Top-Ten Skills of The Super Salespeople

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VERSION D: AUGUST 2009
Top-Ten Skills of The Super Salespeople
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i
The Bottom Line
“If you listen closely enough,
your customers will explain your
business to you.”
— Peter Schutz

3Asher © 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 — THE SKILLS AND PROCESSES USED BY THE SUPER SALESPEOPLE..................... 5
Section 1.1 The Biggest Sales Problem (Finding Competent Salespeople) ... 6
Section 1.2 The Five Factors for Success in Sales ....................................... 8
Section 1.3 Sales Aptitude Assessments .................................................... 9
Section 1.4 The Top-Ten Skills of the Super Salespeople ........................... 10
Section 1.5 Marketing, Sales and Customer-Relationship Strategies ......... 11
Section 1.6 The Top-15 Best Practice Marketing, Sales and Customer-
Relationship Processes ....................................................... 12
CHAPTER 2 — ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT/CUSTOMER CARE ................................................. 13
Section 2.1 Management Techniques ...................................................... 15
Section 2.2 Account-Management/Customer-Care Practices .................... 17
Section 2.3 Customer Feedback .............................................................. 29
CHAPTER 3 — STRATEGIC PLANNING ................................................................................... 32
Section 3.1 Strategic Planning................................................................. 34
Section 3.2 Vision Statements ................................................................. 36
Appendix One Strategic Planning Process .................................................. 254
CHAPTER 4 — BRANDING AND STRATEGIC MARKETING....................................................... 38
Section 4.1 Branding Strategies .............................................................. 41
Section 4.2 Business Intelligence............................................................. 43
Section 4.3 Product/Service Lifecycle ...................................................... 45
Section 4.4 Growth Strategies ................................................................ 49
Section 4.5 Every Employee Can Be Part of the Sales Process .................. 51
Section 4.6 Selling in a Soft Economy...................................................... 54
Appendix Two Strategic Positioning, Market Segmentation and
Customer Segmentation ................................................... 256
CHAPTER 5 — INTERNET ........................................................................................................ 57
Section 5.1 Internet Marketing................................................................ 59
Section 5.2 Websites .............................................................................. 60
Section 5.3 Search Engine Optimization/Pay-Per-Click ............................. 61
Section 5.4 Email ................................................................................... 62
Section 5.5 New Web Tools..................................................................... 63
CHAPTER 6 — SALES AND MARKETING MANAGEMENT ........................................................ 64
Section 6.1 Sales Managers’ Responsibilities ........................................... 66
Section 6.2 Five Factors for Managing Salespeople.................................. 68
Section 6.3 Four Famous Selling Fears .................................................... 71
Section 6.4 Characteristics of Top Salespeople......................................... 77
Section 6.5 Selling Through Indirect Channels (Software Sales)................ 83
Section 6.6 Managing Independent Sales Reps........................................ 85
Appendix Three Compensation Programs and Goal Setting .......................... 261
Appendix Four Recruiting and Interviewing Salespeople.............................. 264
INTRODUCTION THE BIGGEST SALES PROBLEM 1
Section A.1 The Biggest Sales Problem (Finding Competent Salespeople) 2
Section A.2 The Five Factors for Success in Sales 4
Section A.3 Sales Aptitude Assessments 5
Section A.4 The Top-Ten Skills of the Super Salespeople 6
Section A.5 The Four Major Business Growth Processes 7
CHAPTER ONE FOCUS ON A FEW TOP PROSPECTS 9
Section 1.1 Prospecting 10
Section 1.2 Qualifying Leads 16
Section 1.3 Lead Management 17
Section 1.4 Telephone Calling Processes 22
CHAPTER TWO USE COACHES/INSIDERS TO FULLY UNDERSTAND CUSTOMER
REQUIREMENTS 32
Section 2.1 Identifying Buyers and Using Coaches 33
Section 2.2 Understanding Personality Types 37
Section 2.3 Matching/Mirroring Personality Types 51
CHAPTER THREE THOROUGHLY RESEARCH PROSPECTS AND THEIR ORGANIZATION
PRIOR TO FIRST CONTACT 53
Section 3.1 Selling Yourself to The Buyer 54
Section 3.2 Relationship-based Sales 62
Section 3.3 Researching Buyers’Interests 67
Section 3.4 Guidelines for Initial Contact 68
CHAPTER FOUR ASK QUESTIONS AND LISTEN 72
Section 4.1 Ascertaining Needs and Proposing Solutions 73
Section 4.2 Becoming a Trusted Advisor 75
Section 4.3 Solution Selling 76
Section 4.4 Asking the Right Questions 78
Section 4.5 The Importance of Listening 81
CHAPTER FIVE BE A BUSINESS CONSULTANT AND SOLUTION PROVIDER 87
Section 5.1 Overcoming the Salesperson’s Fear 88
Section 5.2 Proving The Value of Your Offerings 92
Section 5.3 Offering Solutions 94
Section 5.4 Handling Objections 95
Section 5.5 Price is Not The Most Important 98
ii

3Asher © 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 — THE SKILLS AND PROCESSES USED BY THE SUPER SALESPEOPLE..................... 5
Section 1.1 The Biggest Sales Problem (Finding Competent Salespeople) ... 6
Section 1.2 The Five Factors for Success in Sales ....................................... 8
Section 1.3 Sales Aptitude Assessments .................................................... 9
Section 1.4 The Top-Ten Skills of the Super Salespeople ........................... 10
Section 1.5 Marketing, Sales and Customer-Relationship Strategies ......... 11
Section 1.6 The Top-15 Best Practice Marketing, Sales and Customer-
Relationship Processes ....................................................... 12
CHAPTER 2 — ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT/CUSTOMER CARE ................................................. 13
Section 2.1 Management Techniques ...................................................... 15
Section 2.2 Account-Management/Customer-Care Practices .................... 17
Section 2.3 Customer Feedback .............................................................. 29
CHAPTER 3 — STRATEGIC PLANNING ................................................................................... 32
Section 3.1 Strategic Planning................................................................. 34
Section 3.2 Vision Statements ................................................................. 36
Appendix One Strategic Planning Process .................................................. 254
CHAPTER 4 — BRANDING AND STRATEGIC MARKETING....................................................... 38
Section 4.1 Branding Strategies .............................................................. 41
Section 4.2 Business Intelligence............................................................. 43
Section 4.3 Product/Service Lifecycle ...................................................... 45
Section 4.4 Growth Strategies ................................................................ 49
Section 4.5 Every Employee Can Be Part of the Sales Process .................. 51
Section 4.6 Selling in a Soft Economy...................................................... 54
Appendix Two Strategic Positioning, Market Segmentation and
Customer Segmentation ................................................... 256
CHAPTER 5 — INTERNET ........................................................................................................ 57
Section 5.1 Internet Marketing................................................................ 59
Section 5.2 Websites .............................................................................. 60
Section 5.3 Search Engine Optimization/Pay-Per-Click ............................. 61
Section 5.4 Email ................................................................................... 62
Section 5.5 New Web Tools..................................................................... 63
CHAPTER 6 — SALES AND MARKETING MANAGEMENT ........................................................ 64
Section 6.1 Sales Managers’ Responsibilities ........................................... 66
Section 6.2 Five Factors for Managing Salespeople.................................. 68
Section 6.3 Four Famous Selling Fears .................................................... 71
Section 6.4 Characteristics of Top Salespeople......................................... 77
Section 6.5 Selling Through Indirect Channels (Software Sales)................ 83
Section 6.6 Managing Independent Sales Reps........................................ 85
Appendix Three Compensation Programs and Goal Setting .......................... 261
Appendix Four Recruiting and Interviewing Salespeople.............................. 264
CHAPTER SIX USE APPROPRIATE MARKETING MESSAGES 105
Section 6.1 Value-Added Selling 106
Section 6.2 Appropriate Marketing Message 107
Section 6.2.1 Killer Arguments 108
Section 6.2.2 Key Discriminators 110
Section 6.2.3 Ghosting Discriminators 111
Section 6.2.4 Return-On-Investment Analysis 112
Section 6.2.5 Testimonial Letters 117
CHAPTER SEVEN RECOGNIZE THE BUYER’S SHIFT 119
Section 7.1 Closing When The Buyer Is Ready 120
Section 7.2 Recognizing the“Buyer’s Shift” 121
CHAPTER EIGHT KNOW HOW TO CLOSE THE SALE 124
Section 8.1 The Closing Point 125
Section 8.2 Closing Approaches 126
Section 8.3 Sales To Avoid 136
CHAPTER NINE BUILDING LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS 137
Section 9.1 Client Service 138
Section 9.2 Account Management 140
Section 9.3 Handling Customer Problems 147
Section 9.4 Customer Feedback 150
CHAPTER TEN ASK FOR REFERRALS 152
Section 10.1 Referral Marketing 153
Section 10.2 Generating Referrals and Following Up 154
CHAPTER ELEVEN USING FORMAL SALES PROCESSES 156
Section 11.1 Prioritizing Opportunities 157
Section 11.2 Twenty-Step New Business Capture Process 159
Section 11.3 Ten-Step Sales Process 162
OFFERINGS FROM ASHER 164
SALES AND MARKETING BIBLIOGRAPHY 168
QUIZ/BLANKS ANSWER KEY 169
IMPORTANT LEARNING POINTS NOTE PAGES 170

iii

1
Section A.1 The Biggest Sales Problem
Section A.2 The Five Factors For Success In Sales
Section A.3 Sales Aptitude Assessments
Section A.4 The Top-Ten Skills of the Super
Salespeople
Section A.5 Characteristics of a Successful
Salesperson
INTRODUCTION
The Biggest Sales Problem
FindingCompetentSalespeople

Finding Competent Salespeople
The top 4% of the country’s salespeople sell
_____% of the country’s goods and services
• When you eliminate the large capital sales
20% of the salespeople sell 62%
— 2004 study at Harvard University of 100,000 business-to-business salespeople
— 25 year study by The Gallup organization of 3,000,000 salespeople (completed in 2005)
— Study of 80,000 salespeople by H. R. Chally (published in 2007)
Section A.1: The Biggest Sales Problem
Demographics
280 million people
180 million working people
17 million outside salespeople
3 million inside salespeople
3 million sales engineers, sales associates,
recruiters, estimators
2 million executives, program managers, sales
managers and business development people
= 25 million B2B salespeople
— 2000 U.S. Census
2

