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Archives: 2011

Dec 30, 2011 0

Check Solution Belief

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inclogo

Small business information for the entrepreneur. That’s how America’s Inc. pitches itself. They have a section devoted to sales. Unfortunately, it leans towards the kind of vagueisms that the rest of its articles steadfastly avoid. Rather than hear fourth and fifth person lists of what works, I prefer the kind of angle they usually deploy when taking real-life stories ahead of desktop opinions. (Take for instance these insights into running a cupcake shop).

Still, how can you ignore clicking on a title such as How to Close a Sale - Here are some strategies to help create a win-win business relationship of customer satisfaction and longevity? Although frustratingly shorn of any proper examples, sales trainer Jeff Thull outlines his four step process (Discovery, Diagnosis, Design & Delivery) including a neat summary from the ‘diagnosis’ stage of the two major reasons why you fail to sell;

  • They do not believe they have the problem the solution will solve (which includes thinking the problem is not big enough to require a change).
  • They do not believe the solution will work.

I don’t buy this in its entirety (for instance, he cites a subset of point one, but none for point two when there are surely several for each, and crucially also ignores the ever-present underlying impact of reaction to ‘change’), nevertheless it is a worthy sanity check for your current bid.

Dec 29, 2011 0

Testimonial Structure

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bcg-testimonial-structure

Consulting behemoth BCG offer up testimonials on their website. They are unfortunately shorn of any real punch or memorability. Nevertheless, the structure they employ piqued my interest.

When I regale glowing references, I like to lather the full story on nice and thick. The crises, the conflict and the championship champagne.

They cut their success pies by four slices;

  1. starting point
  2. value levers
  3. insight & advice
  4. impact

The first is self explanatory. I always encourage wallowing in the depths of despair here. A gripping description of the ‘before’ picture does well to have a suitably imminent doomsday scenario rapidly approaching.

In typically impenetrable consultaspeak, they then mention value levers. Rather than struggle with the intricacies such babble shrouds, think of this part as what was changed.

Then there’s the tweaks, iterations and overall lessons learned.

Before we finally make the strike right between the eyes. With an unavoidably significant amount of money unleashed for good measure as your parting shot.

As an extra aside, if you are presenting these and there is some physical impact of your product, can you produce an image? One that allows a pictorial depiction of a before and after state? If not, next time you sell, take a few photos of your client’s environment. Then remember to go along and take some more when your wares have changed things.

Dec 28, 2011 0

Come Pitch With Me

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comedinewithme-logo

Cook-off reality show Come Dine With Me is not only voyeuristically addictive, it also has the best voiceover on telly. With a flavour now available in just about every corner of the globe, for those not in the know, a handful of people host each other during a week of dinner parties. They vote marks out of ten after every meal in secret and, after usually catastrophic and barbarous jinks, one gets awarded a grand as winner.

comedinewithme-scoreboard

This trainwreck tv is so popular it’s now spawned its own range of accompanying branded goods, including best-selling recipe books and even board games.

There’s a host of tips around the web on how to avoid humiliation on the programme, such as never be a wine buff, don’t get all spiritual and steer well clear of stews, pies and anything spicy hot.

Yet one tactic that is clear after seeing several episodes, is never go first. The person that takes up the mantle is doomed not to win. It just doesn’t happen.

I suspect there are psychological reasons for this. They may include such effects as benchmarking, process familiarity and criteria clarity.

And this mirrors a slightly different pageant, the solution selling Final Presentation.

When a shortlist is created, there’s usually two or three vendors competing for the business. How you get given your slot is a fascinating microcosm of the entire process.

If you get told which slot you’ve got, you’re not a front runner. If you get to shape which slot you get, it’s likely that the deal’s yours to lose.

In a competitive bid my preference is always go last. When the eventual forum clientside convenes to award the contract, your performance will be the freshest. In addition, when you’re last, you should be able to glean crucial pointers from your internal champion that you must use to ultimately tip the balance your way.

When you have to deliver your own Board Presentation, if you want the glory then just like in Come Dine With Me, be last into the kitchen.

Dec 27, 2011 0

Roger’s Thoughts

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Here’s a gem of a webpage I came across quite by accident. I know salespeople like to add the occasional killer quote to their presentations, but where do you find such nuggets?

Well, here’s a chap that’s been writing up his ‘thought for week’ for the past decade. There’s many a snappy one-liner you could plug into your slides if this is your kind of thing. (It’s not personally mine, but that’s not to say there’s no merit in doing so).

Most appear geared towards motivation and happiness, and by way of example, I pulled out these that are roughly aligned with that age-old solution sale knuckle, change;

“Only dead fish swim with the tide.”
British inventor Trevor Baylis

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”
American consultant Dr. W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993)

“There are four things that hold back human progress: ignorance, stupidity, committees and accountants.”
British civil servant Sir Charles James Lyall (1845-1920)

“One-fifth of the people are against everything all of the time.”
American politician Robert F Kennedy (1925-1968)

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”
English statesman William Penn (1644-1718)

“The first hurdle is the people who will not accept the change that’s already happened.”
American writer Joss Whedon

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it is going to be a butterfly.”
American architect Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983)

Dec 23, 2011 0

You’ll Hate This

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A swift spin through presentation tips I found during casual surfing. This time worth a read and courtesy of a Fast Company piece by a chap called Sam Harrison.

