Shortening The Sales Cycle and Passing On Price Increases

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These two topics today — how to shorten the sales cycle by changing your perspective — and how to increase prices (if you’re in an industry that is passing on price increases to customers) seem like two distinctly different issues. But once you see these ‘whiteboarded’ you’ll see how they are connected. What connects them is the mindset of the seller.

Raw material and commodity prices are escalating rapidly. Oil, which accounts for a large part in the manufacture of anything is projected to reach $100 by the end of the year. Some project even higher. So, if you haven’t passed on increases yet, you might be soon. This episode will help you with the emotional side of this AND the tactical side.

The High Hazard of High Emotion

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We love emotion don’t we? When we see a coach ranting and raving on the sideline, we say, “Boy, look at that passion!!” Usually, what we mean is “He’s come unhinged-but it’s for a good cause.”

But is out-of-control emotion all it’s cracked up to be in the sales cycle? I say, “No.” Here’s why.

We have a saying in our business when we’re working with clients: “The only emotion that should be seen is the prospect’s demonstration of emotion of why they need to fix their problem.” Not only does your emotion (desire to sell the product, desire for the resulting income, ego satisfaction) not help, it hurts the process.

You want the prospect’s emotion to fill the air and the space between you and him. The more your emotion is on display, the less room there is for theirs to play out.

Catch Yourself

Believe me, this is hard for me to do…and I see it difficult for others. When your points are falling flat and your customer resorts to “Your price is too high,” you WILL get emotional. But it won’t come out as passion…yelling…screaming. It will come out as defensive. And the instant you go defensive, you’ve lost the battle.

Write down the thing that your prospect commonly says that drives you crazy. Then come up with a strategy/device so that when they say it, you stay calm and in the moment. Then you can, logically, walk thru how they got to that decision/conclusion.

And, of course, practice detachment. If it is not meant to be, then you must move on. But don’t use detachment as a way out of the process. Detachment is merely a ‘way of being’ so that you can logically sort out the truth.

How To Sell To Those Who Don’t Know You?

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How exactly do you handle it when you’re calling on someone who doesn’t know much about you? It’s a challenge for virtually every new business developer and in this episode, we devote two segments to it.

In the first segment, Bill Caskey retreats to the whiteboard to give you some ideas on how best to compete with their current vendor. And later, Brooke Green returns to talk about the entire ‘sales cycle’ that will bring about change for your customer (and business for you).

Whiteboard Wednesday Trailer

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Whiteboard Wednesday, a bi-weekly Web TV Show for Sales Professionals, is now available! The show is a tactical guide for any sales person to use in navigating the turbulent waters of professional selling!

If you want to change your results in sales or leadership, you must…must…change your thinking.

Once you do, you’ll find the business market quite easy to pursue. You’ll find that your confidence soars. You’ll find situations that used to frustrate you now become easy.

We suggest that every problem you have in business today is a result of old, antiquated thinking. Isn’t it time to change?

Stop Asking “What’s Your Problem?”

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They won’t have an answer for you…so stop with the asking.

We teach the concept of finding the problem when we guide sales professionals. Yet, how often we hear our clients come back and say “They didn’t have any problems. I asked them and they couldn’t think of any.”

OK. One gold star for asking the question. But two BLACK stars for not asking in the right way.

If your prospect is unaware of problems he/she has then asking them about them doesn’t help them much.

A better approach is to have a list of the 5-10 problems you help companies solve (or address).  Make a list of those and put them in a document. Then, as you begin your sales conversations with people, bring out the ones that are the most relevant.

Some will look at this as some kind of cheap trick–or crutch. We say it’s a great way to keep the conversation focused on the problem the customer has rather than on the product you have.

Do You Really Understand Your Sales Funnel?

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Bill addresses the sales funnel and some misconceptions people have of it. He also gives some advice on what to do with people who can’t decide.