The Positive Result
4% of 25 million salespeople
= One million super salespeople
The Less Than Positive Result
96% of 25 million salespeople
= 24 million “others”
 The 2007 USA turnover rate for outside salespeople
was 37 percent
— Bureau of Labor Statistics
Department of Commerce
3

Section A.2: The Five Factors For Success in Sales
The Super Salespeople
1 Product Know their business, their customer’s
Knowledge: business and their competitor’s business
extremely well
2 Aptitude: Are born with a natural talent for sales
3 Selling Skills: Know and use the top-ten sales skills
4 Motivation: Are self-motivated, are in the right type
of sales position and are continually selling
5 Sales Are working in companies that have
Processes: best-practice branding, marketing, sales
and customer relationship processes to
support them
– And the salespeople have the values and
discipline to follow through with them
— Dr. Larry Craft
* Numerous correlation studies
show that 50% of the results for
outside salespeople are due to
their natural talent (aptitude).
*
4

Section A.3: Sales Aptitude Assessments
Sales Aptitude Assessments
 The idea that anyone can sell is nonsense
– Even in the best companies, 35% of the sales force does not have
the aptitude necessary to reliably achieve acceptable results
 The total cost of hiring the wrong person is:
– $15,000 for a retail clerk
– $150,000 for an outside business-to-business salesperson selling
complex solutions
 The natural talent of every person for any role in a
company can be measured on a scale of 0 to 50 with a
description of...
– Personality type, strengths and weaknesses
– How to best manage the person to maximize sales (or results)
 Assessment can be used for numerous roles, including:
– Sales manager
– Inside salesperson
– Outside salesperson
– Customer service representative
 Available on Internet 7/24/365
– www.asherstrategies.com
— Discover Your Sales Strengths
Definition of APTITUDE
ap·ti·tude n.
1. An inherent ability, as for learning; a talent.
2. The condition or quality of being suitable; appropriateness.
— Wikipedia
5

1. Focus on a few top prospects
– Give them a lot of contacts
2. Use coaches (insiders) to fully understand customer requirements
– Match/mirror personality types with prospects
– Use neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques
3. Thoroughly research prospects and their organizations prior to
first contact
– Know how to get buyers to talk about themselves and their business issues
4. Ask questions and listen much more than they talk
5. Because of their superb knowledge, they can act as a
business consultant and solution provider
– Help prospects solve problems
– Know how to overcome objections
6. Provide appropriate marketing messages to prospects
– Killer arguments (we’ve done it before)
– Key discriminators (why they should choose us)
– Ghosting discriminators (why they shouldn’t choose the competition)
– Business case analysis/Return-On-Investment (why fund this activity at all?)
– Testimonial letters (who says so?)
7. Recognize when buyers are ready to buy (Buyer’s Shift)
8. Know how to close the sale
9. Build long-term relationships with prospects and customers by
providing superb customer-care/account-management services
10. Ask for referrals and use a process to follow up on them
— “The Top Ten Skills of the Super Salespeople”
Section A.4: The Top-Ten Skills of the Super Salespeople*
* These skills are listed in the order they are normally used by super salespeople
6

 Branding
– Raise market awareness such that when an unqualified lead
becomes qualified, they contact you
 Marketing
– Get qualified leads
 Selling
– Use the first eight of the selling skills
(page 8) to pursue and close the
qualified lead
 Account Management
– Use selling skills nine and ten to
• Execute flawlessly
• Up/Cross sell
• Ask for, and follow up on, referrals
— “How to Hire and Develop Your Next Top Performer”
Section A.5: The Four Major Business Growth Processes
7

They Persevere
 Persistence trumps brilliance almost every time
– It is not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog!
 Most salespeople give up after three contacts; on average, it
takes ____ contacts to make the sale
 When asked how many contacts they make before giving up,
the most successful salespeople refuse to give an answer
– They pursue qualified prospects until the prospect “buys or dies”
— 2006 Survey by AMACON (NYC)
“Wendy will be with
you in a minute.
In the meantime,
feel free to pump
yourself up.”
Have a Positive Attitude
 Have an enthusiastic outlook (glass is half full)
 Have an enthusiastic answer to “How are you?”
 Are always excited and up
– A positive attitude is contagious
– The more passionately you believe, the more persuasive you become
— Charles Schwab
8

99
Section 1.1 Prospecting
Section 1.2 Qualifying Leads
Section 1.3 Lead Management
Section 1.4 Telephone Calling Processes
CHAPTER ONE
Focus on a FewTop Prospects
Top-TenSkillNumberOne

Section 1.1: Prospecting
Generating Prospects
General Guidelines
 Call three current
customers every week
and ask for referrals
 Call three new prospects
every day right after lunch
 Make several
appointments per week
– One in the morning
– One in the afternoon
 Take a current or prospective customer to breakfast
or lunch at least once a week
 Go to at least one meeting a month for networking
purposes
 As appropriate, coordinate closely with marketing to
follow up on the leads they generate
— “Your Sales-call Success Ratio is All in the Numbers”
— “The Sales Hunter”
10

Sizing Up Prospects
 Readiness to buy depends on four variables
– Source of lead – Timing
– Need – Budget
 Source (where they came from)
– Three points for a referral
– Two points because it came from a known source (e.g.,
website)
– One point for an unknown source (cold)
 Need (the prospect’s reason for responding)
– Three points because of a mission critical need
– Two points for doing research for a planned project in the
future
– One point for curiosity
 Timing (how soon they will make a decision)
– Three points for immediately
– Two points for three to six months
– One point for sometime in the future
 Budget (do they have the money to pay for it?)
– Three points if it is in the budget
– Two points if budget has been requested
– One point for no budget
 Action needed
– 12 points – immediate attention
– 10 - 11 points – start making appointments and using coaches
– Eight to nine points – use email and phone
– Less than eight points – shift to marketing
— “Opt-In Marketing”
11

Prospecting Networking Technology
 Shorten sales cycle time by 25%
 Can turn cold leads into a referral
 Can help you find coaches for new and existing
opportunities
 Examples
– Linkedin.com (free site that lets you search your online network
by keyword, name, industry locations or title)
– Spoke.com (combines basic corporate data from licensed vendors,
web crawling and its user interface ... 35 million contacts)
– Jigsaw.com (online marketplace where users can buy or trade
business card contacts ... 5 million contacts)
— “Six Degrees of Separation” (Dr. Stanley Milgram)
12

Generating Prospects in Your
Existing Vertical Markets
 Analyze your best clients to find your verticals (financial,
healthcare, etc.)
 Find other prospects in the same verticals. Use:
– Industry directories
– State and regional associations
– National trade and professional associations
 Become an expert in the industry
 Join trade or group associations
– Give talks and presentations at meetings
 Put the information you gain in customer-focused newsletters
— “The Art of Sales Momentum”
13

Starting Rich Conversations
Immediately When Networking
 Reveal something personal
about yourself:
(“What do you think about
this conference? I have
been on the road a lot and
miss my wife and kids.”)
– People will respond in kind
– You gain intimacy
immediately
– When others volunteer
something personal, show
empathy (“Yes, that’s true
for me too.”)
 Strengthen the bond by looking for opportunities to give
something to the other person
– Technical, professional or personal information
 When approaching bigwigs or speakers, start with:
– I have followed your recommendations with great results.
– They will want to help you
 Do not be embarrassed to accept the help. “It is a gift to let
others help you!”
— Keith Ferrazzi
14

Generate Leads By Looking for Chaos
 Look for chaos — it leads to opportunity
– Revenue problems
– Rapid growth
– Mergers and Acquisitions
– Competitor’s salesperson leaves
– Personnel changes
– Reorganizing/Reengineering
– CRM/ERP Implementation
– Recession
 Chaos usually means prospects are open to new solutions
– From new providers (their problem is caused by their current provider)
— “Selling is a Woman’s Game”
Other Lead Generating Techniques
 Look at classified ads looking for people in your market
– Perhaps they should outsource the work to your company instead
– Especially in markets with very low unemployment rates
 Optimize your website for search engines/use pay-per-click
 Generate leads at trade shows
 Use your field team
– Those people closest to the customer generate the best leads
 Use internal cold-call specialists (telemarketing)
 Join business/nonprofit/industry groups
 Follow clients as they change jobs/organizations
 When at the prospect’s site, ask support people, “Where did
you work before you came here?”
– Can generate great leads
 Give a lead to get a lead
 Outsource lead generation to a company that specializes in it
— Antower and Company
15

Section 1.2: Qualifying Leads
Qualify Leads/Referrals By Asking Questions
 Does this prospect fit the profile of our ideal customer group
(e.g., Fortune 2000 manufacturer in upper midwest with over
ten IT people)?
 Does the prospect have a critical or urgent ______?
– A key driving force causing the prospect to take action
 Is solving this need in the organization’s budget?
– Can the prospect get the money?
– Is the budget approved?
 Has a purchasing time frame been established?
– e.g., will a buying decision be made within 90 days?
 Do we understand the decision-making process?
 Have we identified the right decision makers who have the
authority to buy?
– User, technical and economic buyers
 Do we have a coach in or close to the customer’s organization?
 Do we have a potential solution to satisfy the prospect’s need?
– Can we provide a credible hard ROI?
 Are the projected revenues and margins sufficient for us?
 What is the prospect organization’s credit history and current
financial condition?
 Is this a buyer that we want as a customer?
— “The New Solution Selling”
16

Section 1.3: Lead Management
Lead Management
 It takes an average of _____ contacts to make the sale to a
qualified prospect in business-to-business sales
– The average salesperson only makes ________ before they move on
 A contact can be a:
– Personal visit – Instant message
– Telephone call – Audio postcard (salesforceaudio.com)
– Voice mail message – Personal note
– Text message – Copies of interesting articles
– Email exchange – Social engagements
– Direct mail – Newsletters
– Broadcast email – Special reports
– Webinar – Sporting event
– Tweet – Facebook/Myspace
 Use Client Dynamics software and/or “Google alerts” to
email recent interesting new articles or blog entries
 The thumb rule for contact frequency is once a month
– Use customer-relationship management (CRM) software tools to
manage contacts
 Use standard voice mails to ease recording time in CRM
 Always leave an interaction with a buyer with an action item
for yourself, even if you have to suggest it
 When appropriate, send an email to the prospect thanking
them for the initial meeting and summarizing the agreed-to
action items
– Within 24 hours of the meeting
— Zig Ziglar
17

