The pull style works in larger, more complex consultative sales. Insuch sales, if the salesperson doesn’t do an effective job of pulling
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information  from  the  customer,  the  value  won’t  appear  to  offsetthe cost and no business will be transacted. 
One consultant in the high-tech field recommends to consulta-tive software salespeople that they “keep their briefcases shut” untilthey  know  what  information  to  offer  based  on  the  informationthey’ve first pulled from the customer. The consultative method ofselling, the pull style, is necessary in today’s business world, becausea consultative salesperson is only as good as the value she or he cancreate for customers. Unless she or he creates value, the salespersonserves no purpose that couldn’t be fulfilled by less expensive means,such as inside salespeople, customer service personnel, or distribu-tion channels for goods and services. 
“Changing from a push style to a pull style can be a challenge tosome  people.  But  it  is  a  challenge  that  they  will  have  to  win.  Intomorrow’s sales world, the era of the salesperson functioning as a‘talking brochure’ is over,” says Neil Rackham.23
Research  conducted  by  John  DeVincentes  and  Neil  Rackhampredicts a reduction in the number of outside salespeople that com-panies will use in selling their products, because consultants only addto the cost of doing business.24 Today’s clients don’t want to spendmoney unless they see considerable value in doing so. Consultantswho  don’t  know  how  to  create  value  by  thoroughly  exploring  thecustomers’ needs won’t sell much in the future.
ACTION POINTS➔ Be a puller. Pullers create the best value for their clients by askinglots  of  good  questions.  Pullers  have  a  brighter  future  in  sellingthan pushers. 
➔ Pushers are a dying breed. Pushers are walking brochures that com-
municate value instead of creating it. (See Sales Trap 11.)
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SALES  TRUTH  14:  Salespeople  come  in  twotypes,  pushers  and  pullers,  and  you  can’t
sell  anybody  anything  unless  the  buyer  has
a need for it. Pushers are not as effective as
pullers because they don’t seek out the cus-
tomer’s needs as well.
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sales trap 15:Offer Solutions Early
Here’s  the  conventional  wisdom:  Don’t  wait  too  long  before  youoffer a solution to the customer because the customer will lose inter-est unless he or she sees the value your solution will provide. Thisthinking  assumes  that  customers  are  eager  for  these  solutions,  sosalespeople must introduce them early in the sales call or sales cycle.If  this  weren’t  the  case,  why  should  the  prospect  want  to  see  thesalesperson?  The  conventional  wisdom  doesn’t  take  into  accounteither  real-world  experience  or  research.  Some  salespeople  evenoffer potential solutions in the opening stage of a sales call or mid-way  through  the  investigative  stage  in  order  to  demonstrate  thatthey can be of value to the customer. This is bad.
What’s  wrong  with  getting  the  solutions  out  early?  The  sales-person doesn’t have a clear sense of whether the solution he or shewill offer has sufficient benefit or value to the customer to offset theprice the customer will have to pay. The results, as in the followingsituation, are all too common.
Chris  Carter,  a  loan  officer  at  Fidelity  Federal,  amedium-sized southeastern bank, makes a sales call toPrinceton  Printing  Services,  a  potential  client  with  agrowing printing and graphics business. This is ChrisCarter’s initial visit to Princeton Printing Services, buthe knows Pat, the senior manager, from a previous job.The sales call lasts about an hour and a half. Chris asksthe following situation-type questions:
What made you decide to get into the graphics busi-ness? Why did you select this particular location? Doyou have any other partners or investors? What kindof revenues do you expect to be generating five years
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from now? Where do you find your customers? Haveyou  benchmarked  prices  to  your  main  competitors?Who are your main competitors? How long have theybeen in business? Where are they located? Would yoube hiring any of their people? Where would you findpeople to hire here at Princeton Printing? 
Chris  then  introduces  the  value  of  Fidelity  Federal’ssolutions:  “You  know,  Pat,  Fidelity  Federal  has  beenserving the small business entrepreneur for over thirty-five years now. We offer many products, ranging fromcash  management  services  to  on-line  banking  solu-tions.  Most  of  our  customers  want  more  than  just  aloan. They want other services as well. Let me explainwhat we can do for you here at Fidelity Federal.” 
