You Can Get Everything You Want, By Helping Enough Other People Get What They Want

Last week I went to a Networking meeting with a group called Whine and Dine. It is a group focused primarily on individuals in the HR functions of a business. Being a trainer, I am on the fringe of HR so I decided to attend. It was AWESOME! I met a great group of people, made some good contacts, but most of all, I had a great time.


The reason I bring this group up is because a funny thing happened while I was there. The networking leaders were talking and quoted someone who was obviously an HR Guru. Not being a strong follower of HR Guru’s, I didn’t know the person, but I sure knew the quote.

“YOU CAN GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT, IF YOU HELP ENOUGH OTHER PEOPLE GET WHAT THEY WANT!”

I first read this quote in a book by Zig Ziglar over 25 years ago. I used it in hundreds of sales meetings and posted it on many of the sell sheets I have made. It is in the top 5 all time great quotes on the “Lorin” list (OK so I just started the list, but it was right there in the top 5). Over the years I have heard this same quote come from IT people, manufacturing people, distribution people, transportation people, construction people, and in one form or another come from every job category you can think of.

I don’t know if Zig was the originator of this quote, but because he is one of my Hero’s, (and in sales) I will credit him with it and say everyone else copied…I mean borrowed..it from him.

It seems like such a simple concept. Dr. Dennis Waitly calls it the double win, “If I Help You Win, I Win Too”, the old saying “You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours”, and almost every religion has a form of the Golden Rule, “Do Not To Others What You Would Not Like Yourself” (Confucianism version).

They all can’t be wrong!

In sales you truly can get EVERYTHING you want by helping enough customers get what they want. The problem is, most salespeople never take the time to find out what the customer REALLY wants.

Recently, I made a sales call with a rep. The rep told me before we got to the prospect what product he had selected to show the prospect. He had done his homework and had all the items needed to do a demo, he had his samples, sell sheets, MSDS, and he knew where this product fit into the prospects business applications. It sounded great. When we got to the plant the buyer was there waiting for us, so the rep had made a solid appointment as well (all of these are subjects for future blogs). We were off to what appeared to be a great start. It didn’t take long for me to see the rep must have missed something BIG. As the demo proceeded it was apparent our product outperformed the product they were presently using but the buyer just didn’t seem to connect with us. I could see the rep was starting to get frustrated, he had done all the upfront work, did a good demo, and yet the buyer wasn’t engaged. At this point, I was mostly watching and trying to stay on the sidelines so the rep could make the sale, but I knew I was about to be put in the game. It took about one minute for me to find what this buyer really WANTED.

The buyer, as it turns out, had been put under the microscope and needed to justify every dollar he spent. (Does this sound familiar?) He loved the product we were showing. The rep had done a great job selling the product. What the rep had not done is give the buyer what he wanted. What the buyer wanted was a way to look good to his boss. He needed to know how to justify this purchase. I then explained to the buyer that our product saved him time, I explained that we can extend the time between applications saving them down time. Finally I showed him that by using our product (which was a “Green” product) he could also meet the requirements of the Environmental Engineer.

THAT IS WHAT HE WANTED! The product, in this case, almost didn’t matter, it was the selling of the expenditure to his boss that mattered most of all.

The bottom line, find out what really matters to your customers and prospects. Don’t assume, ASK. If you can get to the true WANT, and fill the customers NEED with your product, you will close the sale every time.