The two biggest mistakes I see in the customer acquisition process is that marketers say too much and salespeople explore too little. It follows that there are two key steps to make your sales process more effective.

All too often, marketers get stuck in complexity and salespeople don’t go deep.

To align your marketing and your sales — to bring qualified leads into your pipeline and to convert them into happy customers — follow this mantra: keep it simple in marketing, and go deeper in sales.

+ + +

There are many definitions of marketing and sales.

We can debate them forever, or we can shift the focus to the roles of each one.

The purpose of marketing is to develop qualified leads. The purpose of sales is to convert these leads into customers.

It’s all about love, and marketing is all about attraction.

Attraction is emotional. It’s instantaneous. Something simple grabs us.

Whether it’s the first time we set eyes on someone who makes our hearts go pitter-patter, or whether it’s something someone says early in the interaction that grabs us at the core, we don’t control it.

We may think about it later, but that “take my breath away” moment is exactly that, a moment, and it happens in a heartbeat.

And attraction builds, among other things, curiosity.

Kelly Campbell wrote about it in Psychology Today, Relationship Chemistry: Can Science Explain Instant Connections?

“I still question whether chemistry involves something that cannot be explained by science,” Campbell writes. “Part of me thinks so. Maybe it is caused by a spiritual connection, remembering the future, or destiny, I don’t know. I do know that when I first meet someone and experience that feeling, it puts me into the flow of life. I am rejuvenated and eager to learn more.”

If you can achieve this in your marketing, you’re halfway there!

Keep in mind that attraction alone does not a healthy relationship maketh.

Again, it’s all about love, and sales is all about developing the relationship.

For relationships to grow and endure, both parties must understand and trust each other.

As Stephen Covey wrote in his landmark book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

This is as important in romantic relationships as it is in sales. It’s the salesperson’s responsibility, therefore, to explore the prospective customer’s challenges and opportunities, to go deep.

This will, of course, help the salesperson in developing a proposal that hits the mark. But more importantly, and as I outlined in my previous post, The Key To Building Trust With Your Prospects, this will transform the initial attraction into a deep trusting relationship.

Trust is the biggest component in a sale, and listening is the most underrated trust-builder.

Remember, sales and marketing are processes.

So first, don’t try to convert customers with your marketing. Try to attract them.

Since attraction is an emotion, simplicity is the most effective way to grab prospects’ curiosity.

Then, once the attraction is sparked, it’s time to develop the relationship, to go deep… and build trust.

Ask. Listen. Explore. Go deep.

Keep it simple in marketing. Go deeper in sales.

Seduce. Engage. Win.

+ + +

I believe the above so much that I’m writing a book about it: “A Sale Is A Love Affair – Seduce, Engage & Win Customers’ Hearts Forever.”

It will be available prior to Valentine’s Day 2015. For updates on the book, and to receive my bi-weekly posts with sales tips and best practices, you can subscribe in the box to the right and regularly get some love in your inbox.

+ + +

I help sales teams improve their performance by putting the “love” into the sales process. The tools and techniques vary, but the mindset is simply a heart-set.

Let’s talk about love and sales. Contact me here and let’s set up a call.

+ + +

Photo by Suvodeb Banerjee.