Selling is both “art and science.” The science is the process. And the world’s most successful sales organizations all have a consistent and disciplined sales process that is aligned with how their customers buy. But the science without the art is like the Oreo cookie without the filling. It lacks the critical ingredient that makes it work.

Buyers are human beings. And human beings are individual, imperfect and unpredictable. Which means all of the science – your strategy, process and logical thinking – can be seriously derailed if you fail to prepare for the human factor – the art.

So I’d like to end 2011 by sharing five “human enigmas” that cause even the most talented sales pros to stumble – and provide a little of the art to prevent this happening to you.

No two people share the same perspective I bet you’ve all encountered these buyers… the customer who doesn’t appreciate the true value of your product. The purchasing specialist who believes you can buy business services the same way you purchase paperclips. Or the prospect who thinks she’s saving money by doing everything in-house when you know she’d save a heck of a lot more if she’d outsource to the expert.

And what do you do? Try to educate her of course! Bring this misguided soul over to your way of thinking. Convince her to see the error of her way. Only this doesn’t work. The only way to have another human being share your viewpoint is by positioning it in context of hers. Which means sales pros must be curious. Willingly open your mind to “understand” conflicting perspectives – even when you disagree.

Human beings say one thing – and do the other.Do you see red when a customer talks endlessly about the importance of quality, and then buys from the lowest-cost provider? There is often a huge divide between what customers say they want, and how they make their final buying decision. The result? Sellers are blindsided.

Customers don’t always know what they want. Which means you can’t take everything at face value. Ask deep clarifying questions. Listen to the implications of your customer’s answers. Talk to multiple decision influencers who may hold differing opinions. Notice what isn’t being said, and be prepared to ask tough questions. If your customer struggles to articulate a compelling reason as to why they‘d willingly pay more for your service, then they don’t have one. And guess what? It’s not going to happen.

Human beings, under pressure, seek the easy route. How many times have you been told you’ve lost the bid because “your price is higher than the competition.” It’s the easiest and kindest way for a buyer to say, “You missed the mark.” And it’s probably the most comfortable reason to share with the boss. But it’s rarely the full, or accurate, story. So give your ego a vacation and take time to find out if price is the core issue. And always ask, “What else?” Because there will be more. I speak from experience when I say the “what else” can hurt. But the greatest learning of my sales career came from never accepting the easy route and always pushing for the hard facts.

Human beings crave commonality.I’m British and I live in Canada. And when I meet a fellow Brit for the first time … within minutes “we’ve known each other since birth.” People build stronger faster relationships when they have something in common. So rather than waiting, or hoping, to discover your commonality, get proactive. In your pre-call research use all of the technologies and resources at your finger tips to seek out opportunities to demonstrate it. What do you and this specific buyer have in common? It may be personal – you went to the same university. It may be business – both of you work for companies with aggressive growth targets. It may relate to values – you’re both passionate about the success of others. Then plan how you will integrate this into your first conversation.

The people who most need you are least likely to buy from you. I recently shared this statement with a marketing guru. His response? This should be engraved on a gold plaque and hung in every sales office.
I discovered this human enigma the hard way. I opened my business thinking the fastest route to riches was to fix the broken sales teams in the world. I soon realized that these sales teams were failing for one simple reason. They don’t invest in continuous improvement. So I took a screeching U-turn on my strategy and started talking to successful sales teams. As soon as I stopped talking to the sales leaders who needed me most, and started connecting with visionary sales leaders who invested heavily in their people, my business took off.

So my simple message to all of you … Stop thinking like a sales person and start thinking like a human being. Never underestimate the human factor in the sales process. Proactively prepare for it. Because one thing’s certain. While the sales process is consistent and predictable, human beings are not. And no amount of technological advance will change that.

Good selling!