Rationale Behind the 12 Contacts Rule
(Business-to-Business Sales)
 It takes time for the prospect to feel comfortable with
you, your product/service and your organization
 Prospect company’s internal decision process/
budgetary issues/timing
 Prospect has other priorities (other “stuff”)
 Need to displace an incumbent or beat other
competitors
A Minimum Number of Quality
Contacts Are Required
 Of the 12 contacts required, the average buyer
requires seven quality contacts prior to a sale
– Face-to-face discussions
– Discussions on the phone
– Active email/instant messaging/
text messaging exchange
 Average salesperson makes
only ______ quality contacts
with each prospect
— 2000 Study at Harvard Business School
18

Perseverance Pays Off
80% of all sales opportunities are closed only after the
fifth contact, but (oops) . . .
– Only ______% of the salespeople make more than five
contacts
— “Psychology of Selling”
Focus on a Few Top Prospects
 Average salespeople make a ______ contacts on a
______ of prospects
 Top salespeople make a _______ of contacts on a
_______ top prospects
— “Selling to Very Important Top Officers (VITO))”
19

The Focus Formula
Based on how long it takes to make a contact, your average
sales cycle time and the percentage of the time you are actually
selling, make a rough calculation of how many prospects you
have time to touch twelve times during your selling cycle.
Example:
ASSUMPTIONS
 Average time spent making contacts (quality and non-quality) is one hour
 Average sales cycle time is six months
 Average work hours in a day is eight
 National average for the % of time sales people actually sell
(for complex sales) is 27%
 Average number of contacts made to a buyer before the close is 12
CALCULATIONS
Make sure you are focusing on the
correct number of prospects.
1,040 work hours in a six-month sales cycle
27% percentage of workday spent actually selling
280 “selling hours” in the six months
12 contacts to close the sale (each one takes an hour)
23 PROSPECTS TO FOCUS ON
X
=
=
20

Improving Time Management
 At the end of the day, make a list of
tomorrow’s action items
 Prioritize the action items
 Make action items that are related to
more sales the top priority every day
 Allocate a set time for each task
– Focus on managing your time, not
managing your tasks
 Analyze how you spend your time in a
daily log and review it at the end of each
week
– Identify the top three things you do that
add value to the company
 Spend more time doing them
 Stop doing almost everything else
– Identify items that should/could be done by someone else just as well
or better than you
 Shift them, delegate them or change the
underlying company process
– Identify others’ time that you waste; ask them for input
 Change your behavior
– Identify the recurring fire drills
 Fix the processes
– Analyze attendance at meetings
 Is there an agenda?
 An objective?
 Use technology (e.g., CRM) to better manage information
— “The Effective Executive”
21

Section 1.4: Telephone Calling Process
Warm Call Process
1. Introduce yourself
2. Grab attention (the grabber)
3. State reason for call
4. Convey benefits to the buyer
– Use killer arguments, ghosting discriminators or ROI
– Using metrics (e.g., ROI) is most convincing
5. Make a request for time
All five steps are usually completed
uninterrupted in less than 15 seconds.
Used by top sales professionals
to get what they want on the
telephone
22

Introduce Yourself
Who are you?
“Good morning, Mr. Brown. I’m John
Smith with Southern Security Systems.”
— In general, do not use first names on the first call.
Grab Attention
Why shouldn’t I hang up right now?
 I’m calling at the suggestion of ...” (your coach)
 “I just read the article you wrote for the ...”
 “In researching your website, I noticed that ...”
— “Customer Driven Sales”
23

State Reason for Call
Why are you calling me?
 “I’m calling because we’ve just introduced a new
technology that will affect your business.”
 “I’d like to briefly describe how we can be your backup
supplier for packaging supplies.”
 “I’m calling about your need for office furniture for your
new facility.”
Convey Benefits to the Buyer
What’s in it for me?
 “Our single sign-on system will typically pay for itself in
reduced call center costs in about six months.”
 “Our product helps our customers cut production cycle
time by about 30%.”
 “Using our sales training, our three most recent clients
have increased sales by 11 to 16 percent in the first three
months.”
Note: Using actual percentages and/or dollars
gained/saved (ROI) for your current clients increases the
impact on the prospect by an order of magnitude
24

Example
“Hello, Mr. Jones. I’m Donna Smith from Trident Software
Systems. Bill Short suggested I give you a call about your need
to reduce internal call center costs. Our single sign-on system
reduces these costs and pays for itself in about six months. Do
you have a minute to discuss this?”
Keys to Making These Calls
 Keep it short, simple, tight and focused
 Use the coach (Bill Short)
 Keep it conversational (shouldn’t sound like you are
reading a script)
 Combine steps if possible - “Bill Short suggested I give you a
call (step 2), about your need for office furniture.” (step3)
 Have an ROI (pays for itself in six months)
Make a Request for Time
 “Do you have a minute to discuss this?”
 “Do you have a moment?”
 “Have I caught you at a good time?”
— “Customer Service NOW”
25

If You Get Their Voice Mail
 Use exactly the same procedure
 Match the tone of their message
 Call again, every 24 hours for three
days
– If you haven’t heard back, send an
email
Responses to “No”
 If the prospect says
– “No”
– “I am happy with my current
supplier.”
 Sample responses
– “We would appreciate the
opportunity to qualify as your
backup supplier.”
– “I appreciate your candor. Before
I hang up, may I ask if your mind
is completely closed to this idea,
or is there a slight chance that
you might re-examine this need at
some future time?
— “The Art of Sales Momentum”
26

Improve Your Vocal
 Stand up when making telephone calls
– Gives your voice more power
– USC study discovered that the brain’s information processing
power increases by up to 20% when standing
 Use a mirror when making calls
– Makes it seem like you are in person
– Put a smile on your face
– Keeps you focused, increases confidence and increases sales
 Take the time to speak clearly
 Keep your voice pitched as low as you comfortably can
 Listen to your own voice mail
– Identify poor speaking habits
 It is particularly important for people with _________ to
speak slowly
— “201 Super Sales Tips”
Impact of the Two Vs
This is how people remember you from
your phone conversation or voice mail.
 Vocal (how you sounded) (_______ percent)
 Verbal (what you said) (_______ percent)
— Study by Dr. Albert Mehrabian at UCLA
27

Other Considerations
 __________________ is the best day to call
 Call early or late and bypass the gatekeeper
— Liaison Agency
Voice Mail Considerations
 Voice mail is here to stay so integrate it into your sales
efforts
 Leaving a routine voicemail
– Use their full name and your full name
 “Hello, this is Angela Green from the customer service
department of Southwest Airlines calling for Mr. Don Adams”
– Slow ______ when you leave your phone number
– Consider leaving your name and phone number
__________________
 Beginning and end
– Start by saying “area code ....”
 Gives them a chance to get ready to write
– Include the date and time of your call
 And, the date/time you can be reached
 In your recorded message, clearly state when they can
expect a call back, e.g., within one business day
— J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Customer Satisfaction Survey
28

Winning Over Gatekeepers
 For some buyers, gatekeepers act as virtual assistant buyers
– They screen sellers based on their knowledge of the company’s
needs and the seller’s offerings
– Treat them like buyers! Respect their position!
– They can really help you (or hurt you)
 If they ask, “Is there something I can help you with,” tell
them
– Establish credibility by referencing the coach, the research
you’ve done or the triggering event that identified the company
as a prospect
 Show your value proposition with appropriate marketing
messages
 Remember their names; makes them feel important
 Mention their helpfulness to your customer
 Send them hand-written thank you notes
 Build rapport; turn them into your __________
— “Selling to VITO”
— “Selling to Big Companies”
29

Using Receptionists Effectively
RECEPTIONIST: XYZ Company. How can I direct your call?
YOU: Hi, my name is Joe. May I have your name
please?
RECEPTIONIST: This is Beth. How can I help you?
YOU: Beth, I need help. What is the name of the
person responsible for buying office supplies
for your company?
RECEPTIONIST: That would be Bill Hardnose. He’s not
available. Would you like his voice mail?
YOU: Beth, yes, but before you do, could you give
me his extension number and the best time to
reach him?
KEY POINT: Once you have built a little rapport, you can
ask a wide range of questions.
— “The Certifiable Salesperson”
ASKING FOR HELP IS THE KEY TECHNIQUE
30

Scheduling Sales Calls
 Before 8:00 a.m.
– Less interruptions
– Customer’s agreement is a big buy signal
 Breakfast meetings
– Less vulnerable to cancellation
– Saves prospect time
– Simple menu; more time for discussion
– Prospect knows it is not a social event
 After 3:00 p.m. on Friday
– Prospects are more relaxed, more forthcoming, less
harassed and less defensive
– Getting a deal done late in the week provides a nice sense
of accomplishment for buyers
— “How to Become a Rainmaker”
31

32
Section 2.1 Identifying Buyers and Using Coaches
Section 2.2 Understanding Personality Types
Section 2.3 Matching or Mirroring Personality
Types
CHAPTERTWO
UseCoaches/InsiderstoFully
UnderstandCustomerRequirements
Top-TenSkillNumberTwo

Identify the Buyers
* In most cases we need a yes from all three of these buyers.
— “Strategic Selling”
BUYER DESCRIPTION ASKS
User* Selects you to help them
get their job done
“Will your offering
respond to my need?”
Technical/
System*
Gives technical approval “Does it meet
specifications/
requirements?”
Economic/
Strategic*
Approves the money
transfer to your company
“What kind of return
will I get on the
investment?”
Your champion in, or
close to, the buying
organization
“What information
can I give you to help
you make this sale?”
Section 2.1: Identifying Buyers and Using Coaches
33

