#433: Communicating Change to a Client

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advancedsellinpodcastgraphicbootIt seems like most of our show topics are devoted to prospecting and selling, however there is an important part to account and relationship management, and that is how to deliver transitional news to your client.

This could be in the form of a price increase, a change in ordering structure, or something more significant like the buyout of your company. There is no news that’s too small to at least pay attention to how you communicate it.

In this episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill and Bryan give you some tips on how to do just that.

Also mentioned in this podcast:

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The E.I Assessment: Asking the Right Questions

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The psychology of client relations is a strange thing.

Far too many business owners and salespeople change their core philosophy that has brought them success exactly at the moment that they receive an opportunity to score their biggest client, contract, customer, or sale.

Why? A simple (and completely natural) reaction: Nervousness.

When pursuing a new, super sized client will require some adaptation. The key to managing this situation successfully, however, is to change your process, not your philosophy. Read more

Can a checklist save your life?

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This is the final in a series of seven articles on how to change the dynamic between you and your buyer and the need for NEW RULES in your selling process. In today’s article, we’ll look at the “Dynamic of Checklist Thinking, a super-strategy to execute the sales process.”  Does the name Atul Gawande ring a […]

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What an Economist Can Teach Us About Selling

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This is the sixth in a series of seven articles outlining the need for NEW RULES in your selling efforts. In this article, we’ll look at the Dynamic of The Unseen.

Sounds a bit mysterious, doesn’t it? Well, it is.

In 1946, Henry Hazlitt wrote a book called “Economics in One Lesson.” (click here to learn more). I suggest you read it if you’re interested in public policy or in human behavior.

Hazlitt’s premise was that economists seldom look at the long term consequence of a government action. For example, if the government spends $1 trillion on make-work programs, it all sounds great on the surface. People go to work. Everyone’s happy. Or, are they? Read more

The MOST Overused Term in Business Today

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This is the fifth in a series of seven articles outlining the need for NEW RULES in your selling efforts. In this article, we’ll look at the Dynamic of Value.

Anyone else get annoyed when a company drones on and on about their “value”? You’ve heard all the iterations of this: Value Add. Value Proposition. Value Statement. 

Usually it means something like this, “We bring value – and if we talk enough about how much value we bring, then it’s likely you’ll begin to believe it.” 

Well, that’s not good enough today.

I’ll share a new way to look at “value” so you can change the rules of the selling game. As I’ve done in each article in this series (click here to read the other articles), my sole aim is to help you change the entire dynamic of the buyer/seller process.

If you do it right, you’ll be the prize that others will seek. Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, it’s possible, if you read this series and begin to ACT. Read more

Why Aren’t You Using Your HUGE Market Advantage?

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This is the fourth in a series of seven articles outlining the need for NEW RULES in your selling efforts. In today’s article, we’ll look at the “Dynamic of Process.”

Sales Process: No one term has commanded the attention of so many, yet been implemented by so few.

Every CEO I know talks about ‘sales process,’ but few implement any true strategy. When I go into their companies and ask about their process, my question is answered with dead silence.

Why the silence? Few companies will admit to having a good, psychologically sound sales process. And those sales teams that do have a decent one rarely use it.

Why is that?

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Stop Trying to Get Customers to Make a Decision

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This is the third in a series of seven articles outlining the need for NEW RULES in your selling efforts. In this article, we’ll look at the Dynamic of Decisions.

Remember the good ole’ days when you were trained to ask the customer, “Who makes the buying decision on this?” (Or, some version of that.)

Well, that implied something very obvious – but wrong.

That implied that it was THEM (or someone at their company) making the decision, not you.

We also used elaborate metaphors like the Fox, the Champion, the Sponsor, the Hen (OK, maybe not the hen).

Then we would pull out the org chart and have them tell us who would be involved in the decision. And we’d get lied to. (You forgot that part, didn’t you?)

This process must change.

Today, you must alter the “Dynamic of Decision.” Changing this dynamic enables you to reap enormous rewards and stop wasting time with non-qualified prospects. Read more

Reclaim The Power Prospects Have Over You

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This is the second in a series of seven articles outlining the need for NEW RULES in your selling efforts. In today’s article, we’ll look at the “Dynamic of Power.”

Who has the power in the sales process? Think about it. Who has it?

If you’re a traditionalist, you’ll say, “The prospect does, because they have the money.” We used to call it ‘The Power of the Pen’ (as in a ‘pen’ that signs the order.)

But not so today. In article one, I told you about the Dynamic of Pursuit.

Here, I want to talk about the Dynamic of Power.

The bottom line: You have the power. Not your prospect.

Now, it may not readily seem like that because you have goals and budgets you need to achieve. You’re constantly thinking, “What do I need to do, or say, to close this business?”

The New Power Shift

Sorry to be repetitive, but you have the power because you have the solution. Now, it may be that they don’t need your solution urgently. Fair enough. If that’s the case, then you must move on. Do not spend unnecessary time with a prospect who has no pain – or no reason for change.

But, let’s suppose you’re in front of someone who truly does have a problem. Read more

Are You Confused About The Dynamic of Pursuit?

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This is the first in a series of seven articles outlining the need for NEW RULES in your selling efforts. In today’s article, we’ll look at the “Dynamic of Pursuit.”

I trained a sales team two months ago. It was our kickoff meeting in advance of a long term ongoing training program (which is currently in place).

In my kick-off meetings, I begin by focusing on changing the dynamic between YOU and the BUYER. I start with is the simple question,  “Who is selling whom?”

After I had made my points, a 50-something man stood up and challenged me. “There is no way, in this economy,” he said, “that my customer will EVER sell me. I must always be in selling and closing mode or I won’t get deals. You’re nuts to think that it could be any other way.”

OK. So noted. I later found out this gentleman was struggling. His results were poor. In his manager’s words, “time has passed him by.”

I Needed To Address His Concern

When training teams, I’ve learned that I can’t focus on 1-2 people who disagree. Every minute I spend with a disagree-er, is a moment I can’t spend expanding the thinking of the agree-ers. I must pick my battles and this wasn’t a fight worth fighting in front of the group.

After the program, I called the challenger over to have a word with him. He had calmed a little, so I asked him. “Have you ever had a prospect call you because he had been referred to you, hearing how great you are. Then, he asked a few questions and purchased?” Read more