(Mis)diagnosis in Selling

I often compare the sales process to that of a diagnosis with a doctor. Now I have to correct my statement from "diagnosis with a doctor" to "diagnosis with a good doctor."

In his new book, entitled "How Doctors Think" by Dr. Jerome Groopman. According to Dr. Groopman’s research, some 15-20% of all medical diagnoses are incorrect, and some 10% leads to serious injuries or death.

Also, some 25% of radiological (CAT or MRI) tests are misinterpreted when the results are applied to defining the course of remedy.

So, what causes all these misdiagnoses?

According to Dr. Groopman, the average doctor interrupt patients after only 18 seconds of presenting the symptom. So, the average doctor, instead of listening to patients’ explanations of the symptoms they’re are experiencing, interrupts patients, and starts prescribing the solution based on his own "speculation".

And what is the result?

Every year, some 98,000 patients die in the US alone due to medical errors. And many of these errors are caused by erroneous diagnosis when doctors develop the course of remedy without fully discovering and exploring their patients’ symptoms.

Sadly, the same is happening in the world of selling technology solutions.

Salespeople, especially the ones on full commission, are eager to sell something on a “whatever it takes” basis because otherwise they have no money for the mortgage payment. So, instead of taking time to fully understand their prospects’ symptoms, they often start manipulating the diagnosis process and start recommending the kind of solution that is favourable to what they sell.

"Hm, so you want to reduce your sky-high manufacturing costs. I think you need our robust, leading-edge, world-class, proprietary CRM system. Let me arrange a demonstration for you."

And we all know what that leads to. After politicians, salespeople are the second least trusted and respected “professionals”. And this is just one thing.

Buyers who buy from traditional salespeople who still practice the “peddler” approach, often end up with buyer’s remorse. Many of these solutions don’t work out because they were based on partial, often incorrect, diagnosis.

And these incorrect diagnoses are caused by the fact that most technology companies expect their salespeople to turn every hunk of warm meat with a pulse beat into paying clients. Everyone must be manipulated into buying something regardless of her symptoms.

How do you deal with this problem? How do you avoid misdiagnosis?

One solution is that the marketing folks should better qualify prospects, and face-to-face meetings should take place only with prospects who have a pretty clear indication of the symptoms your solution eliminates.

Technology companies must understand that their solutions are limited to certain symptoms, and they are not solutions for everything ranging from the bubonic plague to the dreaded green lurgy.

Knowing that not every prospect is a potential client, we have to eliminate the “close the deal whatever it takes” mentality in salespeople. A good way of doing this by eliminating the commission structure. Pay all your business development people a flat base salary and put a certain percentage aside for bonuses.

But if you want all your people to work as a team, you have to pay them as a team not as a bunch of individuals who happen to be working under the same roof.

This approach removes your salespeople’s money worries, and they can focus on correctly diagnosing the prospects and proceed only with the ones that have the right symptoms.