Sales trainer and author
Andy Bounds on the Mentor Business Podcast
“Nobody wants what you do. They want how they’re better off after it.”
Andy Bounds is a sales trainer and author who teaches owners and sales teams to sell the “afters”: the outcome the customer is left with, and the certainty that you will deliver it. He has debated Peter Boolkah on the Mentor Business Podcast on sales versus marketing, and has been on the show in his own right.
In Andy’s words
“Maybe instead of making them guess, you could have a word about it.”
“You don’t want a lawyer; you want not to go to jail.”
What Andy says
The points owners took away
- What do customers want?
- Afters and certainty: how they are better off afterwards, and the certainty that you in particular will deliver it. Miss either and you lose the sale, or make an unhappy one that argues about price.
- Why do sales and marketing blame each other?
- Because nobody has told the other side exactly what they want. Sit down, say what outcomes you need, and measure both against the same number.
- How should an owner brief marketing?
- Not on deliverables. On the end game: twice the leads, in these three sectors, this is how I measure success, this is what it is worth to me.
- Who do you hire into sales?
- Optimism, proactivity, solution-finding and an obsession with the customer’s afters. Salespeople who only care about hitting their number get qualified out.
