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Needs. We can define Needs as being those drivers of positive change that will deliver the most value to the customer, because these are things the customer must have in order to achieve the improvement they seek. If we can understand how much the customer needs that improvement, we can work out the true value of helping them achieve it.
Wants. Some drivers of positive change will be ‘nice to have’ but not completely necessary for the customer to achieve the improvement they seek. We can call these things Wants. The customer will attach less value to these things. Make sure you are not selling to Wants alone.
“The wheel that squeaks the loudest is the one that gets the grease.”
Josh Billings, American humourist
one minute wonder If you’re having difficulty trying to work out what’s going to be valuable to your target customer, focus on your customer’s customer. Find out what your customer needs or wants to improve in order to deliver value to its own customers. This will give you some clues about what change might represent value to them.
Creating value. As we’ll see later, our job as salespeople is to uncover Needs and Wants, and then to understand how important satisfying them will be. Great salespeople know how to connect what they are selling to the impact, or value, it will create.
Problems, pain and opportunity. It’s highly likely that a positive change is needed or wanted because the customer currently has some kind of problem or difficulty. It’s helpful to think about these problems as business ‘pain’ from which the customer seeks some relief. Depending on how painful the problems are, the value of solving them will increase, and our opportunity to provide a solution will develop.
Three types of value. There are three basic types of value: Financial value is defined in money terms, Personal value relates to the buyer’s own personal agenda or interests, and Business value relates to more general or strategic business aims, not necessarily quantifiable in money terms.
The customer needs to see that the value of your product or service outweighs its price.
1.3 Know the selling cycle (#ulink_6c8959b9-1e38-5667-a0d8-faed5ba7a582)
Making a sale can be a long and complex process, involving many different activities. Each of these activities belongs to a phase or stage in the ‘selling cycle’, and it’s important to keep track of what stage you are at with each customer.
Although they might not take weeks or even hours, but just minutes, even short, quick sales will still follow this cycle.
1 Suspects. These are brand new leads or opportunities which you have identified but not yet contacted. You suspect they may fit your profile of a potential customer.
2 Prospects. These are potential customers with which you have made contact, perhaps by telephone, and established a basis for further discussion, because there is a Need or Want. By this stage, you have discovered a problem that you can help them with.
3 Opportunities. At this stage you will be working with the customer to uncover the value to them of solving their problems. You will be building your relationship and finding out more about their Needs and Wants.
one minute wonder Don’t imagine that just because a potential customer calls you and asks you how much your product or service costs, that you are already miraculously at the Negotiating stage! Often, this is just an expression of mild interest and means you are really only at the Suspect stage with them.
4 Proposing. You will have reached the stage with these customers at which you have enough information and a good enough relationship to be able to put forward your proposal: this is the part of the process where you have the chance to tell the customer about your product and why it’s the right choice for them.
5 Negotiating. Only when the customer has accepted in principle the proposal you have made will they begin to want to agree the terms on which they may buy. This is the Negotiating stage.
6 Closing. Closing is the stage of the Selling Cycle at which you seek firm commitment from the customer to buy.
After Closing, the work hasn’t finished, because you will need to think about how you can repeat the cycle and find more business with your customer. That second and third sale ought to become easier too, because the customer now knows what you can do for them!
Use the Selling Cycle to identify your progress with potential customers.
1.4 Build trust and respect (#ulink_48c4d760-9eaa-5530-858d-d7562cef58f2)
One of my first ever customers told me that he had never bought anything from someone he didn’t like. I have seen the truth in this many times over. You need to build a customer’s trust and respect.
The way you treat your customer will tell them whether you’re someone they want to do business with. Here are five important things to consider throughout the selling process:
We buy from people we like. You sometimes have to make an effort to get onto the same wavelength as your customer and try to create some rapport. It doesn’t mean caving in to their every demand, but developing your ability to be sensitive to their personality.
case study Recently, I was discussing sales training with a sales manager at a large software company. I told her honestly that sending all her people on a training course might not be the best way of improving sales results. In fact, I went further, and told her I did not think training courses on their own always worked. It’s the opposite of what she expected me to say, but I had started to build her trust in me with a bit of honesty. Of course, this had the benefit of allowing me to explain why several different training approaches, including coaching, might work better for her team.
