| #31
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Skip
We are always talking about prospecting. And you obviously do not understand my points and the various comments throughout my posts.
When you are selling a product or service it is presented to anyone in your territory that has an obvious need, possible need or someone who's life or business could be made better because of your product or service. You are right....being sold something that is not wanted or needed should never happen and does give sales people a bad name and that has not been my points what-so-ever.
A good sales rep knows everything about everyone that could benefit from their product or service within that sales reps territory. Like I have said many times before....if you wait for someone to tell you they have a need because you were too BLIND to see that need yourself in your own territory....It may be too late.
You are simply getting confused by Needs and Interests.
Success,
Rory Wilfong | | |
| #32
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| Prescription before Diagnosis is Malpractice
I have nothing to add to this discussion that I haven't already posted.  __________________
It's just that simple and it's just that hard.
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| #33
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Agreed....I am just repeating my points
Success,
Rory Wilfong | | |
| #34
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"Top Sales Expert" |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by rwilfong
Skip
We are always talking about prospecting.
| No, we aren't always talking about prospecting. After you find a prospect, you have to sell, and much of this forum and this thread is dedicated to that topic.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by rwilfong
And you obviously do not understand my points and the various comments throughout my posts.
| I understand them, Rory, I don't agree with you however.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by rwilfong
When you are selling a product or service it is presented to anyone in your territory that has an obvious need, possible need or someone who's life or business could be made better because of your product or service. You are right....being sold something that is not wanted or needed should never happen and does give sales people a bad name and that has not been my points what-so-ever.
| Here's one area about which we disagree.
I believe that, before a presentation, a salesperson should get a prospect to verbalize his/her needs, which may or may not include your product. By asking carefully crafted questions, you get to know your prospect and you get to know more about their situation. As you uncover needs and desires to which your product could help them, THEN, and only then, do you present your product. Otherwise, you're just like a door-to-door salesperson selling widgets, hoping that the next person will buy because you've already decided that everyone that you're talking to needs your product.
Houston's original question in this thread was "After reading the exchange, what is your opinion... would you have asked questions or pitched an offer based on assuming an interest or need?"
I have argued for asking questions. You have argued for pitching your product based upon assuming the need. That's where you and I disagree. The salesperson who asks questions will sell a ton more than the person who chooses pitching based upon an assumed need, in my opinion.
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Originally Posted by rwilfong
A good sales rep knows everything about everyone that could benefit from their product or service within that sales reps territory.
| Agreed.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by rwilfong
Like I have said many times before....if you wait for someone to tell you they have a need because you were too BLIND to see that need yourself in your own territory....It may be too late.
| Your job is to get your prospect to verbalize their need. If you can't do that, you're not going to maximize your sales. Period. You're not selling, you're just pitching hoping someone will buy, a very inefficient sales methodology. The needs and wants analysis is perhaps the most important part of the selling process. The analysis happens with the prospect. Your analysis to decide who to call on is a prospecting analysis and is a different process altogether. Both are necessary processes, but you're skipping one of them.
The interaction Houston highlighted in his original post in this thread is a textbook example of how not to sell, yet you're supporting it as the proper way to sell.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by rwilfong
You are simply getting confused by Needs and Interests.
Success,
Rory Wilfong
| I don't believe I'm confused.
But I do believe that if me or someone like me worked with you for one month to refine your process, your sales would dramatically increase.
I'll leave that as my last word on this topic. I commend Houston for starting this thread and want to thank him for the first post which was very well written.
Skip Anderson __________________ Skip Anderson
Selling To Consumers | Sales Training to Sell More™
Free sales training newsletter. Subscribe! | | |
| #35
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"Top Sales Expert" | Assuming Too Much
Rory, it's not a question of waiting to find a need or even responding to a perceived "obvious need". Long term success in sales will not come from pitching when you see a need that fits your offering.
