Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten

For anyone who feels that this kind of reconnaissance smacks of Big Brotherism, remember the truth about buyers: They come prewired to regard your proposition with suspicion and cynicism. That’s their job.

Armed with the right knowledge, we can outsell, outmanage, outmotivate, and outnegotiate our competitors. Am I over-promising?

If selling were just a matter of determining who’s got the low bid, then the world wouldn’t need salespeople.

“Anyone who doesn’t get along with people doesn’t belong in this business, because that’s all we’ve got around here.”

Knowing your customer means knowing what your customer really wants. Maybe it is your product, but maybe there’s something else, too: recognition, respect, reliability, concern, service, a feeling of self-importance, friendship, help—things all of us care more about as human beings than we care about malls or envelopes.

None of this groundwork was laid. Unfortunately (for the Brothers Ghermezian), once the governor discovered he had no crew, it was time to abandon ship.

What the Ghermezians should have done was first build a support structure of “influencers” around that governor—the press, the unions, popular opinion, his own party, and so on—before pitching the main man.

Take politicians, for example. A politician will support your proposition only as long as it is politically popular or uncommonly rewarding.

They forgot to ask two additional questions: Who are my real customers? What is it they really want?

GM understood the necessity of creating a climate where the customers became their own salesmen, and GM became a kind of referee deciding who would be awarded the sale.