Nobody buys a drill. Nor a hole

The real reasons people buy something

In 1942, the United States was not yet involved in the European conflict against Nazi Germany. The American economy was still very detached from what was happening at home.

And yet, in terms of sales development and salesperson training, it was a year that saw the emergence of a slogan that still has a great deal of meaning today (from Harvard professor Theodore Levitt).

People do not want a 1/4 inch drill, they want a 1/4 inch hole. 

I'm no Harvard professor, but even if this quote is full of common sense, in reality, people don't buy a hole either. They buy something else.

The reality, in my views, is that people buy a drill because, if for example they need to make a hole to hang a picture, they see an empty which they don't like, a bit of a pain. Their better half is "nagging them" to get that picture on the wall, it's a bit of a pain and they want to get it done with (they'd prefer to do something else…). They have pictures of kids they want to hang on the wall to remember the holidays which they enjoyed.

In short, they don't buy a drill or a hole. No. They want to move away from pain or towards pleasure.

The real reasons sales people focus on the drill

But what are the three possible reasons people selling focus on the drill :

1. Comfort zone: First of all, the drill is what they know well, even very well. They have been trained in all the characteristics of this drill bit. What the metal it is made of, its optimal size or even the different sizes that exist for this drill bit, the best drill that would go with this drill bit, etc.

   This knowledge of the product and the service is the salesperson's comfort zone. What he knows by heart and therefore wants to talk about. It's only human, after all, to want to demonstrate all the things we know...

   
   

2. Scripts and internal fears: A script is that little voice we have deep inside that tells us how we should behave. What we should or shouldn't do. In short, there are many scripts that salespeople have in their heads: the customer is always right, you have to please the customer, you have to answer the customer's questions. So when the prospects ask about the drill, they provide, if the script is "I need to present my product", they will.

   And salespeople are often controlled by fear. Especially the fear of not satisfying the prospect and thus losing the possible contract. So even if the salesperson has lots of questions to ask the prospects to satisfy his need for a lead, he doesn't dare to challenge them on the real reasons he would want to buy such a drill.

   
   

3. Lack of technique: Even if the salesperson managed to muster the necessary courage to ask the questions, they would lack the exact words to ask them. Human communication is complicated. We are steeped in our contradictions, our emotions, our cognitive biases, the scripts mentioned above. There are many techniques that allow us to communicate better, but they are not natural.

In short, salespeople talk a lot about their ‘drill bit’, their AI platforms, their SaaS solutions, etc., etc.

Going beyond the drill and the hole

When, too rarely, they do ask about this hole people need to drill, they nevertheless forget a crucial aspect that allows them to understand the person they talk to. Which would allow them to understand if their prospect really needs this hole.

They forget to understand the reasons that lead the prospect to want to make a hole and above all, above all, what the impact would be for their prospect of not having this hole. Because people don't buy a hole. No. As mentioned above, people buy a solution to avoid the consequences of not having a hole. Or the pleasure they'd gain from being able to do what they want to do when they have the hole in the wall (hanging the nice picture).

So, if we want to put some flesh on the bone of this example, there are generally two possible impacts of not having a hole.

1- An impact on the house. For example, walls that are not decorated. Or a messy house because the bookshelf has not been hung on the wall. This impact is significant but it is not the most important one.

2- The impact on the person. This is what motivates our prospect to make a hole. The impact of not having a hole in the wall. As counterintuitive as it may seem. For example, the prospect's wife will give him a hard time. Or during the next video call, he will be ashamed of the mess that will be visible because he was unable to hang the shelf.

In short, people buy a drill to move away from painful situation.

There is one last reason for which someone would want to buy a drill.

3- Good memories. The prospect might have a lovely frame with pictures of holiday. It was a great holiday and he wants to be reminded of them.

In other words, the person wants to move towards pleasure.

Even though this famous quote from Theodore Levitt is over 80 years old, there are still tons of salespeople who talk about their drills.

Plus ça change…