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Imagine calling a movie theater with two simple questions: Is there a comedy showing, and do you have reclining seats? Instead of a straightforward answer, the salesperson launches into a monologue about genre statistics, concession stand options, sound isolation technology, and floor polishing schedules. You'd hang up frustrated, wouldn't you?
Yet this is exactly how many of us approach sales.
The Expert Trap
As sales and presales professionals, we pride ourselves on being walking encyclopedias of product knowledge. We know every feature, every capability, every use case. We've invested countless hours becoming technical experts, and we're eager to demonstrate that expertise to prospects.
The problem? Nobody cares about your encyclopedic knowledge.
What Customers Actually Want
Customers don't need an expert who can recite every specification. They need someone who will listen to their specific needs and provide clear, direct answers to their questions. When a prospect asks about two or three specific capabilities, they're telling you exactly what matters to them. That's your roadmap for the conversation.
Consider the movie theater scenario. The customer had two simple requirements: a comedy and reclining seats. Any answer beyond confirming these two points is noise. Worse, it signals that you're not actually listening. You're just waiting for your turn to talk.
The Cost of Over-Selling
When we bombard customers with unrequested information, several things happen, none of them good. First, we create frustration by making simple questions complicated. Second, we introduce concerns the customer never had, like whether sound bleeds between theaters. Third, and most critically, we send a clear message that we value showcasing our knowledge over addressing their needs.
At best, this approach leaves customers frustrated. At worst, they walk away to find someone who will actually listen.
The Real Challenge
The challenge isn't to know less or to diminish your expertise. The challenge is to redirect that expertise toward serving the customer's stated needs first. This means resisting the urge to demonstrate everything you know and instead focusing on answering the questions they're actually asking.
It means understanding that the point of sales conversations isn't to prove you're the smartest person in the room. The point is to help customers feel confident that you understand their needs and can deliver what they're looking for.
Experts Don't Close Deals. Customers Do.
We love to talk about how presales professionals are the experts in the room. And we are. But expertise alone doesn't close deals. Customers close deals when they feel heard, understood, and confident that you're providing exactly what they need.
The most valuable skill in sales isn't comprehensive product knowledge. It's the ability to listen actively, respond directly, and resist the temptation to over-demonstrate your expertise. It's providing customers with base-level customer service: hearing what they want and giving them clear answers.
A Different Approach
What would customer-focused selling look like in practice? It starts with active listening. When a customer asks specific questions, those questions reveal their priorities. Address those priorities first and completely before introducing additional information.
It continues with restraint. Just because you know something doesn't mean the customer needs to hear it right now. Save your comprehensive knowledge for when it's requested or clearly relevant.
And it culminates in trust. When customers see that you're focused on their needs rather than on showcasing your expertise, you build the foundation for a genuine relationship.
The Bottom Line
Stop trying to be the expert who knows everything. Start being the person who provides customers exactly what they're looking for. Listen to what matters to them. Answer their questions directly. Give them confidence that you understand their needs.
Your expertise is valuable, but only when it's deployed in service of the customer's actual priorities. Focus on your customer first, not on all the things you know that you want to tell them about.
That's how deals get closed.
Jack Cochran is a leader in the presales community, driven by a unique perspective gained from nearly a decade as a customer before entering the field in 2013. This experience fuels his commitment to empowering presales professionals, which is evident in his role as General Manager of Presales Collective.
