Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World
Your job may be all about sales, but not your customers. Did you know that the average executive spends less than 5 percent of their time engaged in the buying of products and services? Therefore, sales professionals who focus solely on the moment of the sale have made a fatal miscalculation in understanding their customers. If you want to gain the winning edge for your sales performance, it’s time to embrace the entire customer life cycle.Beyond the Sales Process provides readers with a proven methodology for driving success before, during, and after every sale. Featuring instructional case studies from companies such as Hilton Worldwide, Merck, and Siemens, this one-of-a-kind resource reveals 12 essential strategies for the sales person wanting to take their performance to a whole new level, including:• Research your customer• Build a vision with them for their own success• Understand your customer’s drivers, objectives, and challenges• Create and realize value together• Leverage your results to forge lasting—and mutually beneficial—relationships• And more!See why Jeff Haden, Inc. called it one of 2017’s “15 Great Business Books You Should Definitely Read This Year.” If you want to successfully sell to your customers, you need to know your customers . . . beyond the sales process!
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Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World
Your job may be all about sales, but not your customers. Did you know that the average executive spends less than 5 percent of their time engaged in the buying of products and services? Therefore, sales professionals who focus solely on the moment of the sale have made a fatal miscalculation in understanding their customers. If you want to gain the winning edge for your sales performance, it’s time to embrace the entire customer life cycle.Beyond the Sales Process provides readers with a proven methodology for driving success before, during, and after every sale. Featuring instructional case studies from companies such as Hilton Worldwide, Merck, and Siemens, this one-of-a-kind resource reveals 12 essential strategies for the sales person wanting to take their performance to a whole new level, including:• Research your customer• Build a vision with them for their own success• Understand your customer’s drivers, objectives, and challenges• Create and realize value together• Leverage your results to forge lasting—and mutually beneficial—relationships• And more!See why Jeff Haden, Inc. called it one of 2017’s “15 Great Business Books You Should Definitely Read This Year.” If you want to successfully sell to your customers, you need to know your customers . . . beyond the sales process!
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Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World

Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World

Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World

Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World

Overview

Your job may be all about sales, but not your customers. Did you know that the average executive spends less than 5 percent of their time engaged in the buying of products and services? Therefore, sales professionals who focus solely on the moment of the sale have made a fatal miscalculation in understanding their customers. If you want to gain the winning edge for your sales performance, it’s time to embrace the entire customer life cycle.Beyond the Sales Process provides readers with a proven methodology for driving success before, during, and after every sale. Featuring instructional case studies from companies such as Hilton Worldwide, Merck, and Siemens, this one-of-a-kind resource reveals 12 essential strategies for the sales person wanting to take their performance to a whole new level, including:• Research your customer• Build a vision with them for their own success• Understand your customer’s drivers, objectives, and challenges• Create and realize value together• Leverage your results to forge lasting—and mutually beneficial—relationships• And more!See why Jeff Haden, Inc. called it one of 2017’s “15 Great Business Books You Should Definitely Read This Year.” If you want to successfully sell to your customers, you need to know your customers . . . beyond the sales process!

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781511370936
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication date: 04/04/2016
Edition description: Unabridged
Product dimensions: 5.00(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

DAVE STEIN is a sales consultant and strategist whose expertise has been featured in Fast Company, BusinessWeek, Inc., The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and Forbes. He is an advisor to Sales and Marketing Management magazine.

STEVE ANDERSEN is President and Founder of Performance Methods, Inc., a sales and account management best-practices consulting firm, whose clients include many of the world's top companies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: Why Read Beyond the Sales Process? xvii

Before, During, and After the Sale xviii

How This Book Is Organized xx

What Matters Most to Customers xxi

Section 1 Engage: Driving Success Before the Sale 1

Strategy 1 Research the Organization: Becoming a Student of Your Customer 3

What You Need to Know About Your Customer 5

Where You Can Acquire and Capture Customer Knowledge 10

How You Can Leverage Customer Knowledge 15

Testing the Effectiveness of Your Research 15

Strategy 2 Explore the Possibilities: Giving Your Customer a Reason to Engage 17

Initiating the Customer Dialogue 18

The Essence of Exploration: Curiosity and the Inquiring Mind 20

What Does Your Customer Care Most About? 22

Are You Willing to Make the Required Investments? 26

Taking Inventory of Your Assets 28

Testing the Effectiveness of Your Exploration 29

Strategy 3 Vision the Success: Visualizing Future Potential Value with Your Customer 31

