Who Cares What You Want?

A recent blog post from Seth Godin echoes what I've been thinking about lately.  Here is my thought for the day: "People don't care what you want.  They care about what they want, and giving them what they want gets you what you want."  Get it?  Let me explain.

When we go out and greet a guest on the lot we have an agenda.  We know the steps to the sale, they don't.  Its tempting to want to control the customer and lead them where you want them to go.  Maybe this is why we forget their names (admit it).  We're too busy thinking about what we want to say next. 

We may even know what they are going to buy.  But that's the problem, they don't.  They are on the lot because they have a problem.  We gain trust by solving that problem, which requires us to talk about their problem.  Its a process.

Think like a customer.  How would you like to be sold?  Shop for a big ticket item and take note on what the salesperson did right and could do better.  Watch how often in a sales process you say "I" instead of "you".  It may suprise you.