Five Criteria For a Coach
 Credible within the prospect’s organization
 Knowledgeable of the organization’s requirements
 Person with whom you have credibility
 Wants you to get the job
 Can be inside or very close to the buyer’s organization
– The User buyer is usually the best possible coach
– Always useful to have multiple coaches
SHORT CUTTING THE 12 CONTACT RULE
One of the principal short cuts to the
12 contact rule is having a coach
34

Percentage of Executives Agreeing
to Meet with Salespeople
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Coach No Coach No Coach
A typical 80/20 rule
— “Executive Selling”
Inside
Recommendation
Outside
Referral
Offsite
Contact
Salesperson Letter
Followed By Call
Salesperson
Telephone Call
35

Finding Coaches
 Use your current customer base
 Use your vendors, suppliers and consultants
 Ask referral sources to be __________
 Use channel partners
 Ask everyone in your organization (use email)
 Find areas where you can join forces with a
salesperson from another company while avoiding
direct competition (be each other’s coach)
– “You get me into one of your accounts” (FEDEX)
– “In turn, I’ll get you into one of mine” (J&J)
 Build relationships with salespeople in your prospect’s
organization
 Use social networking sites
– Linkedin.com
– Alumni Websites
— “Codebreakers; How to Close a Million-Dollar Sale in Two Sales Calls”
36

Ego Drive
 Ego Drive is the proactive dynamic behind human
behavior. When it comes to completing their job duties
or overcoming obstacles, individuals with high Ego Drive
are risk-takers who place an emphasis upon the end result
and “back into” the systems or relationships required to
achieve it.
 On the other hand, individuals with low Ego Drive are
more ____________ and consistent and depend upon
traditional systems, processes and/or relationships to
achieve results.
Empathy
 Empathy is the emotional/intuitive insight to perceive
the needs of others.
 When it comes to completing job duties or overcoming
obstacles, individuals with high Empathy are more
relationship-centered and emphasize social skills and
personal insight.
 Individuals with low Empathy are more task-oriented and
emphasize self-discipline and efficiency.
Section 2.2: Understanding Personality Types
37

Personality Types
High Ego Drive
(impatient)
Low Ego Drive
(patient)
Low Empathy
(task oriented)
High Empathy
(people oriented)
34% * 39% *
8% * 19% *
* % of top salespeople with this personality type
38

Driver
 The Driver has a high Ego Drive coupled with Low
Empathy, causing them to confidently and efficiently
focus on the results of any effort. Their high Ego
Drive produces impatience while their low Empathy
keeps personal relationships from interrupting their
on-task behavior.
 Well-known examples of the Driver style are the
U.S. General George S. Patton, former British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher, American director/actor
Clint Eastwood, General Norman Schwarzkopf, music
icon Madonna, Republican Senator John McCain,
and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
39

Driver Recognition Factors
 Work area is formal and often cold
 Desk keeps you at arm’s length
 Office doesn’t contain many personal items
 Greeting is formal and firm; lacks charm
 Leans forward and looks through you
 Nonexpressive body/facial movements
 Not interested in your personal life; sometimes abrasive
 Direct and to the point; readily discloses expectations
 Opinionated; poor listening skills
Driver/Authoritative Characteristics
 Dominating, forceful, competitive, tough, stubborn
 Ambitious, decisive, strong-willed, highly-motivated,
independent, goal oriented and assertive
 Fast talker/fast paced, high energy, action oriented
 Likes to take control; problem solver, independent
 Short attention span, impatient, intolerant when goals not
met; task-oriented; self-motivated
 Processes information quickly; initiates change
 Will talk forcibly about the bottom line, results-oriented;
doesn’t get bogged down in details
 Good at putting things in context, efficient, workaholic,
impulsive, not a team player
 Cool demeanor; decisive, willing to take risks
 Less of a need for close personal relationships
40

Getting a Decision from a Driver
DO . . .
 Use spoken communications; it reaches them better than
written
 Be punctual and precise
 Maintain good eye contact; exude confidence
 Be clear, specific, brief and to the point
 Stick to the big picture
 Come with organized support material
 Present bulletized list of recommendations
 Let them control the sales interview and tell you what they
want
 Selling points: money, time, efficiency, power, status,
shortcuts
 Let them make the decision via choices
 Tell them about other high profile decision makers who do
business with you
DON’T . . .
 Get into their space by leaning forward
 Appear disorganized
 Leave loopholes or cloudy issues
 Talk about details
 Emphasize a personal relationship
 Exaggerate features/benefits
41

Motivator
 The Motivator has a high Ego Drive coupled with
high Empathy, causing them to be motivated toward
meeting and entertaining others. Their high Ego Drive
produces an impatience for results and a need to be
socially active while their high Empathy produces a
relationship-centered need to relate to others.
 Well-known examples of the Motivator style are former
President Bill Clinton, comedic actors Jim Carrey and
Robin Williams, talk show hosts Regis Philbin and
Oprah, President Barrack Obama, and comedian Jerry
Seinfeld.
42

Motivator/Persuasive Characteristics
 Expressive, personable, outgoing, optimistic, stimulating and
motivating
 Magnetic, enthusiastic, demonstrative, political, talkative and
good sense of humor
 Fast-paced and energetic; goal-oriented
 Thrives on options, possibilities, plans and change
 Creative, big picture type; dream chasers
 Not always strong on follow through; avoids details
 Desire to please; service driven; fun to work with
 Innovative, interactive, articulate, cooperative
 Likes new situations and meeting new people
 Warm personality; great communicator; big talker
 Excellent communication skills; enjoys selling and persuading
 Does not like making decisions
Motivator Recognition Factors
 Greets you enthusiastically; socially impulsive
 Work area is typically cluttered, disorganized
 Prefers close physical distance
 Has active/expressive body movements
 Work area contains personal information, toys
 Leans forward when talking
 Likes to talk about personal life
 Friendly, open and talkative; shifts subjects frequently
 Poor listener, easily bored
 Not good at time management
 Relies on hunches
43

Getting a Decision From a Motivator
DO . . .
 Greet them informally with enthusiasm
 Use examples, stories and experiences
 Feel free to name drop; compliment them
 Provide a warm and friendly atmosphere
 Be ready for changes in direction; support their ideas
 Allow time for them to consider options
 Stay with the big picture
 Provide testimonials from people they perceive as
important
 Be patient
 Allow them to talk about themselves
 Allow them to express opinions/feelings
 Be interesting and entertaining, but brief
DON’T . . .
 Erect barriers
 Be cold, curt or tight-lipped
 Control the conversation or cut them off
 Emphasize facts, figures and abstractions
 Provide unnecessary detail
 Be competitive
 Be argumentative
44

Thinker
 The Thinker has a low Ego Drive coupled with low
Empathy, causing them to emphasize sales processes that
involve preparation, organization, and detailed analysis of
information. Their low Ego Drive produces a methodical,
step-by-step approach while their low Empathy keeps
personal relationships from distracting them.
 Well-known examples of the Thinker style are Alan
Greenspan, Spock (Star Trek), Columbo (Peter Faulk), golf
professional Tiger Woods and former CEO and chairman of
Microsoft, Bill Gates.
45

Thinker/Analytical Characteristics
 Analytical, introspective; relies on structure and procedures to
complete duties
 Deliberate, distant and reserved
 Dependable, neat, conservative, logical, precise, perfectionist,
careful, deep and thoughtful
 Slow talker; slow and even paced, systematic, motivated by
security, precision and order
 Thrives on details. Processes a lot of info.
 Wants to know the whole story; skeptical, accurate
 Respects people who provide thorough analysis and organized
background information
 Cool demeanor, hates to be wrong
– Typically ignores the emotional or feeling aspects of a situation
– Low need for acceptance
Thinker Recognition Factors
 Skeptical of the intention of others; insensitive to needs of others
 Has neat, well organized work area
 Greets you formally and without enthusiasm
 Dress and work area are conservative
 Shows no emotion
 Facial expressions nonexistent
 Over analyzes things before speaking; methodical
 Writes things down and takes notes
 Wants facts, figures, details
 Overly cautious
 Says “I think” rather than “I feel”
46

Getting a Decision From a Thinker
DO . . .
 Be well organized and on time
 Provide written materials and thorough research in advance
 Be patient and persistent
 Carefully prepare; have detailed analysis; use email
 Provide facts and numbers
 Provide information in a linear fashion
 Be accurate and realistic; don’t exaggerate, be precise; be logical
 Be polite
 Follow through on promises; missing a deadline is seen as a
personal affront
 Close only after addressing all concerns
DON’T . . .
 Get in their space by leaning forward
 Be giddy, casual, informal or loud
 Waste time with small talk
 Be disorganized or messy
 Jump from subject to subject
 Try to rush through decision making
 Be overly friendly
 Be overly expressive or emotional
47

Supporter
 The Supporter has a low Ego Drive coupled with
high Empathy, causing them to give more priority to
close relationships. Their low Ego Drive produces
patience and tolerance while their high Empathy gives
them the ability to perceive the needs of the buyer
and build long-term relationships.
 Well-known examples of the Supporter style are
Mother Theresa, former First Lady Nancy Reagan,
American actress Grace Kelly, the late Princess Diana
and actress and Good Ambassador Angelina Jolie.
48

Supporter/Amicable Characteristics
 Amiable, well liked, sensitive to others, friendly
 Patient, predictable, reliable, steady, relaxed, modest,
noncompetitive, soft hearted, easy going
 Dislikes intellectual analysis, slow to change, possessive;
low ego drive
 Slow paced, consistent, patient, slow to make decisions
 Family-oriented, interpersonal, self-sacrificing
 Will pass your idea around the office to get full consensus;
team player; avoids risk
 Concerned with feelings of others; very empathetic
 Happiest when everyone is happy; enjoys relationships that
are open and honest
 Warm personality; service-driven
Supporter Recognition Factors
 Work area has photos of loved ones
 Greets you warmly with enthusiasm; sensitive to your
needs
 Has genuine interest in you; concentrates on you
 Has transparent facial expressions
 Easygoing and slow paced
 Agreeable; wants to please you
 Avoids conflict whenever possible; keeps opinions to
themselves
 Seeks advice from others
 Says “I feel” rather than “I think”
49