Tantalisingly entitled Abracadabra Moments, the Opening Line You Should Never Use, and 10 More Ways to Sell Ideas, there are actually a dozen pointers. The opening line to which the heading refers is his fourth bullet. Here’s a summary:

  1. If they feel they birthed it, they can’t kill it
  2. Leave creative chaos at the door
  3. Pause before you start
  4. Never start your pitch with “You’re going to love this“
  5. Help clients visualize your ideas in living colour
  6. Stand tall, talk short
  7. Throw out handouts
  8. Bank on leave-behinds
  9. Stop selling, start storytelling
  10. Get personal
  11. Create abracadabra moments
  12. Once you’ve sold an idea, don’t buy it back

Of course I do in particular like the fourth point. Any a wizened seller will moan about how buyers just love to be contrary. Starting off a pitch without the traditional, enthusiastic preface, for rather a more restrained, contemplative, ‘I’m not sure this is for you, but…’ can really diffuse any building pressure and put an obstreperous prospect back on-side.

Dec 22, 2011 0

Brainsteering

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brainsteering-mckinsey-image

Salespeople don’t often get to brainstorm. Marketing like to think they have the monopoly on being creative, right? Whenever those in sales sit in a room for a couple of hours to come up with ideas, it is usually because they feel they are going unsupported or they want to stir up a seemingly impenetrable account. This tends to send shudders throughout management, fearing that anything from a discount frenzy to unkeepable promises will result.

Yet salespeople are involved in creative thought a lot more than they may realise. Think about the most common conversations sales team members are involved with. Yes, there’s the micro-management and status queries. But then there’s the ‘what shall we do next’ chats. Sales Managers earn their corn and reps their stripes from the cunning ways they conjure activity that tests commitment and makes progress and the clever mapping of nuanced sales process essentials.

How do you go about unearthing the necessary pearls of wisdom? According to recent McKinsey Quarterly research, best not to try brainstorming;

Traditional brainstorming is fast, furious, and ultimately shallow. By scrapping these traditional techniques for a more focused, question-based approach, senior managers can consistently coax better ideas from their teams.

The advice? Seven steps to brainsteering (registration required). I did take some excellent pointers that will distinguish future efforts in this area from the drudgery of mere brainstorming.

These include posing only specific questions, subgroup outlines, sidelining “idea crushers”, leave aside “silver bullets” and to avoid full group voting.

All worthy ’steers’ for sure, but then what about the environment that salespeople find themselves in most often when brainstorming takes hold? I reckon that it is when you corral together a group from inside one of your customers. You could be seeking to cement your relationship and suss out how to make your provision better. You could though, more likely be trying to avoid a kicking having been summoned because what’s been sold is not working.

In this context, perhaps the biggest bonus was in how to act on the ideas generated. Giving a quick feedback and providing an action plan, as agreed in advance, and enacted practically the next day is a winner. Starting off having in mind where things go is depressingly absent from many such brainstorm sessions I’ve witnessed.

Dec 21, 2011 0

Value Demand vs Failure Demand

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Familiar with systems thinking?

What’s the worse waste of a salesperson’s time?

There are traditionally two sources of extreme wastefulness:

Coming second on a deal. Post-sale customer service fire-fighting.

They’ve been stand-out traumas for aeons. Nowadays a third nudges these.

Latter-day technological capability has seen compiling irrelevant reports and unnecessary records of activity for management as a rising shame.

Let’s concentrate on the instance of having to get involved with a client after they’ve ordered. I’m talking about in an operational capacity. Other delivery and service colleagues should now be on the ball, yet you’re called in. Repeatedly and at length.

Systems thinking is a branch of organisational design that distinguishes between two types of ‘demand’; value & failure. The originator of these terms provides a definition;

“[failure demand is] caused by a failure to do something or do something right for the customer”

It produces waste.

To remove the debilitation from such waste, systems that are set up where first contact tends to route, check or screen really need to morph towards a state of ‘how can I resolve this myself, and now’.

If you’re getting sucked in to an ever faster spinning whirlpool of failure demand once you’ve sold, then there are some tricks you can apply.

Clearly, certain themes may emerge from analysis of commonplace queries. In addition, end any split of back and front office, ensure those with expertise man first point of call and empathise with customers and why they may be chasing you. One more pointer is that you can find that it is the smallest of things that trigger the biggest hiccups.

There’s a good English public sector example from The Independent. If you don’t find these pressure points and change your systems accordingly, then you won’t get the value demand you crave. That means no requests on new product, re-orders or anything to do with future business whatsoever.

Dec 20, 2011 0

Revealing Proust Questions

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When sitting next to a salesperson when they meet their prospect, I’ve long since realised the value of keeping stumm. One rare exception to this policy is when you sense they’ve run off course. Specifically, when you hear a list of endless, machine gun fire, ’situation’ questions.

They’re the kind of query that elicit factual, uncontroversial responses, and as they continue, their relevance becomes increasingly strained. They’re going nowhere and the prospect is losing the will to live.

