The Sales Puzzle

If someone was doing a jigsaw puzzle and they needed some help, would you know what to do?  
I’m guessing yes. 
Most people understand what a jigsaw is and how to go about completing one. 

Essentially, there are lots of tiny pieces that mean very little when you look at them in isolation and it’s not usually evident what part of the big picture they form, until you start to put a few together.

But they are part of a bigger picture, a tiny part of a whole, but a part nonetheless.

Sometimes jigsaws are a bit tough and it’s often difficult to see where to put some of the pieces.  Most people, given enough time, could work it all out and get the picture finished on their own.

If you were doing the jigsaw and you manage to get a chunk of it complete but then can’t seem to find some of the pieces it becomes totally challenging.
It makes you want to cry with frustration, stop doing the puzzle or maybe give up on jigsaws altogether.

What has this to do with selling?  

Well, lot’s really.

It’s nearly always a lot faster to complete the jigsaw with more than one person.  It’s definitely a lot faster if that other person is a jigsaw whizz.

Consider yourself as the jigsaw whizz, the person who has the missing pieces. 
Your job is to bring those pieces to the puzzler and show them how they would make the picture complete and ask them how that would make them feel.

That’s what selling is.  It’s you bringing the missing pieces to the puzzle and showing the customer exactly where they fit and how the outcome is exactly what the customer wants and needs.
You don’t need to step in and finish it for them, you just need to show them the missing pieces and where they fit.

That’s what customers are wanting to buy from you.  That’s how you help them…you bring them the missing pieces of their puzzle and you show them where they fit.  You show them how to complete the picture.  Who wouldn’t want to buy that?

BUT they need to be a customer, doing a jigsaw that you recognise and know. 

A picture you have some of the pieces for. 
A picture that is missing those very pieces. 
You only need to bring the customer those missing pieces.  You may have other pieces but you only need to give them the ones they need to finish the picture.

Am I labouring the point here? Probably.  But it’s important.

• You need to know what picture they are trying to complete. (good questioning)

• You need to have those pieces (have a solution for them)

• You need only give them those specific pieces. (quickest route to the result)

If you walked past someone trying to finish a jigsaw that had missing pieces and you had those very pieces in your hand…you’d tell them surely?  You’d want to help.

Selling is just that. 
It’s not pushy, it’s not sleazy, it’s not underhand. 
It's just offering help to get someone to where they want to be.