I Love “Low-Hanging Fruit”

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Why does “low-hanging fruit” get a bad rap. Why shouldn’t every business-to-business sales organization be totally focused on low-hanging fruit? Answer: They should. In my world (the world of sales training), low-hanging fruit is defined as the following:

  • A business that has a problem that they are totally committed to admitting and fixing, and they don’t need a salesperson convincing them that they should do something about it.
  • A business organization that has the funds to devote to solving the problem. (In other words, they have the budget and/or will spend money to fix it.)
  • A company that is open-minded and looking for outside help in solving of inside problems. (Some companies aren’t, and if you’re an outsider then ditch them and move on.)
  • A client who doesn’t see you as a vendor—but sees you as a provider of a valuable solution that will improve the wellbeing of the people at the company. (The instant you get into you vs. 10 other bidders, get out.)
  • A company that gives you access to information and people. (They don’t hide the CEO, the CFO or the COO because there’s a policy that they don’t see salespeople.)

Believe it or not, there are companies around that have these characteristics. And if you define these as low-hanging fruit, then have at it. I would suggest that if any one of these elements is not in place, then you have to reach too high, which will take more time, which will cost more money, which will rob someone else in the market of your value.

What is Getting in the Way of Better Performance?

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As sales trainers, it seems like we’re always out there to “help improve skills.” Yet, after my conversation with Ralph Reiff, who oversees the St. Vincent Sports Performance Center in Indianapolis, he reminded me of something we often forget about in sales training.

When Ralph looks at an athlete to decide what kind of training he/she needs, he looks at “what is getting in the way of better performance?”

He claims there’s always something that if remedied/fixed/addressed would improve the athlete’s performance considerably.

What is Your Sales Distraction?

I equate that to some of the work we do in our work on sales strategy with clients. The bottom line question is: “What do we do that gets in the way of the sale?” Here are some thoughts that you can chew on.

  1. We talk too much. I’ve literally heard salespeople talk themselves out of a sale, because they don’t know when to shut up.
  2. We fail to uncover the hidden pain. It’s easy when you walk in and ask the prospect what their problem is and it’s on the table in front of you. But what if you have to dig a little bit? What if the problem they have is something they’ve lived with for so long that they don’t even see it as a problem.
  3. We forget to have the economics discussion (or more conveniently, we ignore it). The money discussion is hard to have, because it can be emotional. But you must have it up front to see what the prospect feels about paying a premium (if in fact your product sells for a premium), or at least how he feels about the financial commitment that he needs to make.
  4. We never show up in “get ready position.” Are you ready for anything when you show up at a sales call? Or, are you hoping that the prospect says and does the right thing based on your prompts? You have a long tedious future in sales if you’re not ready for anything the prospect says. The best way to be ready is to be “detached from the outcome.”
  5. We think old thoughts. The most common place this shows up is in prospecting. Continue to think that billboard advertising and cold calls are what are going to help you generate more business. The fact is, social media and the entire method prospects use to consume information has changed, and you’d better be attuned to it.

In conclusion, these are some things that you can either start doing or stop doing, depending on whether they’re getting in your way. Good luck!

Sales Strategies Vs. Sales Tactics

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How many times can we talk about the difference between sales strategy and sales tactics? Apparently, not too often because here I am talking about it again…

Your sales strategy should be really, really simple…the simpler it is to understand, the more likely your sales team will understand and execute against it. Are you ready?

Your sales strategy should be to educate the customer to the problems he has–and help him solve them.

Everything you do in the marketing/lead generation/sales process should have THAT as your end goal. The mistake most companies make is they make their strategy about THEM — not the customer.

I recently spoke to a group where I asked the question, “What is your sales strategy?” The answers I got indicated that they had done no definitive work on the subject. Isn’t that a bit absurd? With as much chatter as there is about the concept of sales strategy—to have done no work on it? None!

So, now that you have your new strategy, your sales tactics — and marketing tactics — should line up to support that. Here are some tips:

  • Maybe you publish an article about all the mistakes you observe people making in the process of solving problems.
  • Maybe you create a video where you interview a client about the problems they had they didn’t know about.
  • Maybe you create a speech that you deliver to groups in your area–your niche–where you discuss the Top 10 Problems people experience without your solution.

You get the idea. For God’s sake, do some work on strategy. And when you do, make sure your customer is at the center of it.