The Danger of Overwhelm Versus a Clear Path
As we have mentioned before, simplification is a powerful tool for productivity. When you want to do something, this can be very effective, but how about if you would like to help someone achieve a particular result. It could be making a sale, coaching them to achieve a result or simply giving advice. Rather than create a long, complicated process to accomplish something, it is very often much more effective to create a clear, straight path to a goal.
It has been well documented that when we are given too much choice, we do not make any choice at all. We are paralyzed by too many options. The best option is not just to give a few suitable choices, but to give a clear path to where they want to go.
If you are trying to sell something, rather than give them many options, you would ask them questions to determine their needs, then suggest a product or service that matches their needs and lead them to that choice clearly. You have to honestly believe that your choice is the right one and lead them to it with logic and emotion.
We expect the most respected and educated professions to do this and would be worried if they did not. When we go to the doctor, we fill out a detailed questionnaire and then have an in depth conversation with them based on our answers. Then and only then, the doctor gives us a diagnosis and what the treatment will be. We expect this and they deliver.
Can you imagine if we went in to the doctor’s office and were handed a number of thick medical books and told to look through them until we found what we thought we had. How about if you went to your lawyer and he pointed to his law books as asked you to read them until you thought you figured out what you needed from him. Absurd, of course. Like the doctor, we expect lawyers to know their field mush more than we even could and advise us appropriately based on their knowledge and expertise and if they do not, we would leave their office immediately and question their competence.
Yet, most professionals do not lead their clients to the right decision. They place numerous brochures, or pictures, or proposals in front of the client and ask them to pick. If we were speaking of choosing a color or style that is one thing, but many people do it even with the most important decisions. This is equally absurd as the doctor and lawyers examples. The professional should advise the client of the best solution based on their expertise and knowledge and show them how to achieve it.
Professional salespeople are expert at this process. They lead their clients through the process and give them a clear path from where they are to where they want to go. They also show them how to do it.
In the example of sales, if you are selling a vehicle, and have determined the clients needs, you would demonstrate how the vehicle matches these needs, how it meets their budget, how it will be financed and how you will take their other vehicle as a trade in and put them in the new purchase as easily as possible. No thinking about whether it fits their needs, no worries about the cost and how to pay for it and selling their other vehicle.
You have taken them on a clear path, they are not overwhelmed, and they can make an informed decision based on your process.
If you do this with empathy and compassion for the client or anyone else you are working with to accomplish something, you will see a vast improvement in your success rate in sales and marketing.