Chris proceeds to describe the various banking servicesand financing terms and leaves Fidelity Federal mate-rials  for  Pat  to  review.  At  the  end  of  the  call,  Patrequests some additional materials, which Chris sendsright away.
In following up, Chris learns that the customer doesn’tsee  the  need  for  the  additional  banking  services  Christalked about. Pat only wants a loan. “I’m not sure why Ididn’t sell that account,” Chris says. “I thought FidelityFederal’s solution was right for him.”
What went wrong? Chris  introduced  his  value  proposition  too  early  in  the  salescycle, before he had probed to see how strongly the client neededthe additional banking services he was selling. Because the sales callfocused on fact and background questions, Chris failed to uncover
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and develop the customer’s needs. He also fell into the sales trap ofbeing a walking brochure, communicating value instead of creatingit. (For information on the problems of communicating value, seeSales Trap 11, “Providing Information About Products and ServicesCreates Customer Value.”) 
Here’s what would have worked better: 
After the pleasantries and after explaining the purposeof the call, Chris asks Pat if he may ask him a few ques-tions. Pat agrees, and Chris begins.
Chris: How  many  other  printing  locations  do  you have, Pat?
Pat: At the moment, we have three, but by the end ofthe year we expect to add two more.
Chris: I see. Are these three other offices within the city?
Pat: No, they are located in rural areas.
Chris: Okay.  Do  you  ever  have  any  problems  with  thedeposits from these offices being posted immediately?
Pat: Occasionally, there is a delay in our deposits beingcredited immediately because of posting errors. But, Iunderstand how things like that happen.
Chris: I  understand.  But,  tell  me,  when  these  depositsaren’t posted quickly, does that ever lead to overdrafts?
Pat: Yes, that has happened, but I just use my credit lineto cover it.
Chris: Your solution seems to be to draw on your creditline. So, let me clarify my understanding, does that everseem to you like you are solving the wrong problem?
Pat: Yes, but what choice do I have? I don’t want checksto my suppliers to be returned.
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Chris: Of course, you don’t. But tell me, how would it behelpful to you if you were able to reduce these postingerrors and not have to draw on your credit line?
Pat: Well, I guess it would not only reduce my interestcosts, but also be less hassle because I wouldn’t have totrack down the delays and the reasons behind them.
Chris: Would  reducing  posting  errors  and  eliminatinginterest charges on your credit line be something thatyou would like to explore a solution for?
Pat: I admit you have aroused my curiosity. How couldyou help me?
Chris: Well, Pat, we have a cash management service forthose clients who have their loan business with us. . .(the conversation continues).
If the value doesn’t outweigh the cost, customers won’t buy.25
ACTION POINTS➔ “Keep your briefcase shut” until you’re sure the customer sees the valuein your solution.26 Wait until you’ve figured out how your solu-tion may be more valuable to the customer than your competi-tor’s, so that you can justify your price and the customer can justifythe cost.
➔ Does the customer see the value in solving the problem? If so, what isit? The fact that the customer can’t initially think of much valuein solving the problem may speak louder than words. It gives youthe message that the customer may not perceive the same valuethat is apparent to you in the solution.
➔ Know when to offer your solution. Two things must happen first: (1)You  should  understand  the  customer’s  needs  thoroughly,  and 
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(2) the customer should recognize the needs as problems he orshe wants to solve.
SALES TRUTH 15: Offering solutions later, whenyou  have  a  better  handle  on  the  customer’s
needs,  will  improve  your  chances  of  making
a sale.
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sales trap 16:Let the Customer Control the Sales Call
In days gone by, you used to be able to open sales calls with lineslike “What are you looking for?” or “What can I do for you today?”Asking the customer to tell you about his or her business is a strat-egy that will get you into a heap of trouble in today’s high-pressure,high-performance sales environment. Customers don’t have time todo your research for you. You can get much of this information fromannual reports or from databases, saving both of you time. Askingsuch  questions  adds  no  value  at  all.  The  idea  that  the  customershould control the sales call is a fallacy. 
WHAT CAN GO WRONGTo illustrate what happens when the customer does the talking in thesales call, consider the following example. 