Getting a Decision From a Supporter
DO . . .
 Use casual, down-to-earth approach
 Give a slow-paced presentation
 Provide validation that is well established and conservative
 Emphasize personal relationship building
 Have patience, emphasize service to others
 Be tactful, appreciative
 Present yourself softly, nonthreateningly
 Be a good listener
 Encourage discussions of fears/concerns
 Keep personal notes (birthdays)
 Ask questions to determine needs
 Ask them for their help
 Discuss feelings instead of facts
DON’T . . .
 Erect barriers between you
 Be domineering or demanding
 Rush headlong into the decision process
 Force quick response to your questions
 Provide solutions with no structure
 Disrupt the status quo
50

Benefit of Matching or Mirroring
Personality Types
 ________% will eventually buy when personality types
are matched or mirrored
 Only _________% will eventually buy when personality
types are neither matched nor mirrored
 Selling diagonally across the personality types is most
difficult (e.g., Driver to Supporter)
Another 80/20 Rule
— Cargill Consulting Group, Inc.
The Two 80/20 Rules
80% X 80% = 64%
Got a•
coach
Successfully•
match or mirror
personality type
Chance of•
making the sale
20% X 20% = 4%
No•
coach
Failed to match•
or mirror
Chance of•
making the sale
(cold call)
Section 2.3: Matching or Mirroring Personality Types
51

Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP)
 A new field that attempts to understand why some people are
terrifically successful
– What they do differently in terms of thinking, language use and behavior
 NLP research shows that these terrifically successful people
build rapport quickly with others by literally matching them in
both spoken and body language
 As you communicate with others, match
– Postures – Voice tones
– Hand gestures – Buzz words
– Other body language – Breathing rates
 If you can accomplish this in a natural, unobtrusive way, you
can quickly establish uncommon rapport with little effort
– The uncommon rapport happens subconsciously
– The other person quickly says to their subconscious, “Wow, this person
is just like me. They are GREAT!”
— “Neuro-linguistic Programming for Dummies”
To Effectively Mirror Personality Types
 Give the buyer the necessary information, based on their
personality type, to make the decision
– Not what you naturally want to give based on your personality type
 Respond to their speed (fast or slow)
– Driver and motivator personality types are __________ decision makers,
talkers and thinkers
– Supporter and thinker personality types are __________ decision makers,
talkers and thinkers
 Mirror their personality temperature (warm or cool)
– Drivers and thinkers __________
– Motivators and supporters __________
— Cargill Consulting Group, Inc.
52

INTRODUCTION
53
Section 3.1 Selling Yourself to The Buyer
Section 3.2 Relationship-based Sales
Section 3.3 Researching Buyer’s Interests
Section 3.4 Guidelines for Initial Contact
CHAPTERTHREE
Thoroughly Research Prospects
andTheir Organization Prior
to the First Contact
Top-TenSkillNumberThree

Section 3.1: Selling Yourself to The Buyer
Good at Selling Themselves
 We are all salespeople every day of our lives
– We are selling our dreams, plans and ideas to all with
whom we come in contact
 “You must sell yourself before you can sell your
organization, your product or your service.”
– “The customer may buy you and not the product”
 “They won’t buy the product without buying you”
 “______% of buyers must be comfortable with sellers
before the sale can take place.”
— Zig Ziglar
First Impressions
 You never get a second chance to make a first
impression
– It happens in ___________ seconds
— “Zig Ziglar”
 First impressions are very important
– People make up their minds about you in about
__________ seconds
54

The Subtle Importance of Appearance
 Buyers unconsciously use your appearance to make
inferences and draw conclusions
– Happens fast
– Can you sell a high-end car wearing cheap, unshined shoes?
 The prospect’s brain screams “Warning: Incongruity!” and
starts looking for other mismatches, this time in your offering
 Image consultants advise (as appropriate to your industry)
– Update your eyeglasses
– Whiten your teeth
– Wear a first class watch
– Keep your car neat and clean
– Shine your shoes and heel edges
– Use business cards with photo (as appropriate for your industry)
 Dress should signal confidence, success, expertise,
sensitivity, professionalism and attention to detail
 When people dress more casually, they tend to act more
casually and less professionally
— Michele Nichols
Importance of Appearance
 The impact of the three Vs
– Visual (how you look) (_____ percent)
– Vocal (how you sound) (_____ percent)
– Verbal (what you say) (_____ percent)
 This is how people initially judge you
— Study by Dr. Albert Mehrabian at UCLA
55

We Make Up Our Minds Fast
 People decide 10 things about you within 10 seconds of
seeing you
– Your economic level
– Your educational level
– Your trustworthiness
– Your social position
– Your level of sophistication
– Your social heritage
– Your educational heritage
– Your economic heritage
– Your level of success in life
– Your moral character
 Your goal is to create an
aura of confidence and
assuredness when you walk
into a room
– Make sure your clothing
contributes its part
 Your posture is one critical aspect
– Walk and stand with confidence
– Stomach in, shoulders back and head up
— “Breakthrough Networking - Building relationships that last”
56

Appearance Is
Disproportionately Important
 You do not want to turn off the buyer because of the
way you are dressed or the way you look
– 55% of how they judge you
– Most people have expectations of how you should look —
don’t disappoint them!
– Ask your coach (or the admin) “How should I dress for
this meeting?”
A $250 Billion Procurement
Which one would you choose as the joint
tactical fighter aircraft for the 21st century?
BOEING LOCKHEED MARTIN
57

Importance of Maintaining a
Professional Image
APPEARANCE
Image is what you reflect to others in your
APPEARANCE, attitude and behavior
DO’s
 Clean shoes before putting away
 Organize closet by pieces and color
 Invest in a full-length mirror
 Keep a lint brush handy
 Stand tall
 Use good eye contact
 Maintain pleasant
facial expression
MISTAKES
 Chewing gum
 No eye contact
 Casual clothing
 Wrinkled clothing
 Stained teeth
 Chipped nail polish
 No smile
 Run in hosiery
 Scuffed shoes
 Hair unkempt
 Biting fingernails
 Poor choice of accessories
 Too many accessories (too
many rings)
 Standing with
arms folded
58

DO’s
 100% positive aTtitude
at all times
 Maintain a can-do attitude even
in tough situations
 Challenge with respect and
understanding of other’s views
 Treat every person no matter
their position, race or gender
exactly the same and with
respect
 Praise the success of others
MISTAKES
 Negative
 Complains
 Undermines the successes of
others
 Sarcastic
 Hyper-critical of others
 Gossips about the company,
co-workers, vendors
 Jealous of others
 Bringing personal issues into
the workplace
DO’s
 Treat professional “hat” like a
part in a play - rehearse the lines
and scenarios
 Understand your role in
the play
MISTAKES
 Sloppy speaking habits (i.e.
“You Know?”, “Yeah!”, “Like”)
 Aggressive
 Undermining the successes
and reputation of others
Importance of Maintaining a
Professional Image continued
ATTITUDE
BEHAVIOR
59

DO’s
 Speak clearly
 Maintain professional
character at all times
 Enunciate
 Pause for effort
 Use inflections
 Use proper grammar
MISTAKES
 Unpredictable
 Belittle people in front
of others
 Highly critical
 Impolite
 Not a team player - won’t
share the spotlight
 Jokes at other’s expense
 Discriminatory
 Silent treatment
Professional Image Inventory
1. Take 1 minute and share your strengths
2. Take 1 minute and share your weaknesses
3. Strategize with teammate for improvements
4. Sign an agreement and share accountability
BEHAVIOR
60

Other Initial Impression Principles
 Smile (shows interest, excitement,
empathy and concern)
– Most men smile when
they are pleased
– Most women smile
to please
 Make solid eye contact
– Maintaining good eye
contact denotes attention,
concentration and true
concern for what the customer
is saying
– Make it and keep it
 Address people by their name
– British Airways boosted its customer satisfaction
ratings 60% by getting employees to address customers
courteously by name
 Have a firm handshake (web-to-web) with solid eye
contact
– Both women and men
– Straight up and down; two or three pumps
– Avoid the bone-crusher, limp fish and double-handclasp
handshakes
 Do not carry a ______________ into the first meeting
– Or too big a purse/handbag/pocketbook
— “Nothing Happens Until We Communicate”
61

Gender Differences
 When selling to women
– Listen and do not interrupt
– Men use interruptions as a control tactic—it turns
women off
– Treat women equally in all aspects of business
 Women thrive on emotional satisfaction from the sale
– Help them feel the sale
 Women are interested in the product, not long stories
– Shorter is better
 When selling to men
– Speak clearly and confidently
– Present the facts and hard evidence
– Have a sense of humor
 Men respond to it better than women
— 2006 Survey by Miller and Miller, Inc.
Section 3.2: Relationship-based Sales
62

Meetings and Social Event Tips
 Stand up straight
 Introduce people to other people
 Wear your name tag on the right so it is easier to read
when you are shaking hands
 Smile, make solid eye contact and repeat the other person’s
name when being introduced; then ask them to spell it
(as appropriate)
 When meeting new people, ask how the other person’s
business helps people
– Then tell them about yours (I’m an accountant. I help people
save money.)
— “Power Networking”
Be Interested in Other People
 People want to do business with people they like and trust
 Buyers like and trust people who:
– understand them – are human
– focus on them – are knowledgeable
– like them – are spontaneous
– have integrity – are honest
– make them feel important – are interesting
 Interesting people (to a buyer) are people who are
____________ in them
— Dale Carnegie
63

Importance of Rapport Building
 Decision makers are more interested in ________ than
what you are selling (agrees with Ziglar).
 What you say in the first minute of every sales call is one
of the key factors in whether or not you make the sale
 Decision makers will usually buy what they need (the
business products/services that they are actually buying)
only from sellers who demonstrate that they understand
and appreciate the buyer’s individual interests (all about
the person)
– Use professional/technical/business interests as the first
choice to get the converstation going
— “You Are Working Too Hard to Make the Sale”
Build Rapport
 Purpose
– Make friends and build trust
– 90% of buyers must feel comfortable with you first
 Buyers will usually not immediately give you the key to
the sale (i.e., telling you exactly what they need)
– They know that if they do, they will find it very difficult
to logically reject a compelling sales offering that responds
exactly to what they need
64

