such a different perspective on selling like this? What would be possible if this was your superpower? Is it worth developing?

Do you read between the lines on the sales calls that went well (or didn’t) for you? Do you have a group of peers, colleagues, and mentors that you regularly get together with to talk about this stuff? Do you surround yourself with people who are better at this than you, and regularly talk shop so you can take advantage of that "osmosis?" This intuition is the real difference between a sales professional and a professional seller.

What do you think? What’s your experience? Comment below or join the conversation in my online community.

I went a little bit deeper on this topic for the Deeper Thought podcast. There’s nothing quite like it in the business podcast space, and you can try it free for ten days by using promo code trydeeperthought at checkout.

You can also hear me recap the whole Summit experience with Scott Ingram on the Sales Success Stories podcast today.