Practical Sales Training™ > How To Lose The Sale > The Granularity Problem
What is it?
As sellers, when we communicate we tend to drift into detail FAR too quickly. And when I say drift.. I mean RUN. This leaves our buyer confused and just not really understanding our offering.
Why does it work?
If you talk about detail before ensuring someone actually understands your offering, then you run the risk of them simply disengaging. Confused people don’t buy and if you bamboozle people with too much detailed information without checking they have actually “got” the basics of your offering then you are unlikely to succeed.
How can you use it?
If you want to lose your buyers, use as much jargon and as many long multi syllable words as possible to blow their mind.
If you want to avoid the granularity problem, simply remember that we need to “step” people into information and ensure we don’t lose them along the way.
Hypothetical Example:
A software company is pitching its new CRM to a small business owner. The salesperson launches straight into the details:
“Our CRM uses an advanced API with dynamic lead scoring, custom pipeline automation, and a proprietary multi-channel sequencing algorithm…”
The business owner’s eyes glaze over – they don’t even understand what problem the software solves.
Instead, the salesperson could have started with the big picture:
“Our CRM helps you close more deals by making sure no lead ever slips through the cracks. Once you’re comfortable with that, I can show you some of the advanced features that make it even more powerful.”
By stepping the buyer into the information, the salesperson keeps them engaged and avoids overwhelming them with jargon.
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