We Make Up Our Minds Fast
About a New Salesperson
 _____ SECONDS TO FORM A PRIMARY
PERCEPTION DURING AN IN-PERSON
SALES INTERVIEW.
Your Opening Statement
Exactly the same
in both cases
Exactly the same
in both cases
Exactly the same
in both cases
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
Trust
(“You understand my
interests.”)
Mistrust
(“You don’t understand
my interests.”)
Open Mind
(“Tell me how you can
satisfy my needs.”)
Closed Mind
(“You can’t
satisfy my needs.”)
Your benefits Your benefits
Facts about
your company
Facts about
your company
Your Price Your Price
Sale
_____ percent chance
NO Sale
_____ percent chance
Primary perception formed
in first 18-39 seconds
65

Take Control of The Buyer’s First
Impression of You
 Devise an opening statement with an open ended question
that gets them to talk about what they like to talk about
Conversation Starters In a Sales Interview
 74% of prospects, especially “Driver” and “Thinker”
personality types, find unsolicited small talk by the seller
to be negative
– You want to get the buyer talking
 Top salespeople will start the conversation and keep it
going by getting the buyer to talk
— “The New Science of Selling and Persuasion”
 Identify professional, business and/or technical interests of
the buyer beforehand
– If you can initially demonstrate that you understand and
appreciate the buyer’s interests, they will usually talk for an
extended period (10-15 minutes), depending on personality type
 As a general rule, don’t start with personal information
– Getting too personal too fast can turn off some buyers,
especially Driver and Thinker personality types
 As a last resort, decipher the “cave artifacts” (e.g., the
pictures on the wall, the trophies in the bookcase)
– Use the artifacts to get the conversation going
66

Obtaining Information About
Buyers’ Interests
(Business/Technical/Professional/Personal)
 Use the following techniques
– Your internal coaches
– “Google” them
– Search services
 Zoominfo.com • Facebook.com
 Spoke.com • YouTube.com
 Wink.com • MySpace.com
 Whitepages.com • Plaxo.com
– Your external network
– Websites
– Use their customers, suppliers and channel partners
– Their salespeople
– Ask everyone in your organization (use email)
– Secretary-to-secretary network (exchange bios)
– Social networking sites (e.g. LinkedIn.com)
– Alumni websites
 If you do all the necessary research, you will be
able to get the buyer talking. This will give them
a positive primary perception of you, which will
eventually result in a 93% chance of making the sale
to this buyer.
Research  Research  Research
Section 3.3: Researching Buyer’s Interests
67

Section 3.4: Guidelines for Initial Contact
Guidelines for Your Opening Statement
With a New Buyer
 Keep it conversational and simple
 Make a statement about their interest and ask an open
ended question
 Stay away from words that are too flattering (terrific,
outstanding, etc.)
 Keep it focused on business, professional or technical
items of interest to them
– Use personal items as the last resort, unless you have
a strong, mutual personal interest (e.g., golf or French
impressionist prints)
 Mention your coach
– EXAMPLE: “Good to meet you Bob. Bill Smith told me
about your program to mentor young engineers. How did
you get the program started?”
 If you have nothing
else, use their job
– EXAMPLE: “Good
to meet you Bob. It
looks like you have a
great job here at the
company. How did
you get started here?”
68

Selling on Emotion
 Buyers buy for their own reasons
– Almost always emotion based (interests)
 Not because the seller’s proposed solution
– Usually based on logic
 The buyer may use the seller’s logic to justify the purchase
(needs), but only after they have decided to buy based on
___________ (interests)
– They feel a connection with the seller.
— “Two Paradigm Selling”
Additional Relationship Principles
 The relationship building is over when the
______________ decides it is
 The _____________ should never prematurely end the
relationship-building discussion
 In most great initial conversations, the _______________
does most of the talking
– The more the buyer talks, the better they feel about the seller
— “How to Win Every Sale”
 The sale today is not as important as the relationship
tomorrow
— Harvey Mackay
69

Natural Follow-up Rapport Building
Open-ended Questions
 How long have they been with organization? (7 years)
 What has changed most about the business in the last
seven years?
 How did the buyer develop their personal knowledge of
the industry?
 What are the most exciting opportunities facing the
company?
 Who do they consider as their main competitors?
 How does the company differentiate themselves from
the competition?
 What are their development goals?
 What obstacles are in the way of reaching the goals?
— “Action Selling”
70

Credibility Building Statement
 May be required if a relationship-building period is not
possible
 Most successful business people can succinctly describe
their offering in less than 15 seconds
 Indicate that you have a potential solution to the buyer’s
problem. Back it up with:
– Your success with other clients (“killer arguments”), or
– Your key or ghosting discriminators, or
– Appropriate ROI results
 If appropriate, reiterate the success with the client who
referred you
Sometimes called the “_________________” speech
EXAMPLE: “Bob, Bill Smith (your coach) told me about your
interest in reviewing your business insurance portfolio. We
help companies manage risk across the entire enterprise and our
solutions provide a nice ROI for our customers. What types of
risks are of most concern to you?
The Next Level of Rapport
Building rapport comes from great
questioning and listening
(STEP TWO)
71

INTRODUCTION
72
Section 4.1 Ascertaining Needs and Proposing
Solutions
Section 4.2 Becoming a Trusted Advisor
Section 4.3 Solution Selling
Section 4.4 Asking the Right Questions
Section 4.5 The Importance of Listening
CHAPTER FOUR
Ask Questions and Listen
Top-TenSkillNumberFour

Key: Ask Questions About The Buyer’s Needs
Section 4.1: Ascertaining Needs & Proposing Solutions
Market Knowledge
What your customers/prospects want you to know
before you meet with them
 What issues are of most concern in their industry?
 What are the emerging challenges in their industry?
 What problems are causing the greatest degree of
confusion among their customers?
 How are the industry leaders addressing these issues,
challenges and problems?
 What solutions are their competitors, industry experts
and academicians proposing?
 How do your products relate to these issues,
challenges and problems?
 How do your products
and services relate to
the solutions?
— 2007 Survey of 80,000 Business Executives by
the H.R. Chally Group, Inc.
73

Top Salesperson’s Mindset
 Research the buyer(s), their business, their needs and the general
competitive landscape beforehand
– Prospects have very little interest in spending time educating you about their
business (especially C-level executives)
– Pump the coach for as much information as possible
– Needs are either “pain” or an opportunity (“gain”)
 Your job as a salesperson is to thoroughly understand the buyer’s need
and to help them
 The most effective way to uncover the pain or opportunity is to ask
questions and be a great listener
– You cannot sell them on the correct solution until you have sold yourself
that you can help them
– If you do, buyers will feel like they are “buying” — not being “sold to”
– Once you have uncovered the pain/opportunity and you have decided on the
correct solution, offer a combination of your products and services
 KEY psychologies behind asking questions and listening
– Their trust level increases and they open up even more
– They feel like they are in control of the conversation
 But you really are in control as you are guiding the conversation where you
need it to go to extract the information you need
– If you closely listen to all wants, needs and desires, your solution will be
exactly on target, and you will seem like a very intelligent salesperson
– If your product/service does not fit, say so and recommend one that does (even
if it is not yours)
 Do this once and become a trusted advisor for life
– The buyer knows that in your mind their interests come first
– It is more important to customers that the salesperson understands their needs
than it is for them to understand the salesperson’s products
— “Neuromarketing: How Selling to the Old Brain Will Bring You Instant Success”
74

Section 4.2: Becoming a Trusted Advisor
Which Salesperson Are You?
 Average salesperson:
– Tells prospects what they want to hear
– Tries to make everyone his or her customer
– Focuses on closing first and foremost
 Top salesperson:
– Remember that the prospect buys “you” first, before they buy
your product or service
– Uses permission-based phrasess so the prospect feels in control
– Focuses on adding value by providing solutions
– Wants to become a “trusted advisor”
— “Go Big...or Stay Home”
Becoming a Trusted Advisor
— “The Trusted Advisor”
Level One Sales
Engineer
You are a subject matter or process
expert in a narrow niche
Level Two Salesperson You also have expertise in related fields
Level Three Expert
Salesperson
You are a recognized expert in your
field
Level Four Trusted
Advisor
Your customers know that you always
have their best interest at heart and
can find a solution to any problem
they may have
75

Solution Selling
 Today’s savvy buyers want four capabilities from
salespeople:
1. Thorough knowledge of the buyer’s business, the general
market conditions for the buyer’s products and services and
the buyer’s main issues
2. Thorough knowledge of how the seller’s solutions can help
the buyer improve their business performance
 Higher Revenues
 Higher Margins
 Lower Costs
3. People skills
4. Sales Skills
 They want solutions to help
them improve their
business performance —
solution selling
– Not just products or
services
 In order to sell solutions
you must be a great questioner and listener
— “Executive Selling”
Section 4.3: Solution Selling
76

The Classic Five Buyer Decisions
(And Their Related Questions)
 You
– Do I like and trust you?
– Are you honest, credible and knowledgable?
 Your Organization
– Is your organization a good match for mine?
– Is it known for the types of things I expect from a supplier?
 Your Product/Service
– Which of my problems will it solve?
– Or will it create new opportunities?
– Does it match my needs?
– How does the product stand up with the competition?
 Your Price
– Is it a good value compared with competitive offerings?
– What must I invest(time, money, hassle) to gain the benefits?
– Is there an ROI?
 Their Time-to-Buy
– How soon do I need to make up my mind?
– When do I need the results that the product will deliver?
– Shall I stall?
Section 4.4: Asking The Right Questions
77

The Classic Five Buyer Decisions
To get the Buyer to make these classic five buyer
decisions favorable to you, it takes three principal skills:
 Relationship building (Get them to talk first)
 Questioning | needs analyses and proposing solutions
 Closing
Questions to Discover the Highest
Potential Needs
 The Buyer will usually describe the need as
– a problem, or as
– an opportunity
 Once the need is discovered ask
– “In your opinion, what is causing the problem (or behind the
opportunity)?” (the root cause)
 Then ask the question that usually gives you the need with
the highest potential
– “What are the consequences to your company and to you
personally if the problem isn’t solved and the current situation
drags on?” (the emotional connection)
– Answers to this question will generally increase the sense of
urgency in the buyer’s mind
 Now you have discovered the need with the highest
potential and with a sense of urgency
78

