According to a 2015 Salesforce.com study, 82 percent of sellers are out of sync with their customers. Twentieth-century sales tactics no longer work!
The internet has changed the entire paradigm of selling. The buyer or customer is now empowered. The playing field of sales has forever changed. Have you adjusted to the new playing field? Has your sales team adapted to the twenty-first-century buyer? Are you still using sales techniques birthed in the 1990s? Consultative selling is no longer enough. The customer demands more! Value is the number 1 decision criteria!
This book gives you understanding and specific steps on how to effectively sell to the 21st century customer not just from a sales rep’s standpoint but also from a sales leader or business owner’s perspective in terms of methodology, training, coaching, and even forecasting.
According to a 2015 Salesforce.com study, 82 percent of sellers are out of sync with their customers. Twentieth-century sales tactics no longer work!
The internet has changed the entire paradigm of selling. The buyer or customer is now empowered. The playing field of sales has forever changed. Have you adjusted to the new playing field? Has your sales team adapted to the twenty-first-century buyer? Are you still using sales techniques birthed in the 1990s? Consultative selling is no longer enough. The customer demands more! Value is the number 1 decision criteria!
This book gives you understanding and specific steps on how to effectively sell to the 21st century customer not just from a sales rep’s standpoint but also from a sales leader or business owner’s perspective in terms of methodology, training, coaching, and even forecasting.
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Overview
According to a 2015 Salesforce.com study, 82 percent of sellers are out of sync with their customers. Twentieth-century sales tactics no longer work!
The internet has changed the entire paradigm of selling. The buyer or customer is now empowered. The playing field of sales has forever changed. Have you adjusted to the new playing field? Has your sales team adapted to the twenty-first-century buyer? Are you still using sales techniques birthed in the 1990s? Consultative selling is no longer enough. The customer demands more! Value is the number 1 decision criteria!
This book gives you understanding and specific steps on how to effectively sell to the 21st century customer not just from a sales rep’s standpoint but also from a sales leader or business owner’s perspective in terms of methodology, training, coaching, and even forecasting.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9798893760743 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Leap Write Literary |
| Publication date: | 07/10/2024 |
| Pages: | 204 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.43(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Sales - The Final Frontier
Sales Excellence is the final frontier for executives to gain a competitive advantage Business leaders have spent the last 30 or so years focusing on building a better product, offering a better solution, and reducing price Most companies are now competitively equal on those fronts Sales excellence is truly adding continual value and serving the customer the way they want to be treated Sound familiar? The final frontier of sales is the challenge of implementing the Platinum Rule: "Treat other people the way they want to be treated." In sales, that means, "Treat you customers the way they want you to treat them."
Are your sales in good health?
Most people get an annual health checkup, but only few organizations get an annual sales checkup by a third party Many CEOs attribute poor sales to the economy or increased pricing competition From my observations, even if the economy improves, many organizations' sales do not The economy is not the only issue Outdated sales strategies and processes are causing such sales problems as alienated or frustrated buyers, delayed or canceled purchases, or outright rejection of the sales rep Today's successful sales organizations focus on the customer's needs, desired outcomes and how the customer makes a buying decision, not on how the vendor wants to sell All sales strategy and processes should be targeted to this fundamental change! That fundamental change is what this book is about.
Developing an effective organization that lives and breathes true Customer Aligned Selling is the final frontier for most executives.
The Old Way Doesn't Work
Are you basing your sales strategy on what worked in the past? As Marshall Goldsmith said, "What got you here won't get you there."
The sales strategies and processes that previously worked for sales organizations are failing. Many sales leaders and CEOs, think that what worked in the past will work now and in the future. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Times have changed, and so have people's preferences. Everyone is inundated with advertising, social media, and other distractions. The 21st century buyer has rejected the process of being "sold to." Because of this fact, most sales organizations need a sales "physical" or assessment to determine if their strategy and processes align with the way customers want to buy.
