Sales Diagnostic Acuity

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you... For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10)

Diagnosis - the process of identifying a pain or condition by its signs, symptoms, (finding out facts, information, and needs) and from the results of various diagnostic procedures.
Sensory acuity - the ability to gain awareness of another person's unconscious responses (to perceive another person's unconscious feedback- reading not just “what” they say, but “how” it is said.)

Imagine for a minute you woke up this morning feeling really ill. Imagine that you took yourself off to see your regular GP. Now, just imagine that your normal doctor was away and a locum was in his place. After waiting in the reception for over 20 minutes you finally get an audience with the doctor on duty. You don’t know who he is and he doesn’t know you. As you go into the doctor’s rooms, envisage suddenly becoming really ill. What if the doctor just gave you a quick once over and then writes you out a prescription? Without asking you anything he makes a diagnosis and prescribes a solution and hands you a bill. How do you feel? How do you feel about the doctor? Would you see him as a professional or simply a “hack”?

Most people dislike this scenario. They want the doctor to ask them questions and complete a physical examination; they want to feel “diagnosed”. In fact, there is even an axiom to describe this unprofessional behaviour, “Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice!”

All professionals complete some form of diagnosis before helping their clients. If you want to be a professional, then so must you. In sales, this critical skill is called “Diagnostic Acuity”. How do you say no to someone who has just offered to give you exactly what you wanted and needed? You don't, and that's exactly the point! When you truly know exactly what your potential customer is looking for, why they want it and how much they would be willing to pay for it, selling is easy.

How do you find out exactly what the customer wants and why they want it? You ask! The best sales people are the ones that have both the desire and the skill to determine what the potential customer wants and needs and why they want and need it. They have the skills to match those wants and needs to a set of potential solutions.

It would be virtually impossible to take a modern day sales course or read a book on selling and not be told emphatically “You have to first ask questions to identify the customer’s needs!”. Whilst by now most sales people know this, knowing and doing it effectively are two very different things.

Diagnosis is mission critical

Why is the ability to ask skilful questions so mission critical? Anthony Robbins says about questions that they are “the tools that open up the brain’s knowledge, experience and memory banks.”

Questions are the tools we as professional Sales Consultants use as a means to extract important information from the customer’s perspective, and to learn more about what they perceive and think. When we don't ask questions effectively, not only do we assume we know all there is to know about the customer and their needs, we may never really uncover their true motive for meeting with us. In some cases, the customer has already done their “homework” and has already determined their buying criterion. For many of them, their purpose in meeting with you is to check with a range of suppliers to find which ones best meet their needs for the lowest cost. In many cases, they may even be comparing your organisation against an already approved supplier who has had the account for months.

Then there are those occasions where customers have a need that, at the point of your visit, they may not even be aware of. It then becomes your task to help them discover for themselves the latent need for your product/service.

Asking effective questions and diagnosing a potential customer’s key motivators and areas of pain can be difficult:

Not all sales reps are comfortable asking the “tough and sensitive” questions about problems or concerns. They will either simply avoid asking them or if they do ask, they ask in such a way as to cause the customer to close ranks and shut up completely.
In many cases, customers are highly sensitive about the disclosure of information to a “salesman” and are not at all comfortable about opening up and revealing their issues and areas of pain. Some prospects don’t want to admit to anyone that they have a “pressing problem” and will dance around the issue or in the worst cases avoid it completely.
Effective diagnosis and asking tough and direct questions is a highly skilful act in which most sales people are not effectively trained. How many sales people will struggle to identify the critical decision making criterion of budget?
Very few sales people follow a tried and tested diagnostic path. They have no true process of uncovering needs and requirements and take a scattergun approach, ending up with insufficient data to generate an accurate proposal.
Un-trained and ineffective sales people will jump at the first “need” that comes from the potential customer’s mouth. They will jump on it and base their whole sales case on it. In most cases, only after you have “peeled the onion” layer by excruciating layer does the true need arise. If you jump to a solution conclusion both you and the customer will miss out on the benefits of buying from you.
Ineffective sales people interrogate. When you ask a thoughtful question you are using a powerful tool to learn more and foster understanding with the potential customer. No one likes to be interrogated!

As with any other selling technique, the best sales people are aware of their own intention for asking the question, e.g. learning more versus asking with a view to sell. They are always aware of the way they ask the question making sure to “couch” it in such a way as to remove any hint of judgment, or coercion. They watch their own tone of voice, body language, and word choice.

Acuity is…

The term ‘acuity’ refers to the actual physical ability of the sensory organs to receive input. A person’s visual acuity refers to the person’s ability to see. In persuasion, visual acuity is more than simply seeing what is in front of you; it is taking in all aspects of the customer: noticing their eye movements, their skin tone changes, their breathing, as well as their body language.

The body gives clues to the way your customer is thinking. Visual acuity is being totally focused on the complete picture in front of you.  In selling, auditory acuity is the salesperson’s ability to really listen and hear what is being said with accuracy. Listening correctly means avoiding making assumptions and guessing as to the customers meaning. Listening actively means clarifying, summarising, empathising, restating and paraphrasing in an effort to hear accurately.

When it comes to identifying needs and opportunities, as a professional salesperson it is critically important to understand the distinction between ‘acuity’ and ‘perception’.

Acuity is the process of receiving all the input with accuracy. Acuity is only the gathering process of the content and physical information. It is not the interpretation part of the process.
Perception refers to the salesperson’s ability to understand, or make meaning out of the sensory input received through their eyes and ears. Perception is the salesperson’s interpretation of the content gathered. Perception should always follow acuity.

Diagnostic Acuity Capability

Diagnostic Acuity Capability is at the very heart of any successful sales process. When you question correctly, you search below the surface in an effort to discover and reveal the truth of what is really going on in the minds and hearts of your potential customers. Asking the right questions and then being in a position to prescribe exactly the right set of solutions to solve those issues is what professional selling is all about.

The purpose of diagnosis is to discover:

The problems the customer wishes to solve
The objectives/goals the customer wishes to achieve
Company issues that will be impacted by the decision
Personal issues that will be impacted by the decision
Financial issues – What funding is available to solve these issues?
What or who else is being considered?
Time frames
Buying influences – who makes and who impacts on the decision?
Decision Criteria – How are decisions made?
Next Steps