If They Ask About Your Company
 “I’m prepared to discuss our solutions, but if you could
give me your thoughts on your main issues (the reason
you set up the meeting) first, we can focus on what is
important to you.”
 OR “So that I can recommend the best solution, I need
to understand ...”
— “The Socratic Opener”
Follow-up Questions Once Highest
Potential Need is Discovered
 So I can zero in on the capabilities that would seperate
us from the competition, can you tell me who you are
considering besides us?
 What is your timeframe? (Urgency to make the purchase)
 Who will make the buying decision?
 Who influences the buying decision?
 Who is affected by the buying decision?
 What do you look for when choosing a new solution
provider?
 Is their anything else I need to know??
79

The Importance of Listening
 95% of buyers said that salespeople talk too much
– __________________ before proposing solutions
– “You sure are a good listener. I can’t believe you are in sales!”
 74% of buyers said they would be “much more likely”
to buy from a salesperson if the seller would simply listen
to them
 “I never learned anything when I was ____________.”
— Larry King
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER INTERRUPT THE BUYER!
Section 4.5: The Importance of Listening
80

Listening Habits
 Covey’s Habit Number Five (of the seven habits)
Active _______________
 Seek first to understand (the buyer’s need)
 Listening uses only 25% of our brain
– Other 75% thinks about what to say next, or
– Stops listening if the conversation is not stimulating
— “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People”
Solution! Take Notes
 Ask permission before you start: “Do you mind if I
take a few notes? I want to make sure I have your
requirements exactly right.”
– Keep eye contact
– Take bulletized notes only
– Only take notes about the customer’s business needs
 It says, “I’m actively ___________ to you; what you
say is very important to me and I am interested in
solving your problems.”
– Lets the customer know her words are valuable enough to
write down
– It inspires confidence in buyers; they know that you have
all the relevant information recorded
– It forces you to have “20/20” hearing
– It gets prospects to share more information
– It will help you focus on solutions
— “Listen to Win: A Manager’s Guide to Effective Listening”
81

Top-Three Rules of Salesmanship
___________  ___________  ___________
Average salespeople talk _________% of the time
Great salespeople talk only _________% of the time
Never miss a good chance to shut up
Another 80/20 Rule
— Zig Ziglar
NOTE: THE REGRETTABLE DEFAULT POSITION
FOR MOST MEN IN BUSINESS IS TO TALK.
82

Ten Reasons Why Most Men
Talk Too Much (in Business Settings)
and Don’t Listen
 To show how smart they are
 Ego
 Men are from Mars (Problem-solvers)
– They hear the first hint of a problem and will quickly offer a
solution
 They think they are in control of the conversation when
they are talking
 They prefer speaking to listening
 They are too anxious to rebut the other person’s point
 They allow themselves to get distracted and don’t
concentrate on the buyer
 They jump to conclusions
before all the evidence is in
 They dismiss much of what
they hear as irrelevant or
uninteresting
 They tend to discard
information they do not like
— “The Selling Advantage”
83

The Most Famous
Salesperson Question
 Is there anything else I need to________________?”
 Other variations:
– Have I covered everything?
– Is there anything I have missed?
– Have I asked about every detail that is important to you?
– What other items should we discuss?
– What other concerns do you have?
– What question should I be asking that I haven’t asked...?
— “How To Become a Rainmaker”
84

Summarizing Buyer’s Requirements
 Just prior to offering solutions, _____________ the buyer’s
requirements back to them
– Use your notes
 The summarization cements in the buyer’s mind that
– You were really listening, and you really understand their
issues
– You will propose solutions that will respond to the real
requirements
 No buyer wants a salesperson to come back with solutions to
the wrong problem
Arguing With Customers
 PROBLEM: Sometimes customers are wrong
 You usually cannot win if you argue
 If you do win the argument
– You might lose the customer
 Use __________________ to lead them to the correct
solution
— “Best Practices in Customer Service”
85

INTRODUCTION
86
Section 5.1 Overcoming The Salesperson’s
Two Fears
Section 5.2 Proving The Value of Your Offering
Section 5.3 Offering Solutions
Section 5.4 Handling Objections
Section 5.5 Price Is Not The Most Important
CHAPTER FIVE
Be a Business Consultant
and Solution Provider
Top-TenSkillNumberFive

Section 5.1: Overcoming The Salesperson’s Two Fears
Overcoming the First Fear
 Know your stuff!
– Better than anyone else
 Knowledge builds your expertise and increases your
persuasiveness
 “The top salespeople are the knowledge giants”
 Top salespeople also know the competition’s business
better than the competition does
 If needed, take a sales engineer with you
— Dale Carnegie
Knowledge is Power
”The quality of a person’s life is in direct
proportion to his/her commitment to excellence,
regardless of the chosen field or endeavor.”
— Vince Lombardi
THE SALESPERSON’S FIRST FEAR
The salesperson’s fear of their own lack
of knowledge of what they are selling
87

Build Total Trust with Customers
 TRUST =
Personal Characteristics + Knowledge
 Important Personal Characteristics
– Honesty
– Integrity
– Straight forwardness
– Ability to listen and empathize
 Knowledge
– of your business (products/services)
– of your competition’s business
– of the customer’s business
– of the general competitive landscape
 Being a good person is not enough to build trust
– You must also be able to deliver value
 Lack of trust kills more sales than the other top three
reasons combined
— Miller Heiman
88

Techniques for Overcoming the Second Fear
 Rationalizing that it was not us that
was rejected
– “It couldn’t be us, the customer is stupid.”
 Unfortunately, in many cases, it was us
 It wasn’t a “NO;” it was a “NOT NOW”
– They may change their mind in the future
– Build the relationship
 Realizing that sales success is a
numbers game
– No attempt = no sale
– Each day as you are about to go home,
make one more call
 Considering the rejection as a success because it is a learning
experience
– Analyze the loss to determine reason for rejection
– Get feedback from the customer
 Focus on high probability sales (e.g., with coaches)
– Not ones that will result in more frustration
— “Selling Power”
THE SECOND FEAR
The fear of being rejected by
the prospect
89

Techniques Used By Top Salespeople
 Totally overcome the fear of rejection
 Use visualization techniques
 Do all functions of the sales process a little bit better
than the average salesperson
– Top _____% sell 55 times as much as the other 80%
– Top _____% sell 16 times as much as the other 96%
— A 2005 Study at Harvard University of 100,000 Business to Business Salespeople
Consequences of the Fear of
Rejection
 Average salesperson gets going at the “crack of
eleven” and spends only 90 minutes per day selling
 Only 20% of sales calls are successful
 _____% of the people in sales positions in the U.S.
leave the profession every year
 The importance of salesforce training cannot be over
emphasized
— A 2005 Study at Harvard University of 100,000 Business to Business Salespeople
90

Section 5.2: Proving The Value of Your Offering
THE BUYER’S FEAR
The Buyer’s fear that they do not fully
understand the value of your offering
Overcoming The Third Fear
To overcome this fear, use a small group of “demonstration”
partners (your best customers) who will welcome your
prospects into their company to see your solutions in ACTION
– In return, give them something (e.g., better pricing)
91

Selling Your Company
 Once you have sold yourself by building rapport, asking
questions, listening and uncovering high potential needs
– Sell your company
 Sell three areas quickly
– What does our company do? (standard)
– What is it known for? (standard)
– Are we a good match for
the buyer’s company?
(must be customized)
 Use the classic
marketing messages:
– Killer Argument
– Key Discriminators
– Ghosting
Discriminators
– ROI
92

Section 5.3: Offering Solutions
Sell Your Product
 Cite no more than three offerings
– The maximum the brain can handle
 Include the gain for the customer
– Gain = Value Cost
– Value is the combination of three areas for the buyer
 Financial (ROI)
 Strategic
 Personal (e.g. make them look good)
 Include your marketing messages (top reasons your clients
buy from you)
– Killer Arguments
– Key Discriminators

– Ghosting Discriminators
– Return-on-Investment
All Discussed in Chapter Six
93

Handling Objections
 Objections are generally great news!
 Objections tell you
– What you have to do to make the sale
– Where you weren’t clear or effective
– Where the prospect needs more information
 When clients have no objections, the success rate is low
 When clients have a few objections and you can satisfy them, the
success rate is _____%
– Face them candidly and answer them completely and convincingly
— 2004 Survey of 200 Sandler Sales Franchises
Brainstorm Buyer’s Likely
Questions and Objections Beforehand
 If you have really understood the customer’s needs and
proposed a perfect solution, there will be few objections
 If there are unanswered questions or objections, the sale
usually cannot be made in the call
 Objections are usually the way prospects mask pleas for help
and information
 The buyer’s questions and objections usually provide the key to
the sale
– Script their likely questions and objections, and your responses, beforehand
— Zig Ziglar
Section 5.4: Handling Objections
94

Turn Objections Into Objectives
 Listen carefully
 Restate the objection in your words and get agreement
 Reframe the objection into a mutual prospect/salesperson
objective
– (Prospect) “Your delivery time is too long”
– (Salesperson) “So our objective is to get you the product when you
want it, correct?”
 The benefits of the change
– Tone of the language goes from adversarial to positive
– The prospect’s “yes” response is an invitation to continue
– Permission has been granted to ask more questions to fully
understand the prospect’s concern
 Use the “feel, felt, found” response
– “I understand how you feel”
– “Some of the other customers felt the same way when they first
heard of our solution”
– “But once they implemented our solution, they found the that they
got a substantial ROI”
— “22 Keys to Sales”
95

Responding to Objections
 NEVER GET THE SLIGHTEST BIT DEFENSIVE
– Pause before answering
– Restate the objection
 Even the slightest degree of defensiveness will turn most buyers
completely off
– You come across as a “know it all”
 Find a way to agree . . . “that’s a good point”
 Probe to fully understand the objection
– Ask permission . . . “Do you mind if we explore that idea a bit?”
 Satisfy the objection
 Gain agreement and move on
— “Yes, You Can”
Learn to Overcome Objections by
Role Playing In Company Sales Meetings
 Ask all salespeople to write down the top objections they hear
and how they overcome them
 The usual top-four categories are:
– Bad experience with your company
– Product lacking needed features/benefits
– Competitors offering a different deal
– Price
— Reality Times Web Site
96

