Achieving sales excellence is not a business-as-usual challenge. Industries are going through transformational changes that are impacting what companies buy, how they buy, and what they are willing to pay for it.
So how does a salesperson engaged in a complex sale know what they need to know and do what they need to do in this business environment? The first overarching answer is that you’re unlikely to get there by simply doing a better job doing what everyone else is doing. If differentiation is the goal, and it should be, you need to do something different rather than do the same thing better.
So, what might that look like? In situations such as these, where a different strategy is needed, it’s always a great idea to start with the notion that you must get on the customer’s side of the table.
Today, the person on the other side of the table brings a different set of pressures, opportunities, and needs than in times past. They are more concerned about the unknown than the known. They look at the big picture versus individual snapshots. And most importantly, they are seeking fresh perspectives on problems that matter.
If that is the person with whom you are about to have a business conversation, how do you stand out from everyone else? How do you bring a piece of value others will not? Let’s take a look at what doesn’t work, and then explore what might.
Most people in sales are well-schooled in the discoveryconversation. This conversation starts with the salesperson asking questions about a problem they believe the customer is concerned about. It continues with a further exploration of the problem and then a discussion about how the problem can be solved. If this is the type of discussion you’re planning on having, then successful differentiation is unlikely. Why?
It is the same set of questions that have been asked by all the other salespeople.
More importantly, the time spent versus the value received doesn’t work out very well. Time is spent on educating the salesperson about a problem the customer already understands. This is a good way to have a short meeting and a great approach for not having a second.
What’s the alternative? One option is the point-of-view conversation. The point-of-view conversation focuses on helping the customer bring a fresh perspective to framing the problem and to consider creative and innovative alternative solutions.
This, of course, is one of those ideas that is easy to say and not so easy to do. It requires hard work and expertise, but customers will understand and value the difference because the time is spent with the customer learning something they didn’t know versus the salesperson learning something the customer already knew.
So what are the requirements for getting that right? The fundamental requirement is that you must know the trends and shifting economics of your customer’s industry and have a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of your company’s strategic direction and business challenges. Let’s highlight three sweet spots for getting that right:
Tap into Internal Resources. Salespeople need to make sure they are optimizing the use of the resources provided by internal marketing and sales enablement functions. Although the quantity and quality will vary by company, this is a good place to start when getting the required data and information.
Leverage External Technology. Here, the good news is there are now affordable information sources that can be acquired from external sources. The particularly good ones are available on tablets and smartphones, so they can be used as a just-in-time source of information.
Review with Sales Leadership. Particularly when calling on a senior executive, it makes great sense to spend time with your sales leader working with the required information to formulate a compelling perspective for your dialogue with the senior executive. Senior executives will clearly appreciate that you spent the time to understand their company and brought new insights to the discussion versus a well-rehearsed product pitch.
Anytime a transformation change is going on in an industry, a new set of winners and losers emerge. One answer for being among the former is to increase the sales intelligence of your team to enable them to make a difference that matters.