“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion”
Dale Carnegie, author of ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’
Take an interest. The quickest way to build rapport is to stop talking about yourself, and start showing some genuine interest in the other person’s work, problems and personal interests. This is sometimes called ‘empathy’.
Do something surprising. Find something to say or do that will break through the natural cynicism they may have for salespeople, and show them you are different.
Be a ‘capable friend’. You will often find opportunities to bring something extra to the table, such as information, your expert advice or superior knowledge. Your customer will start to see more value in working with you.
Know when to trade. You won’t gain respect if you just do everything the customer demands. When you’re asked for something they value, ask for something reasonable in exchange.
Be open, honest and interested in your customer to build their trust.
1.5 You are the difference (#ulink_4ae23718-08f8-57cd-b40a-e9b3dff58f73)
One of the most powerful ways of winning against the competition is through the relationship that you build with your customers. You, and the approach you take, make the difference.
A good example of this is the way in which we all choose between suppliers of very similar commodities. There might be four hairdressers in the town where I live, but I always go back to the same one, because I enjoy the company of the chap who cuts my hair, even though he is a little more expensive than the others.
You are unique. Remember that your relationship with the customer is the one thing that the competition cannot copy. In a close, competitive contest, your behaviour and approach will make the difference.
case study Ian’s sales manager was unhappy that Ian wasn’t visiting the customers more regularly. Ian thought he could be more efficient just telephoning and sending letters. His boss didn’t see it like that. “I might as well send out a catalogue, instead of employing expensive salespeople!” he told Ian. The point of employing Ian as one of the company’s salespeople was that he could build strong relationships and add value to the selling process through person-to-person communication. He could influence the customer’s decision process and build trust for the longer term.
“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity”
Douglas Adams, English comic writer
Be visible. It goes without saying that if you’re not making the effort to stay in regular touch with your customers and prospects, you can quickly become invisible, and perhaps the representative of another company gets the chance to exert their influence instead. This is sometimes called ‘mind-share’. Find reasons to call, to visit, and keep yourself at the forefront of the customer’s mind.
Push and pull. The key to maintaining a winning relationship that makes the difference in a sale is to achieve the right balance between ‘pushing’ and ‘pulling’. Pushing means keeping yourself visible without annoying or irritating the customer with your constant ‘nagging’. Pulling means drawing the customer into the relationship using ‘Business Doctor’ skills (see 4.7), for example, showing empathy, being curious, and adding value by being their ‘capable friend’.
A relationship is based on two parties making an investment in it.
Selling to the right people (#ulink_3416a847-ca51-5d75-92e9-bd3958ce9fc6)
One of the most common mistakes made by salespeople, even those with years of experience, is trying to sell to the wrong people. In this chapter we’ll look at the importance of identifying the individuals who have the power to make change happen, and the value of analysing the customer’s organization to discover the roles that people play in the buying and selling process.
2.1 Understand your customer (#ulink_6a797eed-3368-5e52-a3ad-ce6dafd23e79)
Because we salespeople are often under pressure to find new prospects and constantly add more opportunities to the pipeline, we can often find ourselves tempted to chase every possible sales lead. But not everyone who expresses interest actually has the authority, motivation and ability to buy.
Let’s look at some pitfalls and how to avoid them:
Who owns the problem? One of the best guides for identifying the correct people, or person, is to find out who has ultimate responsibility for the business problem or ‘pain’ that you think you can solve. Remember that they may still lack the authority alone, but it’s a good starting point.
Come out of your comfort zone. It’s easy to get stuck in your comfort zone, convincing yourself that those friendly individuals who always take your call are the ones who will buy. This is especially true with existing customers. Force yourself to ask hard questions of yourself and them, and to make new contacts with greater authority.
“There are one hundred and ninetynine ways to get beat, but only one way to win; get there first”
Willie Shoemaker, American jockey
Make a straw man. Draw up a profile of your ideal customer, and their attributes, as a sort of test. This is called a ‘straw man’. Look at your previous and existing customers. Consider the ideal types of business they are in, and typical job roles.
