Speak The Languages Of Value
Homo sapiens are blessed with the ability to not only vocalize, but also to have the intellect to create languages and thrive with their use. Over the millennia, humans have created thousands of languages and dialects by which the indigenous regional inhabitants have been well served.
Which brings us to an issue that, until fairly recently, was primarily a regional complication, but has become a global challenge. It's the thing that happens when two people or groups who don't speak the same language get together. We call it the language barrier.
You Say Tom-a-to, I Say Tom-ah-to
A language barrier is understandable and tolerated when, for example, the U.S. Secretary of State travels to Palestine in an attempt to avert a full-on war. Translators are standing by. And when ordinary citizens of different countries get together, vocal variations, while inefficient to be sure, can actually become a component of inter-cultural bonding, as each language holder attempts to meet the other somewhere in the middle by forming a kind of auditory amalgam of the two languages.
If you're an envoy or a visitor, a language barrier is part of the scene. In the marketplace, however, language barriers are a deal killer, and the straightest line to failure. But the marketplace language barriers I'm talking about are not the ones you might think. I'm talking about the ones between people who actually speak the same language.
Let's Play A Game
Let's say you and I are in the United States; I'm an American vendor, you're my American prospect, and we both speak English. What would happen if, when I walk into your office, I say something like, "Kef Halak, ya sadiki"?
"Huh?" you would likely grunt, as you wondered if I've just beamed down from Xerxes 9, taken to speaking in tongues, have been assimilated by the Borg, or absorbed by the Pod People.
Then as if closing the sale, I follow up with, "Habibi habil hup hup."
Now totally confused, and just a little frightened, you ask, "Are you alright?" And then, to yourself, you would say, "Why would he speak to me in a language that he should know I don't understand?"
As the chain gang detail Captain (Strother Martin) said to convict Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) in the 1967 movie, Cool Hand Luke, "What we have he-ya is a fail-ya to communicate." Indeed.
In our game I was actually speaking in Arabic - sort of (also, please don't rely on my spelling). My first statement is supposed to mean, in English, "Good day, my friend." And my second comment means, "My dear loves watermelon."
Pretty silly, huh? And for me to actually speak to you in a language you don't understand would be pretty dumb, too, wouldn't it? Well, before you write off this little role-play as ridiculous, what would you say if I told you that you and your sales staff might be doing this very thing all the time?
Spaniards, Russians, and Greeks
One of my Brain Trust members, Skip Miller, has written a book called, ProActive Selling: Control the Sales Process and Win the Deal. Recently on my show, Skip gave us a peek at his new book, which focuses heavily on how and why we should be creating value for our customers and prospects rather than talking about benefits, and absolutely not features.
Skip says we should imagine that our customers and prospects are divided into three groups, and - here's the new stuff - each one speaks a different language, and no other. In this world according to Skip, the first level of decision-makers - the managers - speak Spanish, the second level - the VPs - speak Russian, and for the Big Guys at the third level, Greek is the language-of-choice.
All seek solutions that can at least partially be found in the value created by the partnerships they make with vendors (that's you and me). But the way each group thinks about value at their level causes them to speak what is nothing short of a different language. Skip says that the concept of value at each of these three levels is so different from the other that, to a vendor who does not understand this concept, a true language barrier will likely exist.
Ask - Don't Tell!
Our job as vendor partners is to make sure our value proposition is being delivered in the language of the person or group in front of us. How do you do this? Ask - don't tell!
If you extol the virtues of your features, you risk committing the unpardonable salesmanship sin of speaking Spanish to a Russian, or Russian to a Greek. Even beaming about the benefits of your products or services to a person who can't connection your benefits to their concept of value is time-wasting blabber. You might as well be speaking in tongues.
When you commit this sin, Skip tells us, you will likely be told, in a manner of speaking, that your host no longer speaks that language, and you will be asked to talk with someone who does. Unfortunately, the person you're being sent "down" to speak with is probably not where the action is. You had an audience with a Russian or a Greek and you blew it.
But when you ask the person you're hoping to do business with about their own quest for value, you will find out whether they are Spaniards, Russians, or Greeks. Armed with that information, you can convert your value message into the language they not only understand, but frankly, is one that actually represents their professional progress, of which they are quite proud. And remember: One of the most compelling forces in the concept of value is pride.
Last question: How many value languages do you and your sales staff speak?
Write this on a rock... Before value can be delivered - or realized - it must begin as a concept acceptable to your prospects and customers. A concept will only be acceptable if it can be understood. Ask what is valuable to your customers, find out what language they want to speak, and you will avoid the sin of creating a language barrier. Success will follow.