Steve Hillberg, a loan officer, called on a business ownerwho  wanted  to  expand  his  packaging  business,  whichwas  a  leader  in  its  industry.  This  packaging  companywanted to add more metal containers to its product line,because it was turning away an estimated $25 million inbusiness each year. Steve’s purpose in making the callwas  to  offer  creative  financial  ideas  that  the  companycould use to improve its cash flow position while bring-ing out its new product. Steve also needed to determinewhether additional lending opportunities existed. 
“Tell  me  a  little  bit  about  your  bank,”  the  customerasked. By asking Steve to begin discussing his organi-zation, the customer took control of the conversation.Steve  talked  enthusiastically  about  his  business  fornearly forty-five minutes of the one-hour-and-fifteen-minute call. Steve explained the different divisions of
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his bank, ranging from trust and investments to lend-ing  and  professional  services  and  from  E-banking  tobranch banking. He talked about the new and excitingproducts and services that his bank had launched in themarketplace  over  the  past  year.  Unfortunately,  Stevedidn’t learn much about the customer’s problems andhow he might be able to create value for the customer. 
Steve might have been better suited to the role of Wall Streetspokesperson  for  his  bank.  He  was  knowledgeable  and  he  wasarticulate. Unfortunately, at this point in the sales call, he shouldhave been asking the client questions. At the end of the call, Steveknew  nothing  more  about  the  customer.  The  sales  cycle  hadn’tadvanced at all.
FROM INTRODUCTION TO INVESTIGATIONThe  first  place  the  sales  call  can  get  off  track  is  just  where  Stevemade his mistake. After the introductions are over and the salesper-son is making the transition from the introductory stage to the inves-tigative stage, he or she can miss the chance to uncover and developthe  buyer’s  needs.  At  this  point  in  the  sales  call,  the  salespersonshould ask the buyer’s permission to ask questions. If the salesper-son  doesn’t  do  this,  he  or  she  will  soon  be  in  a  barrel  of  trouble,because  the  customer  will  control  the  call  with  questions  and  thesalesperson  won’t  discover  the  customer’s  real  needs.  Salespeoplecould say something like:
∆ “Do  you  mind  if  I  ask  you  a  few  questions  to  determinewhether I might be of help to you and your organization?”
∆ “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you some questions to seewhether you will benefit from my services. Would that behelpful?”
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∆ “In order to identify if there is any common ground betweenour organizations, I’d like to ask you some questions. Wouldthat be okay?”
WASTED INVESTIGATIVE STAGE. Unless the salesperson initiates the investi-gation,  the  customer,  not  the  consultant,  will  end  up  leading  thesales call. If the customer controls the call, the seller may discovertoo late that he or she hasn’t learned anything about the customer’sbusiness or needs. The buyer will be less likely to schedule a secondmeeting, since he or she hasn’t any particular reason to meet withthat salesperson again. In the words of Frank McKinney Hubbard,“Look out for the fellow who lets you do all the talking.”27
LEADING  THE  FOCUS  ON  CUSTOMER  NEEDS. Research  by  The  DartmouthGroup showed that on average, the consultant who guides and leadsthe conversation during the investigative stage ends up talking lessand the client talking more. Generally speaking, customers shouldbe  talking  more  than  salespeople,  because  the  focus  of  the  callshould be on customer problems.28
Here’s how Steve could have better handled the sales call. Whenthe customer asked Steve about his bank, Steve should have politelyoffered a two- or three-minute sound bite. He then should have saidsomething like:
I could talk for hours about our bank, but in order forme to make certain that I am in a position to create asmuch value for you as possible, do you mind if I ask youa few questions? This way I’ll know a lot better whatto tell you and what not to bore you with.
ACTION POINTS➔ Lead  by  asking  for permission  to  ask  questions. It’s best to ask per-mission  to  ask  questions  early  in  the  sales  call.  However,  therewill  be  additional  chances  to  do  this  throughout  the  sales  visit
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when a consultant might want to gain control or focus of the con-versation. 
➔ Keep  the  generic  information  dump  brief. Plan  ahead  of  time  what
you’ll say, if asked. Keep it short.
