How To Demonstrate Your Value BEFORE You Sell

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This week’s episode is loaded with new ideas on social media, the myths of selling, and how to “be” the value instead of “talking about being” the value.

Brooke Green starts us off with a transaction she had with a client who was focused on ‘getting the prospect to be interested.’ Always, a losing proposition.

Then, Bryan Neale talks about sales behavior–and the myth that if I do more activity, I will see more results. And, he addresses some things to do instead.

And Bill Caskey takes a question from a client who writes, “How do I use social media to grow my business? I’m LinkedIn to thousands but it’s doing me no good.”

Your Inner Game

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Do you pay attention? Thought so. We all pay attention–(unless we don’t.) But if we do, we learn things. And our income proves it.

And do you pay attention to your inner game….how you’re thinking?

In this episode, Bill Caskey illustrates a real-life example on the concept of Buyer vs. Seller. Brooke Green reflects on a deal she lost, what went wrong, and what she should have done. Bryan Neale and Bill Caskey answer a question from a viewer.

How to Sell a Premium Product in a Commodity World

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You just got the phone call from a prospect who saw your presentation, who shared their pain with you, who you felt was a really good fit, but the answer came back, “No, we’ve gone another direction.” How are you feeling about yourself? Not so good, huh?

The problem may have more to do with your mindset than it does with your product or sales approach. What I find is that most salespeople who struggle to sell premium priced products in a commodity/price sensitive world are those who struggle mentally with the value of their own product and, specifically, of their role in the sales process.

As long as you look at your role as being there to “sell something to someone,” you won’t have the right mindset to sell a premium product.

So what should be your sales mindset?

1.   The price difference is miniscule compared to the value delivered. I know we all believe that about our product, but have you ever written down the 10-50 value components of your product and assigned a value to each one that the customer would either save on or profit from? No? Then how do you expect to explain it to them in a way that’s factual and opinion-less?
2.    Never be attached to the sale. When you are attached to the sale/needy/hungry/desperate, you give off a vibe that says, “I don’t believe very much in my product, but I really need the business.” If you’re giving off that vibe, they are reading that vibe loud and clear. Their reaction is, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Now, I realize that we talk on this blog and on our podcast (www.TheAdvancedSellingPodcast.com) about detachment. It’s not as easy to detach as it is to talk about detaching. But you’ve got to figure out a way. Go to a coach, hire a therapist, talk to people who are your mentors, who have made it big in a business, to teach you how to do it. Status quo won’t work. Desperation is not a good strategy.

Does Your Customer See Your Value As a 3? Or a 10?

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Just completed training for a company where most of their customers see them as 3’s rather than 10’s. Allow me to explain.

In the graphic, you’ll see two boxes…a 3 box and a 10 box on the outside. This is an illustration I drew today in a training for a company who often gets defaulted into a commodity. In other words, when it comes to “proprietary value” their customers see them as a 3 on the proverbial 1-10 scale.

In other words, what you really are is a 10–but your prospects and customers fail to see you there. You do “big box” work but they see you as a “small box” supplier. So what will you do about it?

One method is to educate your customer so they know “how to see you.” If they’ve become accustomed to you showing up when there’s a bid–or begging for business–or just answering calls, then it’s no wonder they see you as a 3.

As I told me client today, if you get the call when your customer is thinking about expansion or strategic planning or the highest level of value, then you are close to a 10.

But if you’re one of five bidders, then you have no relationship…and you’re likely a 3–or lower.

Recommendation

Make a list of the things that you do that most customers fail to see. Don’t overlook the little things…like one of the account execs today schedules quarterly meetings with their clients to make sure the client is getting the most out of the equipment they buy. That’s huge. Do they know that? Do you send a report of your findings up to the C-suite?

What are the other things that you do for your 10 clients? Now, go to the 3’s and educate them a little. Tell them how others use you–how they get the most value out of you.

And remember, if you’re thought of as a 3, it’s your fault, not theirs.

