Everybody has problems.
You do. Your boss does.
The post man. The pizza delivery guy. The sports super-star.
They all have problems.
And that’s actually a pretty good thing too.
See, the most primitive part of your brain needs to solve problems to stay alive. Unused problem-solving parts of the brain eventually just stop firing and the connections in the brain just die.
Those parts of the brain will never grow back.
They’re dead.
Gone. Done. Over.
You’re slowly killing your clients when you try to solve all their problems for them.
Sure it flies in the face of conventional sales tactics. And, sure, it seems somewhat impossible to exhaust the power of the brain’s problem solving potential.
But it’s the truth.
And maybe it’s the reason you don’t seem to be getting the commitments that you think your sassy product deserves.
Your clients are bored stiff.
Which doesn’t seem right, right?
After all your customer called you with a specific problem and all you’re talking about is the answer.
You’re not there talking about daisies and the last four episodes of the lastest hit TV show.
You’re solving problems.
But that’s another problem.
See another thing about the brain is how little attention it pays to problems it has finished solving.
Studies show that the brain gets bored half a second after it solves the problem it’s been working on.
That fast.
In less time than you can say: “Problem solved” your potential customer’s brain has already moved on to something else, effectively ignoring anything else that you say.
They shut down.
The drama of not knowing what to do is over.
And even though they are still sitting there in front of you looking at you and nodding and smiling and pretending to care, they are a million miles away in the land of “I Couldn’t Care Any Less”.
And they might be really good people.
It’s doesn’t matter.
It’s their brain that’s playing tricks with them.
Providing answers actually hurts.
And while you might be wondering how you are going to close any business without solving any problems, there actually is a way to make buyers feel comfortable that you have the answer without throwing it all in their face.
The secret is something altogether simple.
You provide clues instead of answers.
Since the brain needs tension to survive, that’s what you give it.
- You talked about possibilities.
- You ask questions that probe.
- You inspire instead of badger.
- You provide multiple purchasing options.
- You make the transaction easy to understand.
- You leave room for things to go horribly wrong.
And that tension turns into attention.
Which is what you wanted in the first place.
And instead of killing your customers, you’re give them new life.
Heck, who likes being boring anyway.