A Vision of Customer Success and of Future Potential Value 31

How Today's Customers Define Supplier Value 35

Understanding Your Customer's Expectations of You 37

Developing a Collaborative Vision of Customer Success 44

Testing the Effectiveness of Your Visioning 46

Strategy 4 Elevate the Conversation: Defining and Pursuing Customer Value Targets 48

A Word of Caution About Your Customer Conversations 50

Focusing on the Customer Value Target 51

Elevating the Conversation 53

Defining Your Customer Value Targets 63

Evolving from Before to During the Sale 65

Testing the Effectiveness of Your Elevation 65

Case Studies

Zurich Insurance Group 68

Merck/MSD 73

BNY Mellon 79

Section II Win: Driving Success During the Sale 85

Strategy 5 Discover the Drivers: Understanding What's at Stake for Your Customers 87

What Is Discovery? 88

The "Value" of the Value-Focused Question 89

The Quest for Actionable Awareness 91

The Focus of Your Discovery Efforts 93

Testing the Effectiveness of Your Discovery 103

Strategy 6 Align the Teams: Developing Customer Sponsors and Supporters 105

Many Are Connected; Few Are Truly Aligned 105

The Dimensions of Alignment 107

Alignment Is As Valuable to Your Customer As It Is to You 114

Testing the Effectiveness of Your Alignment 120

Strategy 7 Position the Fit: Competing for Customer Mindshare 122

Positioning Is All About the Fit 123

To Position or Be Positioned? That Is the Question 124

Start with Your Customer, Not with Your Product 125

What Is Being Positioned? 131

Planning to Win: The Intersection of Alignment and Positioning 134

Testing the Effectiveness of Your Positioning 137

Strategy 8 Differentiate the Value: Creating a Customer Preference 139

Making Your Plan to Win a Reality 140

Developing the Ideal Environment for Value Differentiation 142

Activities for Effective Differentiation 150

Proving Your Value: Building Customer-Specific Value Messages 153

Testing the Effectiveness of Your Value Differentiation 157

Case Studies

Adecco 159

Honeywell 165

Panasonic 170

Section III Grow: Driving Success After the Sale 175

Strategy 9 Realize the Value: Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations 177

What Happens After the Sale? 179

Delivering on Promises and Expectations 180

Yesterdays Future Potential Value Is Tomorrow's Past Proven Value 183

Value Realization, Consolidation, and Articulation 188

Testing Your Effectiveness: Realize the Value 190

Strategy 10 Validate the Impact: Measuring Success with Your Customer 192

Measuring Success with Performance Impact Zones 193

Benchmarking Performance from the Customer's Perspective 197

Testing Your Effectiveness: Validate the Impact 204

Strategy 11 Adapt the Approach: Applying Lessons Learned with Your Customer 206

Understanding How Your Customer Defines Success After the Sale 209

Adapting Your Approach to Meet Your Customer's Changing Needs 211

Embracing Change and Making Needed Adjustments 212

Validating the Impact on Your Business to Ensure Both Parties Are Successful 214

Benchmarking Performance from the Seller's Perspective 216

Adapting Your Approach and Planning to Grow 220

Testing Your Effectiveness: Adapt the Approach 221

Strategy 12 Expand the Relationship: Leveraging Your Past Proven Value 223

You and Your Momentum: In Motion and Growing Stronger 224

Building Your Plan to Grow with Your Customer 227

Ending with the Beginning in Mind 232

Will Your Engage/Win/Grow Circle Be Unbroken? 234

Testing Your Effectiveness: Expand the Relationship 235

Case Studies

Siemens AG 237

Hilton Worldwide 242

Securian Financial Group-Group Insurance 248

Afterword 253

Index 255

About the Authors 265

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