Sales Training Update: ANSWERING THE QUESTION: “SO, WHAT DO YOU DO?”
1/13/10 Sales Training Update: ANSWERING THE QUESTION: “SO, WHAT DO YOU DO?”
Sales & business professionals spend a lot of time talking with other people. Sometimes these are customers & clients, sometimes they’re prospects, and sometimes they’re current or potential referral sources. The most common topic of discussion in these conversations is what each person does in their business.
The most frequent error I see made in these discussions is to answer this question – “So, what do you do?” – too literally. Too many people view this as a throw away question, and they miss the opportunijty to differentiate themselves with their answer. Let’s look at some examples of some typical answers to that question:
“I’m a financial advisor.” The other person is thinking … ‘Who cares?’
“I own a printing company.” The other person is thinking … ‘So what?’
“I’m an account rep for an industrial lubrication firm.” The other person is thinking … ‘Better you than me …’
“I’m an estate attorney.” The other person is thinking … ‘Time for another drink.’
Etc, etc, etc.
One thing you’ll notice about these responses is that they all start with the word ‘I’, and they are all focused on the person who is answering the question: YOU – as opposed to the person who asked it: THEM. Also, they are boring, mundane and relatively meaningless.
Let me give you a simple tip to answer this question in a much more interesting and meaningful way. Instead of making yourself the focus of your answer, turn it around and make your customers & clients the focus – specifically, make what you do to HELP THEM the focus of your answer. Again, let’s look at some examples of some better answers to the question – “So, what do you do?”
The Financial Advisor: “You know how people who are within 5 or 10 years of retirement are usually concerned about making the right moves with the money they’ve saved during their working years?” Pause here for a response. “Well,I help them make the right decisions to set them up for their retirement years.”
The Printing Company Owner: “You know how companies are always trying to make sure they put their best image in front of their customers and prospects?” Pause here for a response. “Well, I own a company that helps them do that.”
The Industrial Lubrication rep: “You know how manufacturing companies are always trying to make sure their plant is running efficiently, and that they don’t suffer any downtime?” Pause here for a response. “Well, I represent several services and solutions that allow them to do that.”
The Estate Attorney: “You know how people like to ensure that their estate is going to be handled properly, and that their assets passed to their heirs the way they want – rather than having the state government make all of those decisions?” Pause here for a response. “Well, I help them to do that.”
You get the picture. These answers engage the other person with a leadoff question. In other words, they create a conversation. And they allow you to paint a picture in that person’s mind of what you do to help your customers.
Put some answers to this question in writing. Play around with them and practice saying them. Have several of them that you can switch up depending on who you’re talking with. This will also to make it more interesting for yourself when you’re in these sales and networking situations. Believe me, the vast majority of sales and business professionals do a woefully poor job of answering this question. And that’s a shame, because every time you are asked what you do, you have an opportunity to either differentiate yourself and your business, or not. You WILL stand out from the crowd with this approach!
Peter Bruening is a professional sales coach, trainer, speaker and author. He helps his clients increase their passion for sales, and in the process, their sales performance and revenue. Please visit his web site at: http://www.sellingpointsgroup.com