The good news is that people still like to buy! Customers want to do business with companies who understand their business and can help them solve a problem, satisfy a need, achieve a goal, improve effectiveness, save time, and reduce expenses. They do not want simply to be sold some product or service to meet some sales rep's quota. Think about how you like to buy. If you were the customer, would you buy from some of your sales reps? go to www.billhartbizgrowth.com/ salesassessment.
Impact of the Internet
In the past fifteen years, there has been a fundamental shift in the way buyers purchase. Much of the buying process has been automated. Information Technology (IT) now plays a major role in everything from manufacturing to customer service. IT has eliminated many of the functions that a sales rep used to perform. The identification of a need, product research, and initial vendor selection can be all done without ever talking to a sales rep. With the Internet, customers do most the technical research online. They can shop for suppliers, and even compare companies via blogs, online ratings, and testimonials social media.
Before the Internet, the role of the sales rep was to educate a prospect through a presentation. If the presentation generated interest, the sales rep would qualify the prospect and then focus on closing the sale. The buyer welcomed cold calls and product presentations since that was the only to keep up with the latest developments in the market. From the seller's perspective, everything about the sales process was related to creating a need, giving an opinion of how their product or service will meet the prospect's need, and then close the deal. The old way of selling has very little effectiveness; due to the Internet and cultural shifts, people and the buying process have changed.
Cold calling is no longer accepted.
The buyer can now get much of the technical details and even compare products and offerings down to the smallest of technical levels. Buyers can get pricing and other comparisons online. In many sales situations, the Internet has virtually eliminated the need for a sales rep during the first stage of the buying process, mapping the need to a particular solution. The very complex sale still requires a lot of technical discovery, but the buyer is very educated and most likely has already done a substantial amount of preliminary work. According to many sources from International Data Corporation (IDC) to Harvard Business School, anywhere from 50 - 70% of a decision to buy a product is made from Internet research without ever talking to a sales rep. Of course, the more complex and technical the sale, the less able the buyer is to decide from online research. But the buyer will do their research on the company, the reputation, and even the integrity of the individual sales rep. Social media can have a huge impact on a customer's selection of a company. For instance, LinkedIn is a great place to check on a sales rep's reputation and credibility. Facebook can give clues to a sales rep's, or even a buyer's, personality and ethics. A seller's Tweets can reveal what they deem important.
Not only is the customer empowered, but now the sales rep is wise to make a call with knowledge about the company, its buying practices, departmental structure, and even the prospect's reputation. Hoovers, Manta, Data.com, and other websites and blogs are rich sources of such information. The rep should not be doing basic discovery of the prospective company's business, product lines, industry issues or other general business knowledge during the sales call. With the Internet, the rep should do that before the sales call. LinkedIn can provide valuable information as to the prospect's job history, who they know, and any key experiences to which the seller can relate. Facebook can tell you key things about their friends, family, or hobbies.
In fact, buyers expect that the rep has done his or her preliminary call preparation before the first sales call. The buyer does not tolerate such a waste of time from a rep who asks for information that can be found on the web. This relates to not only business but also personal information.
Do the basic customer discovery before the sales call.
No More Cold Calls
In the majority of business to business sales (B2B), cold calling is either dead or breathing its last! Because of the Internet, very few buyers are tolerant of cold calls. I define a cold call from the customer's perspective: "I don't know who you are or why you are calling. I don't know if you offer any value. You are therefore a risk and will probably waste my time." To most buyers, a cold call is a waste of their time. The biggest challenge with a cold call is that the sales rep is calling a prospect with no reference that he or she can deliver value to the buyer. In other words, there is no trust in the relationship. From the prospect's perspective, by accepting the appointment, he or she is immediately at risk of wasting valuable time.
Cold calls present risk, and beginning a relationship based upon risk is not a good way to start.
Cold calls were accepted in the past because buyers were educated on new products and offerings through the sales rep. The buyer allowed for cold calls because there was no other way to be introduced to new or innovative solutions. With user groups, online executive forums, specific industry buyer groups, and search engines, the buyer does not need the rep to learn about a product or service. The customer can research his needs and find potential solutions without a sales rep. When a sales rep does make a call, a buyer can quickly validate the facts and learn whether the sales rep is blowing smoke or telling the truth.
