Generate Attention by Identifying your Prospects’ “Candy”

We complicate generating attention in B2B sales because we frame the challenge as “getting Prospects to pay attention to our product and value.” 

We are so focused on the attention we want, we fail to appreciate the attention Prospects want.  

If you want Prospects to pay attention, you have to talk about what PROSPECTS want. This necessarily means you must talk less about what YOU want – product – at least initially.  

Getting a Child’s Attention

There is a very simple trick to get children to pay attention. Walk up to any child - you don’t even need to know them (well don’t do that, but it would work) – and ask about their favorite type of candy.

Now sit back, throw in a couple follow-ups, and watch the magic.

You think a child is quiet until you ask them about candy. And chips. And what order they’d eat them if they had both. Their eyes will light up. They won’t stop talking. “Wait, do cheetos count as chips?” “Sure!”.

While they’re deeply engaged in the nuances of eating chips and candy, something else happens – they begin to trust you because you acknowledge, accept and understand them. 

Now, you can shift to what YOU want to talk about, so long as it's related to candy.  

Going to the dentist?  Talk about candy and how it's so great, but it can hurt our teeth.  “Son, fortunately there is a person called the dentist and their job is to help protect your teeth, and your ability to eat candy. He wants to help you.” Leveraging your trust, you can even tell them the dentist may hurt a little, but is probably worth it for the ability to eat candy and regardless, that the child is brave. 

The child will march to the dentist singing songs about the dentist (and his own bravery).  

In contrast, if you start with the dentist and how it's important to go, they will not pay attention, complain and try to ignore you. 

A CEO’s “Candy”

The same principles apply in B2B sales. Not because your Prospects are children. But because they are human.

You must identify your Prospect’s candy if you want them to pay attention.  

Let's say you are selling to a CEO. A CEO’s “candy” in business will be revenue, profit, stock growth. They live and breathe it. If you talk about your product, they won't pay attention.  They will ONLY pay attention to their candy. But, they will equally care about your product if you first talk about their candy and then tie getting their “candy” with your offer.

I saw this magic on my first engagement at Palantir. We were working for a major confectionary company, and their CEO in meetings would constantly repeat “We are going to democratize data.” He couldn’t hide his excitement.

I later found out our CEO told their CEO that the path to his “candy” (no pun intended) was premised on “democratizing data.” And the confectionary CEO was hooked. He knew nothing about data or how it worked, but he wanted it democratized.

The difficulty of course is (i) identifying what your customer actually wants to discuss and (ii) tying it to what Seller offers.  (People hire me to do this for them).  

But most don’t even get to this step because they’re too busy seeking their own “candy” - talking about their own product.  

The human desire for attention is so great that Sellers, despite knowing they need Prospects’ attention, nonetheless commonly focus on their own.

“The Problem your Product Solves” 
Take, for example, the common advice to Sellers that they should “talk about the problems they solve.”  While nominally about a Buyer’s business, it is just a backhanded way of talking about your own product. It engages Buyers with the caveat that they are doing something wrong.

Let's use children as an example again to see what is likely to happen. (Note: Children are direct in their emotions and feelings, thereby offering better feedback.  Adults lie strategically, and you can’t always be clear what they mean.)

 “Son, you like candy, and it could ruin your teeth. It’s a problem, but I’ve found a man that can fix it. It may hurt a little, but you’re brave.”  

The child will get mad  - “Daddy said I ate too much candy! He’s mean!”.  It would have been better to say “we have to go to the dentist”.

This is what “solving a problem you have” sounds like to your Prospects. They will likely feel blamed. A CEO has dedicated their career to fixing and avoiding problems – who are YOU to tell him he has a problem without first developing trust and rapport? The CEO is too sophisticated to throw a tantrum and will instead say “f*ck you” in the most polite way they know. 

I’ve previously written in more detail why offering opportunities is better than problems and how to convert any problem into an opportunity – read about it here.

Celebrate Your Prospects and What they Care About

Sales is difficult because you must manufacture attention on your product by focusing attention on your Prospects. 

There are no magic shortcuts. What shifts Prospects to pay attention to you and your product is the feeling you are paying attention to them. 

Identify what they care about, celebrate it and show them how to do it better or in a new way with your offering.  

And then you will get the attention you deserve, too.