Host John Chapman of the John Chapman Show talks with Matt Perkins about his philosophy for sales that puts the customer first. Learn how to focus on the needs of customers through consultative sales and empathize with them authentically and incorporating expertise.  

Episode Highlights:

•         Where did Matt Perkins grow up and what was it like for him?
•         When was his first encounter with the idea of sales?
•         At what age did he realize he had his key moment to pursue sales? 
•         What was his sales experience while he was at the University of Washington?

•         Matt explains the difference between transactional sales and consultative sales. 

•         What is the mindset of someone in consultative sales?
•         What action steps should salespeople use to put customers first?
•         Sales are based on being able to listen, empathy, expertise, and authenticity. 
•         Why is it so hard for us to be ourselves in sales? 
•         What is the idea of problem aware, solution aware, and you aware? 
•         How do we discern where the buyer is in their buyer’s journey? 
•         Are their ways to draw people in during their buyer’s journey? 
•         What advice does he have for people in a sales role? 

3 Key Points:

1.   The transactional sale is someone having a need for something and someone selling it to them without much guidance prior to the purchase. 
2.   The consultative sale is when the customer doesn’t quite know what they need and the salesperson consults them on how to solve their problem. 
3.   Almost two-thirds of the economy in the United States is based on people liking to buy things. 

Tweetable Quotes:

•     “You need to be in service of others and you need to think about what is best for the person that you are speaking with.” – Matt Perkins
•     “The best companies in the world are customer-centric, truly customer-centric.” – Matt Perkins 
•     “As a salesperson, a lot of the influences around us are not necessarily customer-centric.” – Matt Perkins

Resources Mentioned:

• Linkedin: John Chapman