With the great increases in personal productivity, people are expected to do more with less. So, buyers are busy doing their jobs, not listening to cold calling sales reps that have little to no specific knowledge of the buyer's true needs. In today's world, everyone has been conditioned to say "no" to cold calls. People are tired of being called at home and at work, hence the existence of the national Do Not Call Registry. Cold calling is DEAD for B2B selling! So, if you are an executive encouraging cold calling, STOP! You are creating problems for your sales reps and for potential customers. Teach your reps to make warm calls and get referrals. This may take longer, but the relationship will commence in the right manner, and not with assumptions of risk. A warm call is where the buyer knows who you are and why you are calling.
I hear from many "seasoned reps" that they have trouble selling to millennials. They complain that all the millennial buyer wants is the price. They claim that millennials don't value relationship selling. This seasoned sales rep's main methodology of selling has been on getting to know the person first, i.e. building relationship from a social perspective. This type of rep's sales call focused on talking a lot and learning about the buyer's personal life versus the buyer's business needs. The assumption was, "If the buyer likes me, then he will do business with me." Since millennials know they can get the information they need from the Internet, they are not tolerant of a sales rep who is basing winning the deal on likability. The millennial buyer may see the "seasoned" sales rep as just wasting their time. They may see no differential in product or solution offerings. Millennials are rejecting sellers who are selling from their comfort zone and buying preferences versus adapting to the millennials' buying preferences.
Lastly, buyers of today are not like the buyers of old. Many are professionally trained, are far more experienced, and have a greater level of expertise. The buyer is more technical and has, at their fingertips, access to most of the technical or supportive advice they need.
IT Plays a Major Role
Every business has streamlined its operational process through the use of Information Technology (IT). From Walmart to Mercedes, companies have built their entire supply chain around IT. Buyers today want suppliers who can add value. Customers want a supplier to have a systematic approach to meeting their needs. IT has changed much of the sales role internally from the seller's perspective: CRM, web-portals, email to the iPad. From the customer's perspective, IT's role is integration, fewer suppliers, tighter budgets, just-in-time delivery, etc. The results demonstrate that sales, as an area of business, is changing in three interrelated aspects: from a function to a process, from an isolated activity to an integrated one, and from an operational function to a strategic one. Senior level executives need to be involved in all aspects of the sales process from strategy, planning, compensation, and even to sales training (more on that reasoning later).
Competence – Not Price, Product, or Offering
"Bring value!" cries the customer.
The buyer of today wants value and results starting with the first sales call. As mentioned, the sales process has changed. The buyer sees a "traditional" type of sales call where the sales rep leads a fact-finding interview (information that could be obtained via the web), or a presentation on the sales rep's company as a waste of time! The buyer of the 21st Century requires a sales rep to lead with the value he or she can bring. Then the buyer will allow time for building rapport and working toward developing a credible solution. This is why a strong referral works so well, when the referral source tells your prospect that you have something of value to offer.
Summarizing interviews with over 80,000 customers and 7,500 sales reps over fourteen years of research, Howard Stevens, CEO of Chally Assessments, demonstrates this point by explaining what is important to buyers in their decision of choosing a vendor in his book, Achieve Sales Excellence. The sales rep's competence and the value he or she brings during the complete sales process represent 39% of the buyer's decision. Offering a total solution represents only 22% of the buyer's decision. Having a quality offering represents 21% of the decision, and price only influences the decision to buy by 18%. Unfortunately, most organizations spend the major portion of sales effort and money on the latter three points. Do you see a problem with this approach? Quality, solution, and competitive pricing are now de-facto requirements of doing business; without those, a company can't even get in the door. For the past 30 years CEOs' efforts have been on quality, total solution, and price.
The final frontier is sales competence – training and managing your sales force and designing your sales operations to serve the customer the way they want to be served throughout the entire relationship.
The Customer Aligned Selling Process in Seven Steps
Cog 1. This first stage is about preparation, developing a value proposition that has substantiated value, prospecting, and setting appointments. This is where the buyer must believe there is value to have a conversation. The value proposition must relate to the buyer's problems, needs, or goals.