Yes, it is critical that you "assume the sale" but that doesn't mean that you attempt a close because you think you see a fit. As a young SR, I remember doing exactly that and sometimes getting the order. However, when I began to make 2-man calls with the SSRs in the branch, I saw something: they would probe, listen, probe, listen, probe some more, listen some more. When they were ready to close, it was frequently for a much more complex configuration then that which seemed obvious earlier in the call!
This approach also tends to draw the SR closer to the account because the probing included aspects of the business which I never thought of investigating.
>> when is your fiscal year end?
>> which projects are currently funded?
>> if you could improve on your vendor relations, precisely what changes would you find appealing?
>> when you've changed suppliers in the past, what criteria formed the basis of your decision for change?
In another post, I shared a win from my Xerox days where I made President's Club in December with a HUGE installation (which was done over the Christmas holidays). Everyone before me in the patch had walked away from the account because they needed a hi-end duplicator but they simply couldn't afford it. They had all tried to sell them a smaller unit to do the everyday copying. I stuck with it by asking questions about their business, outside printing, publishing, ect. Then it hit me: I had another account on blocks away in this same situation! I presented the concept of combining their needs into one solution. We looked at outside printing, binding, sorting, and walk-up copying. The savings portrayed in the final presentation were sufficient to hire an operator for the high-end copier!
Rory, if I'd followed my "young SR" instincts in this instance, I would have perhaps sold 2 small units (one to each org'n). But I hung tuff, did the skunkworks to uncover contributing volume (ie. outside costs) to further cost-justify the new unit.
You appear to have the idea and the energy to make it work ... you're not missing the mark by much. I'd strongly suggest that you channel some of that energy via formal training. You'll be stunned at the results!
Good luck & Good selling!
Pat | | |
| #36
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To All....My Final Thoughts:
If you truly read every word for word throughout this entire thread you will realize we are talking about the same thing just with different approaches, that are each very successful. No one is above learning more to improve their trade (i.e. Tiger Woods) and I can assure you guys there are several techniques you would learn from me to fine tune your skills. When we stop learning, we are done!!
Sales is not carved in stone however, it is an ever-changing, situational model that you must adapt to your personality to provide the best information to each client for a long term business relationship.
Our thread may have confused readers to the previous paragraph.
Success,
Rory Wilfong | | |
| #37
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"Top Sales Expert" | Interesting Communications Style
Rory, it's apparent that you're convinced that your approach works. At the start, it always seems to be enough just to get out there and bash on doors.
Your final post, though, provides an interesting insight into your communications style. You make it very clear that you believe in your approach (which is important) but you clearly are resistant to the comments from the "grey hair" community.
Your use of bolding is tantamount to yelling but in print: "I can assure you guys there are several techniques you would learn from me to fine tune your skills".
Your assumption about people not having followed the essence of the thread provides another insight into your style.
My suggestion was provided with the best of intentions but was met with obstinance. In future threads, please take note that my comments will be to the rookies out there who care.
Let's talk again in 5 or 10 years to see how your approach stands up to the test of time.
Good luck & Good selling!
Pat | | |
| #38
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| Interesting Question
What I find very interesting is that both selling tactics exist in the market and are successful...to a certain extent.
From the perspective of the buyer, competitive pressures among vendors and the rise of the internet positions many products and services as commodities.
What does this mean and why is it important to sellers? - The amount of vendor and product information on the internet allows for in depth comparative analysis of features, benefits, and vendors before a meeting with a salesperson is necessary
- Features, benefits and vendors are starting to look the same to buyers, so that leaves price as the only real differentiator in the buyer's mind
- This places downward pressure on profit margins as buyers beat up the salesperson on price or the transactional salesperson believes the only competitive advantage is price
Now here is where things get interesting.
I ask Sales Mangers and Sales Professionals "When you're in a competitive situation and it's down to you and two other vendors, what percentage of deals do you win?" The answer is usually somewhere around 33 percent or one in three. That means the Sales Representatives of the competing vendors are taking turns winning in competitive situations.
These numbers hold up when the vendors in the geographic market are all selling using transactional selling tactics. I need to point out here that when price is the only real differentiator the buyers are not loyal to any one vendor.