The High Cost of Low Curiosity

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Are you, by nature, a curious person?

Having worked with thousands of sales people–and hundreds of managers–I honestly believe it is a pre-requisite to income success to be curious.

Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly.”

  • When someone says to you that they have mastered something–or they are experiencing success in a field that you, too, would like to have success–do you sit them down and pepper them (nicely) with questions?
  • When you’ve learned that someone has figured out a way to get to the CEO, do you stop them in their tracks and invite them to dinner?
  • When you’re at a sales meeting, and you learn one of your associates has figured out how to find the pain of the customer better, do you handcuff them until they tell you EXACTLY how they did it?

You probably don’t. And I’m not sure why that is. Is it because we’ll feel stupid? Is it because we wouldn’t want to puff up the other person? Is it because we’d rather do it the hard way, learning it on our own, rather than the easy way–learning from someone who’s done it?

Is there some kind of guilt that kicks in when we get the shortcut?

So the next time you hear of someone who has been successful at something, call them up, congratulate them, and invite them to tell you EXACTLY how they did it.

It will make you rich.

 

 

The Ultimate Selling Strategy: Change Your Thinking.

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I got a call from a client last week. She had just begun our program with her company and had heard us talk about “changing how you think” in order to get better results. We hadn’t yet gotten into the details of that, but since she called, I shared with her the five areas of change needed to radically change results.

I hope you can use this information to achiever better sales/business results for yourself. We’ll probably do a podcast (The Advanced Selling Podcast) on it soon.

=1 Change how you think about yourself. Most of us see ourselves as victims in a big economy–held hostage by market forces and company forces. We are quick to blame others for our malaise. That’s what’s so cool about sales–it’s up to you. It’s your accountability that is THE factor in whether you’re a success or not. See yourself as an abundant being on a mission to bring value to your customers. Whether they buy or not–or whether they buy on your time line–is irrelevant. All that matters is that you’re in the present moment with them while in conversation about their pains/issues/matters of the heart. The greatest sales strategies in the world won’t work if you aren’t thinking correctly about your self in the sales process.

=2 Change how you think about your market potential. Most markets are abundant. Yet, when I hear salespeople talk about their sales funnel, it appalls me at how scarcely they see things. Your market is in a lot of pain that they need you to fix for them. Never forget that. And because there is an abundance of pain–and an abundance of money available to fix that pain–then you are in an abundant market. Period. Never let the scarcity of another (even a prospect) effect you.

=3  Change how you think about your roles as a sales professional. This is cool and very simple. Your role in the sales process is to create an environment for the truth to occur. You have to create a safe atmosphere where your prospect is so comfortable telling you the truth, that it’s easier to do that than to lie to you. You’ve heard the expression “buyers are liars.” Well, it’s only because amateur sales people drop into “convince and persuade” mode and make them lie. If you’re creating the right environment, buyers won’t lie.

=4  Change how you think about your value. The value you bring to customers hovers around the intersection of THEIR PAIN and YOUR SOLUTION. Stop thinking your value is all about your benefits and features. Your benefits are only relevant if they have a pain and they believe you have a solution for it. NEVER LEAD WITH YOUR VALUE. Lead with them telling you their problems–and you determining if you can help them. Most corporate selling strategies lead with how great they are for the client. If your a prospect, do you want to hear that?

=5  Change how you think about the sales process. “OK class, who should control the sales process? The one with the money?” NO. THe one wtih the solution. Most sales people get this wrong. But you can only control the sales process to the extent you change your thinking on #1-4. If you merely try to exert control of the sales process without work on #1-4, then you’ll appear crass and amateurish.

So that was my answer to my client. Obviously, in training, I go into much more detail, but thought you’d maybe get a little something from that.

Any comments? I know someone will take me to task for something I said (or didnt’ say), so have at it. And recognize that a change in sales results starts in the mind–not in the market.

