The Essence of Sales: H2H (Human to Human)

If you are reading this and AI/machines haven’t taken over the world of sales (or the world as a whole!), then it means sales is still only about H2H.

On the surface, you might think it’s B2C, or B2B, enterprise, high ticket, retail, e-commerce, products, services, tactics, closing lines, asking for the sale, etc. That is accurate – on the surface, the sales process, approach, tactics, and conversations are all different. On the surface.

Just like as people, we are different on the surface.

But at the fundamental level, underneath the surfacy details, sales is all the same. It’s H2H – Human to Human. Human #1 (you) trying to help persuade Human #2 (them) to take the right, best, next action towards getting to a better place in THEIR life/business.

Focus on Their Life/Business

So many key parts in that one statement…like a janitor’s key chain. But there is one important key – THEIR life/business. Not yours. Not your goals, quota, needs, wants. Theirs.

Why is the main key to sales and selling effectiveness about THEIR life/business? Because they are human (remember? Human #2)…which means they only care about themselves. We all share that key human trait; in the primal parts of our survival mode-focused brain, we only care about ourselves. Our survival. Our thriving. Our goals. Our longevity. Our offspring. Our security.

If your prospective client only cares about themselves, how do you get them to care about you? Well, you don’t. You need to shift your mindset and get over that goal. I must tell you, it’s tough – because guess what…you are also human (Remember? Human #1). So, you also only care about yourself.

Since you are in a sales role with a goal of serving others by helping them get to a better place, you must put aside your need to be the most important person in the conversation. You must focus on helping them buy the right thing for them.

But if they don’t care about you, how will they ever listen to you? Especially considering most people have negative experiences at some point in their life at the hand of a ‘salesperson,’ so their guard is probably already on high.

Avoiding the Wrong Approach

Most salespeople go about it wrong. They follow some weird, old-school sales playbook that tells them the best approach is to mainly talk about themselves, their company, their product, and why they are an amazing hero there to save the day.

Why is that wrong? Well, Human #2 isn’t going to listen to you with the goal of understanding. They won’t be open to what you have to say until you do one thing.

“People don’t care how much you know” (Theodore Roosevelt)

It’s cliché…but I have come to learn that clichés are there for a reason – they are generally accurate. Your prospects don’t care how much you know. Not at first. They won’t listen to you, and in fact, the more you talk, explain, justify, promote, and sell – the more they will resist and potentially just walk away or hang up. They don’t want another lecture about an amazing salesperson, company, and/or product.

Building Genuine Care

Again, they only care about themselves (Human #2). There is a good chance they do need what you are offering. They would probably like to hear what you have to share and what hope you can bring to their situation. But not at first.

At first, they are skeptical about you and your intentions. They need to know you care about them first. Once they get that from you, and feel a genuine, authentic level of care for them as a human (Human #2), their situation, their goals/needs, and their aspirations – whether in life or business – they will listen to what you (Human #1) have to say.

Creating Effective Sales Conversations

Shift the way that you create and execute your sales conversations. Focus on them first (Human #2), getting to know them, asking them questions, actually listening, and expressing empathy for them as a person. Since each person (Human #2) is different, you will need to gauge each interaction for the inflection point where you can now talk about yourself. If you want help with that, my Authentic Persuasion Pathway sales process model will give you the ideal framework for the H2H sales mode.

The Doctor Analogy

Like an appointment you would have with a new doctor – do you want them to come in, talk about themselves, their degrees, accomplishments, name-drop celebrities/famous/important people that they have helped, talk about their metrics for success, and then ask you a few questions right before jumping in to tell you what procedure to do?

No, that would be terrible (we call that ‘bad bedside manner’). You want the doctor to take an interest in you, to ask you questions, to build some rapport, to take time in understanding you and your issue. You want them to care first. Once you feel like they care about you and you aren’t just a number (a number that will help them with another fancy car payment), then you will listen to their diagnosis. Same goes with your prospect Human.