True But Partial

Most of what you read about sales and selling is true but partial. The view includes something true, but is incomplete. Because there is some truth in what is being put forward, it has value. But because it is incomplete, and because it isn’t the only truth, it isn’t some exclusive truth that negates any and all other ideas. It is incomplete.

One strategy for helping your dream clients gain an awareness is to teach them something that helps them see a gap between their present state and a future state that might serve them better. Leading with insight and opening up a dialogue around ideas that force the prospect to confront their current beliefs is a popular way to help your dream client decide to change. That same outcome can be achieved in other ways, including by asking questions, making teaching true but partial.

The social selling advocates will tell you that the only way to prospect in a way that meets the needs of today’s buyers in through the social channels. The social tools provide a great platform for researching, connecting, and potentially nurturing your dream clients. They occasionally even produce the opportunity to create commercial relationships that are taken offline. The social tools are not, however, the only way to create new opportunities. It’s true that the tools can open relationships, but that truth doesn’t negate other methods of prospecting are more effective, despite protestations to the contrary.

Speaking of today’s buyers, it’s true that buyers have more access to information. They also have more choices available to them, and more control over who they buy from. The opportunity to transact is greater now than ever. But this truth is partial. Some buyers seek out and use information to educate themselves, and in some industries more than others. In some cases, they have more choices available to them, but not in every industry. And some will prefer to transact than to develop deep relationships with strategic partners who can further their business goals.

These things are true, but partial. They are not hard and fast rules. Look deeper and make decisions based on what the circumstances demand, and don’t get locked into believing a partial truth is the whole truth.