Cog 2. During the first meeting, engage in meaningful conversation with the focus on the buyer(s) and their problems, goals, and needs. This is where the value proposition is specifically aligned and elaborated on using examples from the buyer's own issues.
Cog 3. Discuss solutions using stories and examples relating the solution (product or service) to how the buyer would use it in their organization. Identify the buyer's decision criteria and where they are in their buying process – Solution Development, Evaluation or Commitment (see Chapter 13).
Cog 4. The sales rep and the buyer craft a solution that will meet their decision criteria and fits within their expectations. This requires the sales rep to specifically discuss how the buyer will use the product or service and how success will be measured.
Cog 5. The risk of not getting the desired outcome is top of the buyer's mind before they buy. The sales rep works to ensure risk is reduced, negotiates on buyer specifics terms, and gets buyer commitment.
Cog 6. This stage is where the delivery of the solution takes place. This is where operations are aligned with delivering what sales has negotiated. The delivery of the product or service is oriented to the customer and is in alignment with the customer expectations.
Cog 7. The customer receives their desired outcome. If this is a product or service that is repeatable, then the process may start over again from the beginning or may engage with the latter cogs. The key is that the sales rep is in alignment with the customer's buying process.
Effective, open-ended questions are the lubricant or oil that enables to cogs to move freely.
The remainder of this book will cover the specifics of each phase/ cog, and specific guidelines and exercises to move through each phase.
CHAPTER 2
Selling is a Beauty Contest, Not a Race
Remember, "Selling is a beauty contest, not a race." To win a beauty contest, you must know what the judges are expecting and the criteria from which they will judge So, slow down and remember that your prospect or customer has the gold and makes the rules Their rule is the Platinum Rule If you apply these principles in this book, you will win the beauty contest and be a top performer It won't be easy, but these principles will make you more money
Let's look at how a contestant engages in a beauty contest First, the contestant will want to know the rules of the contest – what is being judged such as looks, poise, posture, hair, evening gown, etc. Secondly, the contestant wants to know who the judges are; who will make the decision. They don't just want to know who the judges are, but also want to know if the judges have ever judged another beauty contest, and if so, what did they judge, when, and how did they score the contestants? Past decisions of judging will always affect the present contest either positively or negatively. The most competitive contestant will also want to know, if possible, does the judge favor one particular type of contestant over another? Does the judge have a preference in colors? What their view is on certain societal issues? If the contestant doesn't know these issues, then they don't know how best to answer questions to the judge's liking. The contestant wants to know everything they can about the judges, their decision criteria, and who possibly might be influencing them.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Customer Has Changed Have You?"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Bill Hart.
Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Sales - The Final Frontier, 1,
Chapter 2 Selling is a Beauty Contest, Not a Race, 11,
Chapter 3 The Traditional Rep VS. the Customer Aligned™ Rep, 16,
Chapter 4 Customer Reasons and Motives, 23,
Chapter 5 Golden Rules and Love Languages = Platinum, 32,
Chapter 6 The 21st Century Sales Equation, 37,
Chapter 7 Four Components of the Buying Decision, 51,
Chapter 8 The Sales Rep's Competence, 61,
Chapter 9 Different Perspectives, 68,
Chapter 10 What Makes Sales Happen: Trust, 80,
Chapter 11 Understanding Buying Criteria, 91,
Chapter 12 Know How Your Customer Thinks, 96,
Chapter 13 The Human Buying Behavior Model, 111,
Chapter 14 Being the Customer's Champion, 131,
Chapter 15 Types of Decision Makers, 136,
Chapter 16 Dealing with a Complex Sale, 142,
Chapter 17 How to Make an Effective Sales Call, 148,
Chapter 18 Management's Role and Challenges, 165,
Chapter 19 You Can't Manage Sales, 173,
Chapter 20 Creating Accurate Forecasts, 180,
Epilogue, 187,
Notes, 189,
Bonus - What Really Drives You?, 191,