So why did I decide to start The Sales Doctor? Ultimately I want everyone selling with an ethical sales process. Let me give you the background and context, and get something off my chest. 

Sales is often given a bad name, and I am sick of it.

Why sales has a bad reputation

For a long time, possibly since the serpent ‘sold’ the fruit to Adam and Eve, sales and the act of selling has been portrayed as manipulative, dishonest and self-serving.

This could not be further from the truth. Sales is a noble profession, that requires trust, knowledge, experience and a “great bedside manner” and that leads us to The Sales Doctor.

Why salespeople should think like doctors

There is an obvious analogy between salespeople and doctors

If you have worked for me or with me over the last 30+ years, you may want to stop reading now, as this will not be the first time you have heard (read) this.  

We have a duty of care!

If someone walks into a GP’s surgery with a runny nose, a mild temperature and a headache, there is a good chance they have a common cold or maybe a mild bout of flu. So why does the doctor still spend the time asking questions and examining their patient?  They have a strong suspicion of what is causing the symptoms, but they have a duty of care to be certain.  A strong suspicion is simply not good enough.  

Diagnosis before prescription

We will have potential clients that already have a well-formed idea of what problem they are trying to solve, and in most cases they will be right. However, there will be occasions when the issue they think they have to solve is not the problem they actually need to solve.  We have to take the time and effort to determine exactly what the real issue is.  Only then can we even start to think about how to solve it.

Diagnosis — δια (dia) meaning between, and γνοσις (gnosis) meaning knowing.  Determining which of two or more potential issues is the real issue. 

Once a doctor has taken the time to ask you questions and examine you, they will provide a diagnosis.  They will explain in an easy to understand, honest but compassionate manner exactly what is wrong and will then lay out the options available to cure the ‘issue’.

A great sales person, will have the knowledge and communication skills to explain in understandable language to their prospect what the problem is and possible ways to resolve it. They won’t use jargon or company acronyms and terminology, they will use their prospects’ language.

It’s a prescription, not a suggestion

Finally, the doctor will not allow their patient to leave without a firm recommendation on what to do next.  They may have laid out potential options, but they would then distill this down to a firm plan of action.  It would not fill me with confidence if a doctor suggested that there were a few things I could try, and they weren’t sure which would be best, so maybe I can decide which I want to try first.

Sales people are equally obliged to advise, not recommend.  “You could try option A or B, and if neither of those work, then perhaps option C” are words I would not want to hear from a sales person.  It is both lazy and reflects a lack of belief in your solutions.

An advisor would instead lay out the options, truly understand the prospect’s situation and context, and then make a firm recommendation.

Process, Knowledge, and Skills make a winning formula

All of the above reflect what happens with a doctor or salesperson when they are with a patient or prospect, but the similarities extend beyond that.

Doctors have a code of ethics, professional standards, and procedures and processes.  Salespeople need strong, replicable, productive and ethical processes to provide the best level of care to their prospects and customers.

Doctors are lifelong learners.  They need to be aware of new illnesses or strains of existing illnesses, new treatments, new technologies — both diagnostic and treatments.  Sales people need to know their own and competitors products, they have to know their market and their customers’ markets, and they have to know how they can best serve their prospects and customers.

There are many other similarities, and the bottom line is there will be bad doctors, good doctors and great doctors and there will be bad, good and great salespeople.  

The Sales Doctor mission

My mission at The Sales Doctor is to provide the tools and framework to be the best salesperson you can be. With an ethical sales process  all three parties involved in your interactions benefit:

• Your prospects and clients — who get the best advice and recommendations possible and the most appropriate solution to their problem.
• You — as a trusted advisor, you get the satisfaction of a job well done which brings recognition and financial benefits.
• Your company — more clients and happier clients generate increased revenues that can be reinvested to continue to improve your solutions and invest back into the business.

Nothing is preordained or set in stone, The decision rests entirely with you whether you want to be good or great.  For those of you that would like to be great, let’s talk!

Ray

The Sales Doctor

Consult | Assess | Recommend | Execute

Post by Ray King, 1st September 2024