Consultative, strategic, and collaborative selling gained popularity through a few key landmark books that studied how elite high-performance Sales Professionals sell.
These sales tactics promoted the idea that vendors could differentiate themselves from competitors by transitioning their Sales Professionals away from transactional selling to value or solution selling. Meaning the Sales Professional repositioned themselves as a trusted or strategic adviser.
From a skill perspective Sales Professionals don't discuss their products or services (solutions) before having a discussion about the prospects business objectives, obstacles, solution performance requirements, and success metrics no matter how much experience they have in the industry.
Due to increased competition, these selling tactics became sales strategies that the vendors' Executives and Sales Mangers implemented to address several high priority business issues: - How do we increase our win rates in competitive situations?
- How do we preserve margins?
- How do we reduce customer/client churn?
- How do we increase customer/client loyalty?
- How do we increase deal size?
- What does our market value?
- How do we increase market share?
- How do we reduce the cost of sales
Lets go back to the situation I described above where all the competing vendor's sales tactics are transactional. Once one of the vendors starts repositioning themselves as a trusted adviser their: - Win rates in competitive situations dramatically increase
- They charge a premium for their products and services - profit margins go up
- Clients and prospects view the vendor as a valuable resource/partner - customer loyalty goes up and churn goes down
- Deal size increase due to selling full solutions
- Market share increase
- Cost of sales go down
This is a very long way of getting to the point that the era of selling products using tactics that assume an understanding of the prospects business without going through a questioning process that focuses on the prospect's business first, is rapidly coming to an end.
For the Salesperson who's sales tactics are transactional that find themselves competing against high-performance Sales Professionals who's sales tactics focus is on asking questions and becoming a trusted adviser, the competitive future is not bright.
It won't matter how many times the transactional Sales Representatives calls, leave voice mail messages, send letters, faxes, emails or meets with the prospect in an attempt to keep their name in front of them.
In a head-to-head competition a well trained Trusted Adviser will win almost every time. In fact transactional behaviors will only magnify the differentiation and value of the trusted adviser and the vendor they represent. This is about competing and winning. | | |
| #39
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"Top Sales Expert" |
Excellent post, Mnicksjr! | | |
| #40
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"Top Sales Expert" | Not so much an "era"
mnicksjr, it certainly sounds like we're "in the same camp" in terms of probing for needs.
My reason for jumping-in relates to your quote: "This is a very long way of getting to the point that the era of selling products using tactics that assume an understanding of the prospects business without going through a questioning process that focuses on the prospect's business first, is rapidly coming to an end."
I really don't think that it's as much an "era" as it is an ongoing saga where skills training was either:
1. not delivered (ie. company doesn't believe in sales skills training); or,
2. not supported by the field (ie. poor adoption by SRs, no ongoing support, coaching, mentoring, etc.);
In either scenario above, the SR is out there hammerin' on doors ... winning some ... losing some. But really not understanding why (he's winning or losing) because the skill sets haven't been honed.
In all likelihood, the untrained SR has little understanding/empathy for the motivators-to-buy. Consequently, opportunities are being missed.
If the SR is in the B2B arena, it's also probably true that he's not spending sufficient time absorbing knowledge about the subleties of the businesses which he's visiting. In my experience, this is apparent when the SR attempts a "features dump" in front of an unexpecting decision-maker (without having earned the right). Or, fumbles through some "canned closes" with varying success. As a rookie, I can attest to the embarassment of such a misguided approach.
I've been in B2B sales for 38 years and I can tell you from experience that, in large part, the situation hasn't really changed. Thus my comment about it's not so much an "era" (which implies a concern which existed for a period of time), rather, there is a level of awareness wrt sales skills training. This awareness may have come from the number of studies out there but it's unclear to me.
I would venture, however, that the companies which are truly "sales training aware" are NOT in the majority. Consequently, I lecture the rookies to seek out companies who have an identifiable approach to sales skilles training with coaching/mentoring. These are best practices which are significant of great companies!
Good luck & Good selling!
Pat | | |
Sales Training • SalesPractice.com
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