Before You Discount Your Price

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By Brooke Green

So close…How many times have you been in this situation:

*You meet a prospect
*You take them through your process
*You ask them the right questions, tough questions
*They reveal that they have a problem
*They know it is costing them money
*They think you can help them fix it
*They say “NO” because they can’t afford your solution

WHAT? WAIT A MINUTE! EVERYTHING WAS GOING SO WELL.

What’s really happening…

I think our first instinct is to believe what they’ve told us – our price is too high. We obviously didn’t hear something right, or our pricing process is flawed. So, maybe I should discount. STOP! If your arm is falling off and you’re bleeding to death, do you negotiate with your doctor for a lower price?? Do you decide to let it bleed a little bit longer before you do something about it?

No, you realize you have a problem, you know you have to invest something to fix it, and you believe the doctor can fix it for you. If you have a prospect with a problem as big as a “dangling arm” should they behave differently? My experience is that it’s not about price at all. It’s a belief issue.

What to do about it……..

If you have helped a prospect identify a problem, denominate the cost of the problem, and you and the prospect have decided together that you can fix it, what does price have to do with it? NOTHING! It’s about belief; belief that the problem they have exists, belief that it’s worth investing time and money in to fix, and the belief that you are the person to fix it. So, if the prospect wants to keep making it about price, what can you do? Go back to your process……….

  • Historical Review – How did you get to this point?
  • Up–Front agreement – “I want to find out what is really holding you back”
  • Compelling Reason – What was the pain that was revealed to you? Remind them of it – over and over and over.
  • Economics – What is the cost of not fixing the problem? How much is the problem costing them currently? Is the value your solution higher than the dollars they will invest to fix it? If yes, than logically, they should move forward with the solution.

If you take them back through your process and they are still hung up on price, you have to lay it out for them:

“My experience is that the problem here is really not the price. Maybe your gut tells you that the problem is not worth fixing, or that I really can’t help you. That’s okay, but if that is the case, I will have to walk away.”

If they allow you to walk away, they weren’t serious about fixing the problem. The thought of you leaving them with their problem will force them to “get real” and get you back on track for the real, true conversation.

 

Getting to the Decision Maker–Your Attitude Matters

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Recently in our SELECT (advanced sales training) program, we got into a conversation about getting to the right person in the sales process.

As we went down the path, it became apparent that it was less a technique issue and more of an attitude issue on our part.

I went back in to the studio and recorded a short eight-minute recap for all of our client base and anybody who has subscribed to our email newsletters.

Hopefully, it can provide you with a little guidance when you are faced with this idea of “How do I get to the decision maker inside my prospect company?”

What is Your Customer’s Mentality?

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Just like you have an outlook and a mentality of how you see the world, so does your customer. And many times that mentality they have does not fit in with your plans or your solutions.

Recently, I was asked to come in and do a half day training program for a group of 20 sales people. A manager “just needed someone to fill a slot” and thought I might be the right person to do it. However, in our business I don’t consider myself a slot filler. I consider myself a problem solver and until the customer’s mentality changed from how do I fill a slot in my sales meeting to how do I solve sales problems, he was not a prospect for me.

So the question becomes, can one change another’s mentality? I think you can. But it’s unlikely you will until you realize “the current state of the customer mentality.” 

In many instances the customer’s mentality is save money or get it for cheap, protect and defend my current status or laziness (doing as little work as I can on this). You might consider changing your customer’s mentality by writing down what you would like it to be. What would a client’s mentality have to be for him/her to be open to telling you about his/her problems and your solution? Once you write down the ideal mentality then you are on your way to being able to assess whether or not you see that in a customer.

Another example
I have a client that sells therapy equipment to clinics. When I asked him to do this exercise, he wrote down that the “ideal client mentality” would be to “find a way to leverage my patients and the relationships I have with them to grow the average per patient revenue per visit.”
Even though that wasn’t always the mentality of the prospect, when he was able to articulate that and say this is the kind of person we can help is one who has this “mentality” he immediately started to see change on how the doctors saw his value.

So, do the same thing. Write down that ideal client mentality and see if it enables you to change someone’s perception of what you do.