Spot the ‘tyre kickers’. There’s a big difference between people who take great interest in your product, and those who actually have the authority to buy. Some people, and companies, just want a free education, and will give the impression they can buy so that you’ll let them play with your product.
Are you first? Ask yourself: is this customer already evaluating other suppliers? Have you come to the party late? If you’re second or third, it might be an indication of their serious intent. On the other hand, experience shows us that if you didn’t get there first, you’re probably just ‘cannon fodder’, there to provide a comparative offer.
Do some analysis and research to make sure you target the right companies and individuals.
2.2 Understand their organization (#ulink_3c14441f-c5cb-5816-b0f0-423bd0e03107)
Whether you are approaching a new prospect for the first time, or selling to an existing customer, it’s vital to understand how their organization is structured, and who does what. Doing this will help you target the right people with the right messages.
Broaden your horizons. Your likely starting point with a new customer is often a single person. Find out who else works alongside them, above them and below them. The more contacts you create across the wider organization, the more chances you will have to discover ‘pain’ and determine how and if they will buy.
Draw the organization chart. As soon as you can, you should try to draw out the whole of the customer’s organization on a sheet of paper, showing the different departments, divisions, teams, individual job titles
case study Alison represented a large software company as the account manager for British Telecom (BT), an enormous UK company. She made it her business to try to talk to every part of their organization, and make contacts at many levels of their hierarchy. It took some time, but eventually she had formed a pretty good picture of how these different teams and departments influenced each other and even competed against each other. One day, a BT director told Alison he always enjoyed speaking to her, because she knew more about how their company worked than he did!
“ If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room”
Dame Anita Roddick, Founder, The Body Shop
and people’s names. This is a great way of discovering what you don’t yet know, and encouraging you to go and find out!
Identify spheres of Influence. The organization chart will only tell you the official version of the customer’s hierarchy. The next step is to take an interest in the unofficial ways in which people within organizations group together in loose ‘spheres of influence’. Whose opinions command respect? Who do the senior people listen to? You can map out these connections as you learn more about the people involved.
Pick up clues about the culture. Of course, every organization is different; not only in the way they are structured, but also in the working culture they have developed. It’s important to pick up clues about the way things get done, and observe the accepted norms of behaviour. For example, how much authority is delegated to managers? Is it a sales-led or an engineering-led organization? Is everything done by committee?
Find out how decisions are made at your target customer’s organization.
2.3 Know the roles that buyers play (#ulink_29eb1925-627d-5c63-b2aa-454731034d9e)
Once you have a clear idea of how your customer’s organization is structured, you’ll hopefully have the names and job titles of a number of people you want to deal with. The customer may also introduce new contacts to you, as you move through the Selling Cycle. All these people will have a greater or lesser importance to you depending on the role they play.
Let’s look at some of these buying roles.
User. This describes anyone who is simply the intended user of your product or service. Think of them as the ultimate ‘end customer’ within the organization. Don’t overlook them – they have very valuable information
one minute wonder List all your contacts and allocate one or more buyer roles to each of them. This will help you to assess how you approach them, how useful they will be, and therefore, how much time and effort you expend working with them.
to give you about how your product or service might benefit their organization.
Influencer. Anyone whose opinion is respected, and who has particular knowledge or interest in your product, can be an influencer of a buying decision. Often, more senior people who make the ultimate decision will rely heavily on people they trust to advise them.
Coach. The term Coach is used to describe someone who, for whatever reason, wants to help you win the business. They may particularly like your company or product, or dislike the alternatives; perhaps they believe that supporting you is the best way to influence the decision. They are a mine of information if you treat them right!
Blocker. The opposite of a Coach, these people will either be positively obstructive, or just never do or say anything useful to help you, perhaps because they are afraid of change, or have some other personal reason not to want you to succeed. They will waste your time, so try to spot them early on!
