Change These Statements to Questions to Boost Your Sales

For the most part, we humans suck at change. We like our routines—they make our lives easier and give us comfort and security.

By contrast, change is scary—we have to venture into the unknown. There are no guarantees, which means we might waste our time, money, and effort. Plus, we open ourselves to frustration, regret, criticism, and even ridicule.

And yet, times like these demand we investigate new approaches, new messages, new markets, new products and services, and new strategies and tactics.

Which is easier said than done, because so many of us resist change with every fiber of our being. It’s what stymies and prevents change in so many organizations.

So if you’re a leader and you want to sell your people on a possible change, you need to help them change their thinking first and foremost. And that’s going to mean countering the common excuses people frequently throw up as roadblocks to trying something new or different.

These excuses are meant to shut down discussion—and they often do. But you can overcome them by challenging your people (or yourself) to consider a question in place of each of these statements. (And if you’re a salesperson or a professional, substitute “I” for “we” in each pair.)

Change
“We can’t do that.”
to
“How could we do that?”

Change
“We’ve never done that.”
to
“What if we did that?”

Change
“It’s what everybody else is doing.”
to
“What could we do differently?”

Change
“We don’t do that.”
to
“Why couldn’t we do that?”

Change
“That’s the way we’ve always done it.”
to
“What are we missing by not changing?”

Change
“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
to
“How could it be even better?”

Change
“We tried that before and it didn’t work.”
to
“What did we learn and how can we apply it to a fresh attempt?”

Change
“We don’t have the budget for that.”
to
“How could we fund that?”

If you want to boost your sales in this economy, you’re going to have to do some things differently. Success is going to require new marketing campaigns, new products, new training, and more.

Sure, it’s scary. Sure, there’s risk. Sure, some things may not work out. But in times of radical change, not trying anything different is the riskiest path of all.