I used to wonder why highly paid salespeople didn’t have a back-up plan for this stuttering. It’s not difficult to have a pre-prepared list of questions at the back of your notebook for relief from awkward, directionless interrogation.

I’ve seen reps refer to ’spin’ prompts. I myself used to draw a good-old 2×2 box at the top right of my note pages and mark each quadrant when I’d covered it. This was the result of a course at HP’s HQ and helped distinguish mainly buying criteria and process.

But what to have as your catch-all questions?

If the rapport has sufficiently built, then perhaps you could build on the kind of chat-show technique so beloved of Vanity Fair; the Proust questionnaire. Answer their 20 questions yourself and judge how revealing it is for you;

vanityfairproustqnnaire

French TV presenter Bernard Pivot then amended and halved these for his use. Which in turn was taken up in America by Inside The Actors Studio. There’s four pairs of questions, and two standalone ones.

What is your favourite/least favourite word?
What turns you on/off?
What sound or noise do you love/hate?
What profession other than your own would you like/not like to attempt?
What is your favourite swear word?
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

What’s the solution sales adaptation of all this? You could riff for quite a while on ‘best/least favourite’. Aspects such as role, result, process, competitor, and goal could all be used and provide you with valuable insight. For instance, a fairly standard routine runs along the lines of what’s the best thing about how things currently run, and what they’d most urgently want to address/change.

If you want to stick closely to the rubric, you could simply ask;

What is your favourite/least favourite bit about ‘the now’?
Where does progress or setback come from?
What email/call do you dread/enjoy receiving?
Who’s got the best/most difficult job around here?
What rule-bending trick do you have to deploy?
At the next company annual dinner, what would you like the compère to say about you?

Bear in mind though that the whole point of these questions is to uncover buying emotions. So, once you’ve earned the right to such intimacy of thought with your prospect, they must be both engagingly provoking and innocently revealing to put you ahead of any competing attention.

Dec 17, 2011 0

Chocolat Box

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No, that’s not a typo in this post’s title. I refer to high-end retailer Hotel Chocolat. I caught their co-founder on rolling news talking up trading conditions. No bumping along the bottom for him, he excitedly pitched his new stores, diversification and that graveyard for English shops, America.

At first I was reminded of my blog a few years back on the Lipstick Theory of Estee Lauder. In straitened times people seek comfort in splashing out on little luxuries. And the chocolate in this case certainly smelt similar.

Then my thinking was re-calibrated slightly. He mentioned that his best seller this Christmas was his Signature Cabinet. At £160 it really does smack of a luxury item. And not so little either. For that you get 138 chocolates. £1.16 per mouthful.

hotel-chocolat-signature-cabinet

I wondered what was going on here. The chocolatier himself said he was trying to provide an equivalent of a hamper, only with all the rubbish like tinned ham left out, leaving just the goodies like chocs to stand out alone.

He offers several such ‘hampers’, and this particular one is the second-priciest.

So, for the solution seller does that mean we should have confidence in putting together seemingly outrageous premium packages? Perhaps we should. Provided we make sure there’s more than one (so that people can see the most expensive and rather plump for the next in line) and we do enough to stack the value up of the combined worth.

I checked out their webstore on 15 December. If you wanted the Cabinet for Christmas, tough luck. It was then only shipping on the 28th. A sign of its success?

Dec 16, 2011 0

Net Promoter Happiness

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The net promoter score idea’s been around since the mid-Naughties. It’s simplicity is lovely of course. Ask your clients if they’d recommend you to a friend and if more give you above eight out of ten than mark six or below, you’re winning.

It was quite bizarre that on the same day earlier in the week, I came across this and possible evolutions of it for the first time in years. The first was with excellent American serverfarm, Hostgator. After my webchat, I was confronted with this drop-down request:

hostgator-net-promoter-scores

I was also asked to “Please provide a further explanation of your rating.”

I suspect many customer service operations desire feedback, yet I myself have only encountered it in a form which encouraged me to do so once in the past five years. That was a JoBurg-based isp-plus, run by two English chaps that subsequently sold out, who’s support emails simply wanted a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as to whether your query was sufficiently dealt with.

Then I came across the ever-reliable 37 signals. This is what appears at the foot of their support mails;

smiley-37signals-buttons

Image my delight when I found their page that reports on these clicks. They call the project smiley. Here’s a headline status graphic;

smiley-latest-results

And here’s “The last 100 customer support ratings. Last rating 3 minutes ago.”

smiley-faces-block

I mention these as I always thought it was also a neat way of getting feedback in account management review meetings. Especially when allowed anonymously. Think post-meet questionnaire.

But this latest discovery got my mind-a-whirring. What would happen if during the heat of a campaign, you put these options at the foot of prospect emails? Did I answer your question? Are you ecstatic at my advice? That kind of thing.

Even if you’re not all that clued up with faceblogpoketwiting, copying over a standard chunk to the foot of an email that had links to a pair of webmail addys (one for happy, one for grumpy) wouldn’t be too arduous, would it?

And if your prospect replies, how likely is that to be some sort of buying signal indicator?

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