Chapter 4 - Selling What's Not Needed
The chapter opens with a fictional dialogue between a salesman and a prospect: the salesman indicate there is a discount on service in "selected cities." When the prospect indicates that they have no operations in those cities, hence the discount is worthless, the salesman suggests that they should buy it now in case they open operations in other cities. Naturally, the prospect is no more impressed.
The Prospect Knows Best
The author remarks that it's a common problem among salesmen to encounter a prospect who doesn't need their product, and then trying to convince them that they do. The attitude that "I know what you need better than you do" does not play well outside of very limited professions in which service providers have a high level of expertise (doctors, attorneys, and the like).
Prospects are generally willing to listen to suggestions and advice for effectively and efficiently addressing the needs they know themselves to have. But they cannot be argued into thinking they need something that they know they do not.
Another bad practice is to ignore the indication that the product is not needed and talk about other things instead. A common mistake salesmen make is making a better offer (such as a lower price) for a product that the prospect doesn't want at all. (EN: My sense is that market research, and a salesman's own experience, only emboldens them. There is the sense that all people who fit a given description need the product. And this is very often wrong.)
Adapt to Meet the Client's Needs
The author provides some basic advice about what to do when a salesman encounters "resistance" from a prospect: ask questions to discover the reason for their resistance and use the information you gather to address that reason.
The author offers a different version of the opening story: when the salesperson hears the client does not have any locations in the area where discounts are being offered, she asks a few questions about their volume and suggests she might talk to her boss to see about offering a similar discount based on volume.
"The absolutely essential thing is to keep the client talking" to enable you to pinpoint areas where you can identify a problem that you are capable of solving or a need you are capable of filling when your initial pitch does not connect.
But ultimately, you must accept that there are some clients who do not need your service, and your best resource is to "accept it and move on" to others who actually do.