➔ Focus on information that will link the client’s needs to your solutions.Ask yourself, “Do I know enough about this customer’s needs toknow  what  information  to  give  or  not  give?”  Don’t  offer  moreinformation until you do. Keep asking questions until you knowwhich needs the customer has identified as problems to be solved. 
SALES TRUTH 16: The salesperson should con-trol the sales call.
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sales trap 17:The Purpose of Questions Is to PersuadeSomeone to Do Something 
Salespeople mistakenly think the value in selling comes from per-suading customers to buy their product or service. They think thatthe purpose of questions is to convince someone to do something.These statements are partial truths that lead to Sales Trap 17, whichhas serious consequences. 
In spite of the fact that I’ve emphasized the power of questionsthroughout this book, it’s dangerous for salespeople to believe thatthe objective of these questions is to get customers to buy. Don’t getme wrong. Without a doubt that’s one purpose, but it shouldn’t bethe main purpose. There has been extensive research to support thefact that good questions are excellent persuaders.  This is one pointthat even today’s sales researchers are in agreement on. And the per-suasive power of questions is hardly new. It goes back to Socrates.This persuasive power is an axiom. It is truth. It is even fact.29 Butit doesn’t paint the whole picture, and salespeople who focus on thepersuasive element of questions miss the point that the purpose ofquestions should be to create customer value.
SELLING ISN’T MANIPULATIONWhat’s  wrong  with  the  idea  that  questions  are  intended  to  per-suade?  It’s  manipulative.  And  manipulation  has  no  place  in  sales,not only because it’s unethical, but also because it doesn’t work verywell compared to other techniques. No one questions the fact thatgood questions can persuade. However, persuasion is not the mostefficient or helpful reason to do business, for either the seller or thecustomer. 
Questions will be perceived as less manipulative if the purpose
of the questions is twofold: 
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1. Understanding. One reason to ask questions is to determinewhether customers have issues that the seller might be ableto help them with. Here, it’s important to remember thatit’s not important that you think the customer has issues youcan  address;  what’s  more  important  is  what  the  customerthinks about these issues.30
2. Thinking differently. A second reason to ask questions is tohelp someone think differently. Of course, it’s possible theother person won’t think differently after you’ve asked thequestions. But that’s okay, because the primary purpose ofasking  questions  should  not  be  persuasion.  Persuasion  ismerely  a  result  of  helping  someone  to  think  differentlyabout  something.  When  people  set  out  to  be  persuasive,they often become combative. Therefore, view persuasionas a reward, not an objective or purpose. 
GETTING PEOPLE TO THINK DIFFERENTLYDr.  Tom  Ingram,  chairperson  of  the  Marketing  Department  atColorado State University, contends that if a salesperson asks ques-tions about the consequences of a customer’s business problems, thesalesperson  is  more  likely  to  get  the  customer  to  think  differentlyabout  how  serious  these  problems  may  be.31 When  questions  areasked in order to manipulate, to get someone to do something that heor she may or may not want to do, the strength, honesty, and objec-tivity of the long-term relationship with the customer is in danger.
Wilson Learning Systems found in its research that in most cases,what passes for consultative selling is simply the needs-based sellingapproach.    Prompting  the  customer  to  tell  you  what  he  or  shealready knows is not true consulting. Nor is consulting simply ask-ing questions to determine a customer’s needs, listening well to theanswers, and recommending the products that best match the cus-tomer’s stated needs.32
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Dr.  Richard  Ruff  of  Sales  Momentum  in  Scottsdale,  Arizona,
states: 
The  real  power  of  really  good  questions  lies  in  theirability to cause customers to think about their situationfrom multiple perspectives. But, of course, asking reallygood questions is not that simple nor that easy.
EXAMPLE Harry Harter is a consultant with Ivy Leaguers, a firm specializingin public relations work for athletes. He is calling on Joe Westfall,an agent who represents six of today’s tennis stars. Joe recognizesthat  his  athletes  don’t  always  project  the  public  persona  that  heenvisions.  But  he  doesn’t  think  this  is  a  big  enough  problem  towarrant  paying  the  premium  prices  that  retaining  Harry  and  IvyLeaguers would cost until Harry begins asking questions to try tounderstand why  Joe  didn’t  think  his  problem  was  big  enough  tosolve.  The  conversation  really  progresses  when  Harry  continuesasking  more  questions  to  try  to  help  Joe  think  differently aboutpotential problems that a poor image could cause for the athletesand for Joe himself.