Technical decision maker. This describes someone with the responsibility of making the product decision first and foremost. Usually, they are middle managers, tasked with evaluating and deciding which technical solution is right for them
Business decision maker. Usually the owner of the business problem or ‘pain’, this person is likely to be a senior manager responsible for the business function(s) that will benefit from your product or service.
Financial decision maker. Usually the Finance Director, this person controls the final decision about whether the money can be spent.
Identify the buying roles of people in a target organization.
2.4 Identify the agents of change (#ulink_dc9580d2-8853-5008-b350-1c2ed23fe221)
Despite what many salespeople think, it is not always the person with the most senior job title, the biggest office or the largest department who holds true authority in a buying decision. In fact, it may be a mistake to rely solely on people’s job titles as a guide to who wields the authority to buy.
Introducing the Agent of Change. The most important type of all buying roles is someone I’m going to call an Agent of Change. These are often unique individuals within their organization who can make things happen because they not only have enough seniority (which we can identify from their job title), but also possess the personality, drive, insight and motivation to achieve that positive change or improvement in their business.
The natural leaders. Agents of Change have certain personality traits that give them this unique role. In particular, they are people who are prepared to take a calculated risk and have the personal influence to carry their agenda through. You could call them natural leaders, who do not get bogged down in too much detail, but look at the bigger, strategic picture, and are willing to make bold decisions which create change.
one minute wonder Draw a simple graph with X and Y axes. One axis represents the propensity to take risks and create change. The other represents the level of official authority. Now plot your buyers on this graph. Those in the top right hand corner will be most likely to be agents of change.
Why are they so important? Because you can’t sell to someone who won’t change, can’t buy and doesn’t have a vision of the potential value of improving their business. And we can help give them that vision, as it relates to our product or service!
Sometimes known as Foxes. Jim Holden of the Holden Corporation, an international sales training company, calls these strange creatures ‘Foxes’. They can sometimes be disruptive, demanding and quick to make judgements, but they have the advantage of being highly likely to actually do something positive.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people we deal with in business are followers – content to let others take the risky decisions. Selling is about convincing someone to do something different, and it can be hard going if we only ever deal with people who want an easy life, or require proof that every decision they make carries no risk.
Look for the rare individuals who combine authority with a willingness to change.
2.5 Get access to authority (#ulink_5fc9f5e6-2e14-53d0-8e98-b4bb1f8bf622)
It’s one thing to have understood the customer’s organization and identified all their buying roles; it’s another actually to form a business relationship with the decision makers, or the Agents of Change.
Ideally, it should be our goal always to seek access to those with the authority to make buying decisions, even though we will also need to form relationships with people in other buyer roles who will influence them. Here are some things to consider in relation to gaining access to those in authority:
Aiming high. It’s far better to make initial contacts at the most senior level possible, and be referred down to others, than to try to reach authority later by relying on other less senior people to refer you upwards. This isn’t always possible, of course. But as a rule, always try to call the most senior person available first.
Delegation. Even if you only get the chance to have a short conversation with the decision maker, and they refer you downwards, they have effectively ‘delegated’ the job of dealing with you, and you have now acquired their authority to move forward!
one minute wonder The next time a prospect asks you to travel a long way to a meeting, make a point of asking for the decision maker to be available when you are there. Explain that you will be gathering information about their business problems, and you want to hear the decision maker’s perspective first-hand.
Escalation. If you’re only dealing with influencers, they will at some point need to ‘sell’ to their superiors. Suggest how you can help them – by asking their permission to make contact directly with the decision maker.
Keeping the decision maker informed. Even if you have never met the decision maker, if they ‘own the business problem’, you can, with justification, call or email them to keep them informed of what you are doing and how it will benefit them. Do this as early as possible in the process, and keep doing it at regular intervals.
Bargaining for access. There will be opportunities during a sales process to negotiate for an introduction to a decision maker. If your buyer asks you to do something for them, can you ask to meet a more senior person in exchange?
Dealing with blockers. If someone is actively blocking your progress towards authority, try going sideways instead. Build alternative relationships and these may open up new paths to the decision makers. Weigh up the risk of going over their heads to the top: annoying them may be less of a problem than losing the whole selling opportunity.
Make every effort to network your way upwards.