Buyers’ Priorities When a Commercial
Service Contract Exceeds $1M
 Quality of the provider’s staff (90%)
 Enthusiasm and commitment (80%)
 A vendor who listens to clients’ goals and needs (79%)
 Reputation (73%)
 Initiative (70%)
 Overall grasp of client’s business (70%)
 Demonstrates confidence (70%)
— In 2008 Survey by Rogen International
Price is NOT in the Top Ten
What’s Important When
Customers Choose Their Vendors
 Salesperson’s competence (39%)
 Total solution provided (22%)
 Quality of offering (21%)
 Price (18%)
— 2007 survey of 80,000 business customers by H.R. Chally Group, Inc.
Section 5.5: Price Is Usually Not The Most Important Reason
97

Federal Government IT
Procurement Officials’ Priorities
 Reputation for delivery on time, in budget, in scope (57%)
 Quality of proposed technical solution (55%)
 Domain knowledge (31%)
 Price (27%)
 Program management (24%)
 Innovation (22%)
 Quality of staff (22%)
— 2006 survey of 470 Federal government IT
procurement officials asked to name the
top three factors for award
“Campbell Communications, Inc.”
Price Usually Not Most Important
Multiple surveys show that price is not the top priority
for buyers
– Most buyers buy based on value; an emotional combination of
price, quality and service
– ______ ranks as only the fourth to sixth most important
consideration
98

Insights Into Price Objections
 Buyers need to obtain
the right products/
services/solutions to
help their internal
people support their
customers
– Buyers get fired
when they buy
products and
services that do not
satisfy their internal
customers
 A price objection is the quickest and easiest way for a
prospect to get rid of a salesperson that they do not like
 Buyers are trained to bring up price on a continuing basis
to test the waters
– Some Buyers are compensated on the % of price reductions
they can obtain
 Concentrate on benefits (that justify the price); not
features
– Show the ROI (It trumps price objections)
– Sell on value before discussing price
— “The Best Seller”
“SIR, THE BUYER WILL SEE YOU NOW.”
Knowledge of these factors allows salespeople
to not cave on price so fast
99

Role of Purchasing Manager
is Changing
 Used to focus just on price
 Now needs to understand the total cost of ownership
– Quality
– Service
– Price
 Lower-level buyers focus on price only; higher-level
buyers focus on increasing revenues, lowering costs,
increasing productivity, increasing margins
 The pressure is on the purchasing manager to get the
right partner
— The Verghis Group
“I WONDER IF IT WILL WORK? AFTER
ALL, HE’S A SALESMAN AND SHE’S A
PURCHASING MANAGER.”
100

Response When Your Price
Exceeds Their Budget
 Propose alternative payment structures
– Extended billing across two budget years
– Phased implementation
 Look for shared funding sources
– e.g., if ROI is good, perhaps the Facilities Manager’s reduced
maintenance budget can help pay for your solutions
 Rescope your offering such that you preserve your value
 Reduce fidelity, resolution or other areas of robustness
 Prioritize needs and fund the most important first
 Shift part of your solution to be funded in their next fiscal year
 Suggest extended billing solutions
— “Non-manipulative Selling”
Price Objections
 A price objection usually means you have not sold the buyer on
the value of your offering
– Qualify price objections by asking, “Is price your only concern?”
– Quantify price objections by asking, “How far off are we?”
 Other reasons for the price objection
– A _________________ ploy
– The buyer does not have as much money in their budget as you are
asking
101

“I Want to Think It Over”
 The generalized “I want to think it over” response usually
means “no”
 People don’t think it over
– Only _____% will actually think it over and decide to buy
 More questioning is required to understand and satisfy the
real objection(s)
70% of the time, the buyers really mean “No”
30% of the time, there is a misunderstanding that you can clear up with questions
Be the First to Mention Price
(If you know your prices are higher than the competition)
 If you know your price is higher, bring it up before the
customer does
– “Because of our outstanding value, our product/service is a little more
expensive than others in this market. Is that going to be a concern?”
 Usually, the buyer will be refreshed by your straight
fowardness
 This technique gives you a chance to take the offensive and
explain the greater ____________ behind your higher price
— “When the Other Guy’s Price is Lower You Can Still Make the Sale”
102

Overcoming Negative Perceptions
 Negative perceptions of your company are a “speed
bump” that cannot be overcome by ignoring them
 Acknowledge the problem
– If appropriate, take personal responsibility
 Describe the solution, e.g.:
– Fixed the problem so it won’t happen again
– Management involvement
– Improved the underlying process
 As appropriate,
– Show metrics (that demonstrate improvement)
– Offer testimonial letters (delighted clients)
Sample Responses
 There is obviously some aspect of my solution that
concerns you. (pause)
 Is it a question of price? (pause)
 What concerns you the most? Is it the way we
propose to solve your problem or our price?
103

INTRODUCTION
Section 6.1 Value-Added Selling
Section 6.2 Appropriate Marketing Messages
Section 6.2.1 Killer Arguments
Section 6.2.2 Key Discriminators
Section 6.2.3 Ghosting Discriminators
Section 6.2.4 Return-On-Investment Analysis
Section 6.2.5 Testimonial Letters
104
CHAPTER SIX
Use Appropriate
Marketing Messages
Top-TenSkillNumberSix

Section 6.1: Value-Added Selling
Value-Added Selling
 Provide great customer service
– Including after-hours phone numbers
 Delivery
– Free/fast/same-day/least-expensive means
 Inventory
– Just-in-time/consignment/high-fill rate/vendor-managed inventory
 Guarantees and extended warranties
 Training
– More/better/on-site/frequent
– Train their salespeople
 Packaging/Labeling
– Bar-coding/custom/least volume/pre-kitting/RFID
 e-commerce (EDI/Interactive Website/e-store)
– Ordering/tracking/inventory levels/job status/order history
 Volume discounts
 Features/functionalities
– More/better/customized
 Share best practices for internal processes
 Higher quality
 Technical/engineering services
– Design services/failure analysis/testing
 Terms
 Co-marketing/co-branding
 Provide market info they cannot get on their own
— “Value Added Selling” and “50 Ways to Add Value”
105

Section 6.2: Appropriate Marketing Messages
Section 6.2.1 Killer Arguments (done it before)
Section 6.2.2 Key Discriminators (why choose us?)
Section 6.2.3 Ghosting Discriminators (why not choose the
competition?)
Section 6.2.4 Return-on-Investment Analysis (why do this at all?)
Section 6.2.5 Testimonial Letters (who says you can do it?)
 These marketing messages have been
developed by top marketers over the
years, because they:
– answer the logical questions that most
buyers have
– allow you to differentiate yourself from the
competition
106

The Killer Argument
 “We’ve done it before”
– Greatly reduces the risk in the buyer’s mind
– TROUBLE IS: You usually haven’t done it before
 What to do? The average salesperson starts by saying,
“We haven’t done this before, but ...” (ugh!)
 The great salespeople:
1. Team up with other organizations as
necessary
2. Translate what they have done
that relates to the need
3. Take advantage of what their
senior people have done
in previous organizations
(remember, people give
business to people)
4. Use the experience of their
contractors, suppliers and
vendors as part of their selling
proposition
5. If it truly has never been done before by any organization,
demonstrate that we have the time-tested processes in
place to assure success
— “Dale Carnegie”
Section 6.2.1: The Killer Argument (Done it before)
107

Teaming Considerations
(with other organizations)
 What teammates do we need to make the killer argument
(done it before)
 Taking small companies, or niche players, off the street
 How we can structure our team to be the only credible provider
 Strategic (teaming) or political (quid pro quo) considerations
Reasons Why Prime Contractors
Choose Sub-contractors
 The sub has a low bidding IQ and is easy to use and abuse
 The sub is smart and can help us technically
 The sub understands the customer; we don’t
 The sub is the incumbent
 The sub has the best:
– Price
– Value
– Insight into customer needs
– Software conversion plan
– Technical migration plan
– Product introduction plan
 The sub has teamed with us before and done a good job
 The sub will be exclusive and others won’t
— 2004 Government Marketing Report
108

Key Discriminators
 Need to answer the question: “Why should the buyer
choose us?”
– What do we do extremely well?
– What is our added value?
– What is our unique selling proposition?
– What are our points of difference?
 How are we different (not necessarily better)?
– What is our sustainable competitive advantage?
 With appropriate metrics
– How do we provide an engineered solution?
Most Key Discriminators sound like an
average salesperson keeping average solutions
Section 6.2.2: Key Discriminators (Why choose us?)
109

Ghosting Discriminators
 Need to answer the more important question:
– “Why shouldn’t the buyer choose our competition?”
 Determine Ghosting Discriminators by:
– Analyzing the competition’s weaknesses
– Emphasizing the opposite of the competition’s weaknesses as our
strengths
 Result — we have pointed out the weakness of the competition
– Without mentioning the competition
 You must use identifiers to point out the differences
– Most, always, unique, least, etc.
Ghosting Discriminator Examples
Competition’s Weakness Ghosting Discriminator
Schedule and budget problems “We always deliver on time and
within budget.”
No key facilities “We have unique facilities.”
Stock/financial problems “We are the most financially-stable
supplier of these products in the area.”
High turnover of people “We have the most stable workforce
in the industry.”
Section 6.2.3: Ghosting Discriminators (Why not the competition?)
Most Top Salespeople use Ghosting Discriminators
to differentiate their solutions
110

Return-On-Investment (ROI) Analysis
 Most purchases are made to solve problems or grow the
business
– 40% of solutions can be expressed in financial terms
 Justify your offering’s price by demonstrating how quickly the
offering will pay for itself
 When a seller can express this payback with convincing
numbers, the buyer’s psychology changes radically
– From focusing on how much your offering costs to calculating how
much money can be made/saved from your offering after the short
payoff period
 Show the buyer how taking no action costs more than funding
your proposal
 Use the info as themes in proposals
 Top decision makers almost always use ROI to decide
Types of ROI
 HARD — Can show real numbers (reduced head count)
 SOFT — There is an ROI, but cannot show real numbers
(people freed up to do other activities)
 WHAT IF — We do not buy enough insurance
Section 6.2.4: Return-On-Investment Analysis (Why buy at all?)
111

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