Harry: So,  Joe,  you  are  troubled  by  the  image  of  your  tennisstars  on  and  off  the  court,  but  you  don’t  feel  it’s  damagingenough to invest in our services right now. In other words, youjust don’t see the value in a solution at this point, is that right?(Harry is attempting to make certain he understands Joe’s position.)
Joe: Couldn’t have said it better, Harry. I just don’t think ourplayers’ image problem is a big enough issue to justify spend-ing the kind of money you are asking.
Harry: OK, but what could potentially happen to endorsementrevenues as well as your own fees from these revenues if oneor two of these players loses his endorsements because of poor
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media  coverage?  (Harry  is  still  trying  to  understand  why  thispotential problem doesn’t bother Joe more.)
Joe: If it hasn’t happened by now, it probably won’t happen.
Harry:  You don’t think it could ever happen?
Joe: Well, if they were going to get into trouble, they wouldhave gotten into trouble by now. It’s just that simple.
Harry: That’s  what  Nixon  probably  thought,  too,  beforeWatergate,  but  he  got  caught.  Are  you  willing  to  take  thechance  that  it  won’t  ever  happen  to  your  athletes?  Can  youspare the revenue you would lose? There is no way to predictthe future. Isn’t the real question here this: Is it better to besafer now than to be sorry later? (Harry is helping Joe to viewhis current opinion from a slightly different perspective so that hemight think a little differently about it.)
Joe: Perhaps,  but  I  don’t  know.  Are  there  any  other  optionsbesides the one we talked about that wouldn’t be as expensivebut could reduce my future risk?
Harry: Maybe, but I am going to have to ask you a few morequestions first, if you don’t mind? (Harry returns to wanting toprobe for understanding.)
Joe: What do you want to know?
Harry: Well, to begin with, let’s examine the status of each con-tract endorsement by player and try to figure what the finan-cial downside would be if only two of your players lost theirsmallest endorsements. . . . How much money would we betalking about, Joe?
And Harry continues to try to understand Joe’s thought process.As you might expect, Joe began to view the loss of endorsement con-tracts as a higher risk than he had initially thought. Note that Harry
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did not even consider telling Joe that he could very well have a prob-lem at some point in time. Harry recognized that the value of hisservices resided in Joe’s eyes and not his own. 
Persuasion is the end, not the means.
ACTION POINTS➔ Questions  are  to  understand. Use  questions  as  tools  to  help  youunderstand what, why, and how customers think the way they do. 
➔ Questions are to change someone’s perspective. Questions are a way ofhelping someone view a situation differently. But remember, theperson may not think any differently immediately after you ask thequestions. 
➔ Questions cause people to think afterwards. Questions tend to causepeople to think about the answers long after the conversation isover. 
SALES TRUTH 17: The purpose of questions is tochange  someone’s  perspective  and  to  create
value for customers.
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sales trap 18:A Skilled Salesperson Doesn’t Need to Plan Sales Calls
A lot of people believe that when you get good at sales, you don’thave to spend time planning a sales call. You can do it naturally inyour head. Or go with your gut. 
Is this true or false? False. It’s a mistake to think that you don’t have to plan your salescalls. Professional experience and field research proves this point, asI’ll show you here. 
First, consider the following scenario:
Mike  Bailey,  the  salesperson  from  Altix,  a  high-techsoftware company, calls for the first time on SorensenGlobal Engineering, a prospective client. The sales repopens his briefcase and demonstrates the cutting-edge,sexy software. The prospect asks how much and gaspsat the price. The sale is dead in the water. 
Is this an everyday example? You bet. Poor planning often resultsin poor execution. If they don’t plan the sales call, consultants are lesslikely to learn how they can create value for clients. Mike O’Connor,vice  president  of  corporate  accounts  for  Computer  Credit,  Inc.(CCI), put the problem this way: “If you don’t know where you’reheaded, any road will take you there. Sales call planning is your roadmap on how to arrive at value for you and your client.” But it is themanager’s  job  to  inspect  the  planning  process  through  her  or  hisinspection, giving feedback and reinforcement.
