At its best, pro wrestling is a morality play, where good is pitted against evil. Through the twists and turns of a storyline, good is thwarted at all sides by the forces of evil. The best storylines culminate in a match where the embattled good guy finally and decisively vanquishes his foes, giving the audience their cathartic moment.
Wrestling has evolved over the decades as production values have increased, wrestlers have gotten more athletic, and attention spans have been dulled and shortened by the internet. Fans who once could tolerate an hour long contest full of rest holds and time fillers now head for the exits if the action isn’t non-stop. Whereas a single top rope dive in the 1970s would send the fans into ecstasy, it’s a given that every match will contain multiple high spots and incredibly intricate, choreographed sequences that can, at times, look like interpretive dance with the performers clearly working together. Instead of a simulated fight, fans are treated to Circe de Soilel with blood.
While not bad in and of itself, it can be an issue when the wrestlers see doing the moves as the end product, instead of the means to tell the overarching story. There’s a term for it:
Getting your shit in.
The term refers to a wrestler wanting to make sure he gets to show off his ability to perform the moves in hopes of standing out from the crowd of performers trying to move their way up the card, where the higher paydays are. Storyline be damned; these guys are trying to get their shit in.
In a sales appointment, there is also a story to tell. And despite what you may be told, it’s not your story, or your company’s story, that needs telling.
Your customer has a story to tell. It’s the story of meeting a business objective, or solving a problem or alleviating a lack in their lives. It’s about time or money or simplicity. In some way, there is a lack in their lives, and they are seeking a solution to their problem, not giving you a platform for your goals and aspirations.
I was having a debriefing call with a rep some time ago. This rep struggled with the ability to make our selling system their own. They focused hard on getting the steps right, in order, no matter how awkward it made the conversation. After an unsuccessful appointment, we spoke on the phone so I could hear how the appointment went and offer some coaching.
“This guy wouldn’t even let me give my Agenda,” the rep said.
“It isn’t the customer’s job to allow you to get through your pitch,” I replied. “They have a need they are trying to meet. And that need has nothing to do with whether you hit every step in the pitch.”
This is a perfect example of wanting to Get Your Shit in.
When you go into each sales appointment with the unshakeable belief that you are there to solve a problem, with no expectations of anything in return, you begin to help the customer get to the true problem they are facing. You begin to see them as an ally in solving the problem, not an adversary that must be defeated. The customer in terms sees you as a partner in the quest to solve the problem, not the agent of a process that must be endured in order to get to the solution.
How many times have you found yourself reciting a script instead of engaging your customer? How many times have you committed the “word vomit?” Why do we do this?
While there are as many reasons as there are reps, here are some of the primary reasons I have found that reps are more interested in GYSI than in relating to their client:
• Lack of product knowledge
In this case, the rep hopes to avoid any uncomfortable questions by throwing every bit of info they know at the customer. They have all this material memorized and they want to get it all out there.
• Ego
I watched a rep who was a master of our Inspection step wear customers out with the depth of his knowledge about our install process. He was so eager to show off his expertise, he ignored the glazed look on the customer’s face as he went into excruciating detail about things irrelevant to the customer and which had no bearing on their decision making process. Getting His Shit In stroked his ego, but the customer never stroked a check.
• Self-minded, not service minded
David Salyer calls this Value Centricity: The idea that in all our relationships, we should be looking to ADD, not EXTRACT value. When we are more focused on GYSI than in creating value for the customer, we are blind to the subtle signs that a customer doesn’t see the value. Then we are shocked when the customer balks at the price.
• Fear
This is a big one. We are afraid that if we stop talking, the customer will have a chance to think about what we have said, and decide to go in another direction. Despite all the training on the uncomfortable silence or knowing that “the first one that talks loses,” salespeople try to fill the silence with one more feature, one more benefit, one more rehearsed rebuttal they think will win the day. They cloud the customer’s mind with info, instead of paring down their pitch to only the elements that help the customer tell they story they want to tell. They obscure the issue with verbal pyrotechnics instead of clarifying the issue in the mind of the customer. And worst of all, if they do sell, they race through the paperwork and payments in a misguided attempt to get out of the customer’s sight before they have a chance to change their mind. They go dark instead of making the follow up call, hoping that if the customer doesn’t hear from them, they won’t remember the appointment, and won’t think to cancel. They think that if they ignore an objection in the early stages of an appointment, the customer will forget the objection entirely. Then when it comes up at the end, you guessed it: more vomit.
Instead of trying to GYSI, spend more time listening for the story you are there to tell. It’s not your story, it is that of your customer. If you can help them tell that story, all the way to a satisfying conclusion, you have an Angle that can pay off in the end.