WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT X?

I’m at Fleet Feet in Delay, a locally owned running store.

I asked Kyle, the owner, to see the Garmin 945, a triathlon watch.

Here’s Kyle: “What do you know about the 945?”

With one elegant open-ended question, Kyle draws out everything from “I own the Forerunner 630 and the 935” to “Not much. This is my first Garmin.”

In other words, how knowledgeable I am about the product.

Here’s me: “I’ve read DC Rainmaker’s review, saw a few tutorials, and own the 935.”

Kyle: “What else do you want to know?”

Me: “I want to hear the volume of the audio through my headphones when running to see if the signal breaks up.”

Kyle: “Looks like you brought your AirPods. Let’s sync this demo 945 watch to your Spotify and headphones so you can give it a listen.”

Sold.

The lesson?

You sell to an informed buyer differently than to an uninformed buyer.

The Garmin 945 has lots of benefits: sports apps to track performance, wrist-based heart rate, GPS, and emergency response.

However, your product’s benefits only matter if they matter to your prospect. Don’t demo music to people who don’t like running with music.

Let go of assumptions.

Ask, “What do you know about X?”

People don’t buy because they understand you.
They buy because you understand them.

Buyers have the answers.
Sellers have the questions.