ASKING TOO MANY SITUATION QUESTIONSOne result of not planning the sales call is that the salesperson seekstoo much background or company information that he or she could
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have  acquired  from  a  Dun  &  Bradstreet  listing  or  annual  report.This can bore the customer, who already knows this information.The  salesperson  needs  to  seek  more  information  about  the  cus-tomer’s issues and needs. Informational questions don’t do as muchto uncover customers’ needs as do other kinds of questions. 
Here’s an example: 
Steve, a loan officer, called on Phil Campbell, owner ofImago  Graphics,  a  holographic  imaging  technologybusiness. Since Steve had not spent time preplanningthe call, he spent more than an hour and fifteen min-utes  of  his  one-hour-and-thirty-five-minute  sales  callasking the following information-based questions:
∆ How many employees do you have?
∆ Who does your design work?
∆ When do you want to be running?
∆ Have you executed leases on those new machines?
∆ As  far  as  ownership  of  Imago  Partners  goes,  who’s
involved?
∆ Is he involved day-to-day?
∆ How do you fit in?
∆ What  kind  of  credit  terms  will  you  offer  your  cus-
tomers?
∆ Who is your accountant?
∆ Could your equipment needs change?
As you can see, these are mostly factual questions. Because Stevedidn’t ask any issue-based questions, he was unable to uncover Phil’s
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problems or needs. Nothing was covered that would prevent Philfrom shopping around. Valuable time was wasted, and it will take acouple more calls to determine Phil’s exact needs and expectationsfor a financing package—what Steve asked did nothing to uncoverthat information.
DOING YOUR HOMEWORKIf  you  want  to  learn  what’s  on  your  clients’  minds,  it’s  importantthese  days  to  do  your  homework.  “Tell  me  about  your  business,”which used to be an acceptable sales opener, now just shows igno-rance. “Customers don’t want to educate you about their business.Why should they? Good customers have more than enough infor-mation about you. They expect you to know as much or more aboutthem,” say Kevin Hoffberg and Kevin J. Corcoran.33
Here’s an example of a preplanned and more effective approach: 
Dave was calling on a customer in the live sound busi-ness who had purchased 25 acres and built a 14,000-square-foot  building  financed  through  a  competingbank. Dave had identified that the purpose of the callwas  to  determine  whether  there  were  any  needs  orexpectations that this customer felt were not being metby his current bank. By thinking through the questionshe wanted to ask and spending a few minutes thought-fully writing them out, he developed some really smartquestions he could ask regarding issues, concerns, andneed  development  during  his  one-hour-and-twenty-minute sales call:
∆ Can you tell me about the issues you face using your
current system? 
∆ Do you think the issue with collateral will eventually
affect your cash flow? 
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∆ At  the  time,  your  biggest  concerns  were  getting  aSmall Business Administration loan and the personalguarantee—which was the bigger concern for you? 
∆ Did  it  bother  you  to  give  a  personal  guarantee  to
your bank? 
∆ Did the personal guarantee affect your financial con-
dition at all? 
∆ What  other  challenges  do  you  have  currently?
(Problem question)
∆ Any other challenges—is your equipment up to the
level you need?
∆ How comfortable are you with leasing? 
∆ Can accounting or data entry be a challenge for you? 
∆ Are there other things, say in the next one to threeyears,  that  you  envision  for  which  you  may  needadditional financing?
∆ And the implications of your having truck problems
are . . .? 
∆ Is that something you’d like us to consider?
∆ Did  the  lender  provide  you  with  the  flexibility  youneeded? Is there a way you can see that we can helpyou do that differently?
∆ Do  you  see  any  benefits  from  us  being  local  in  the
cash management side?
If you are serious about learning what’s important, it’s better towrite down key questions you might want to ask so that you don’t
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forget them during the sales call. Planning the sales call is essential.“Good sellers have plans for territories, accounts, and career paths,”says John F. Monoky, president of Monoky & Associates. “For com-plex,  multilevel,  long-sales-cycle  accounts,  they  have  action  planst