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The Age-Old Problem in Selling is…

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The age-old problem in selling is: how do you get in front of a customer’s needs?

If your product is one which you can ‘manufacture’ the need for, then you might be able to cold call from a phone book and say the right things that brings awareness to the customer’s problem.

But if you’re in a business like most of us where the prospect actually must have some kind of a presenting need or pain, then you calling from the phone book will be a colossal waste of time.

I’m not like some of my colleagues who say that cold calling is a total waste of effort and energy, however I do think there are some things we can get out of a cold call that might be slightly different.

prospect sortingNo Longer a Seller. Forever A Sorter.

I prefer to look at this whole process of prospecting as a sorting mechanism.

I am sorting the people who will never do anything with me – from the people who don’t have a need right now but might soon – from the people who I just happened to call it the right time and they have an immediate issue.

So the first order of business is to change your mindset from one of a seller to one of a sorter. Once you do that, then you will need to determine what the categories are into which you will sort suspects and prospects. I like to look at this as a bucket scenario. Read more

The Pivotal Concept That Governs All Sales Actions

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Of all the concepts that we teach in our sales development firm, this has had the highest impact on people’s results and confidence.

We start sales training classes with a very simple question: “What is the intent of a salesperson?” Almost everyone misses it. They say:

  • “It’s to sell.”
  • “It’s to get the deal.”
  • “It’s to be credible.”
  • “It’s to make money.”
  • “It’s to make quota.”

Our next response leaves them gasping for air…

Your intent is no longer to go out and get deals. Your intent should be to help the prospect identify, reveal and fix his/her problem, even if he/she decides not to use you to get it fixed. Read more

Problems and Solutions In Talking Money With Prospects

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To say that the discussion of money is the most important part of the sales process might be an over-reach. BUT, the fact is that if you aren’t willing to embrace the conversation about money, then you will be at a disadvantage further into the sales cycle.

Why do so many people have so many qualms with talking money? Well, in this Whiteboard Wednesday, Bill Caskey deals with it head-on, discussing the problems, the causes and the solutions that await you. As with any roadblock in the sales cycle, it all begins with “the inner game.”

Too Much Eagerness. Bad for Customers. Bad for You.

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Last week, I had a coaching session with one of my clients who is a pretty talented business development person. I say ‘talented’ because she has all of the raw materials: enthusiasm, energy, work ethic, and decent communication skills.

Then, last week she relayed a deal that her company is working on. As she described the situation, a couple of things caught my attention. She proceeded to tell me how important this deal was to her company and how excited she was and how desperate some of her teammates are about landing this deal. (I suspect the desperation came directly from the sales force, but that’s a different matter).

After she reviewed the situation I asked her if she noticed anything about how she described the deal. She said she didn’t. But I did.

What I noticed was the underlying theme of neediness and awestruck-ness about this deal. It’s that “this-one-would-be-a-huge-feather-in-our-cap-if-we got-it” attitude. But that kind of thinking, to me, assures she won’t get it.

It’s Bad for Your Internal Team

Since one of the strategies with this prospect was a presentation meeting where she was to bring her engineers to discuss the deal with the customer, it becomes even more vital that their (engineer) minds are right when in contact with customer.

Anytime you give those people ample reason to be scared they’ll take it. Feeling pressure and stress is no way to go through a presentation like this. And the more magnitude and burden you put on the situation, the less likely you will be to care/focus on what the customer wants.

This is part of that overall misguided myth that the more excited we are about getting a deal, the more excited the prospect is about giving it to us. I know we were all taught that-and really want to believe it. But in my experience, it’s the cause of more lost deals than won deals.

It’s Bad for Your Customer

More importantly, anything that takes your eye off of the customer’s problems and goals creates a block for you – and they’ll feel it. Feeling that pressure to perform is one of the most common mistakes made in business development /sales. In coping with that pressure, you take the attention off of them and put it right on yourself. Read more

How To Improve The Sales Mind

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In this episode, Brooke Green takes a look at how we can improve the creative juices that make up the sales mind. Yes, sales people MUST be creative, but most are a bit afraid of it (our opinion). So Brooke let’s fly with some ideas.

Also, Bill Caskey rants about a cold call he received from an insurance agent (with a huge national brand).

*Watch other Whiteboard Wednesday Episodes: www.youtube.com/whiteboardwednesday

*Coming June 27, 2011, Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale interview Pat Williams – Senior Vice President of the Orlando Magic. View the episode “What Every Salesperson Can Learn from John Wooden” at http://www.advancedsellingpodcast.com/what-every-salesperson-can-learn-from-john-wooden/.

 

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.

Lost Journal (Part I)

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When my mom died this year, I was amazed as I cleaned out her home, as to how many journals she had, most with only a page or two filled out. Well, it must be in the Caskey DNA because, come to think of it, I have a lot of journals started as well.

In fact, I came across one last week that was more than half full. And it had recaps of some of my personal therapy/coaching/counseling sessions. I give this to you because some of this informs the training that we do at Caskey. It’s “the inner game” work we do. I hope some of these notions can make a slight difference in your life–as they have in mine. I’ll be exploring a few each week until the end of the year.

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It’s never about me. It’s about the problem I’m put on this earth to solve.
This was a good one to start with. It came as a result of my resistance to moving out of my comfort zone. In my training work with people, I see comfort zones as a big roadblock to people (me included) making serious, sustainable changes in their lives. We forever talk about how we “aren’t where we want to be,” but if it takes change, then we resist.

This quote helps me reframe the game–if I see everything as being about me (the money I make, the customers I sell, what I can get out of something), then I will forever be a hostage to my comfort zone.

But if I’m on a journey larger than just satisfying my own needs–and think about my life as having a purpose beyond me, then comfort zones won’t be a problem. If I feel like I have an obligation to live a bigger life, ask a bigger question, serve a bigger purpose, then all the right results will happen.

If you’re a manager, and you have people that you believe are operating inside their comfort zone, have a conversation with them about their bigger story. If they don’t have one, then don’t expect them to move outside their zone much. You, as a manager should use 2007 to help them reframe their bigger journey.

Comments welcome and wanted.