Sales Training, Leadership Development & Customer Service

Sales Training, Leadership Development & Customer Service

Selling Solutions? You Better Know The Problem

"Selling Solutions" can be a very effective method for ensuring your customer is getting the most value out of what you have to offer. However, many sales leaders implement "solution" selling in order to fit more of their products into the pitch. Meaning, they aren't really selling solutions, they are cross-selling or up-selling more products or services. To sell solutions effectively, one must understand the specific problems that you are solving, and their potential costs. 


Questions to Ask Before Using A Solution Selling Strategy

1. Can you describe how this suite of products or services work together to lower costs or improve productivity? (improve revenues, satisfaction, ease of use, decrease labor costs, glitches, frustrations etc.)
2. Does my solution solve a problem our customer's will relate to? 
3. In purchasing the entire solution, can the customer realize more value than buying specific products or services individually? If so, how? 
4. Are you able to articulate the benefit of the solution vs. ala carte offers that may be easier to implement? 
5. Will the solution you are proposing create a longer and more complex sales cycle? Is that ok? 
6. Will the solution provide you with a competitive barrier or advantage? 
7. What customer or industry knowledge am I missing? How can I get a clear understanding of my customer's problems and the costs associated with them? 
8. Can I present this solution's benefits from the customer's point of view? 
9. Who else will need to be involved in the decision making process with a broader solution? 
10. What additional departments may need to buy into this solution? 
11. What is the budget for a solution? 
12. Does the ROI help the customer to justify going off budget? 
13. Does your solution lock them into a user experience very different from what they are doing now? 
14. How can you mitigate the risk of change? (Training, try and buy, demos, on-site implementation etc.) 
15. Does our solution make it harder to integrate into current practices? If so, how can we make it easier? 

Are you selling an "End-to-End Solution"?  
What does the customer expect from an end-to-end solution?  If they choose to do business with you, they won't have to go anywhere else? This isn't usually the top of mind need or pain point. Customers are not sitting around thinking, "I wish I only had one vendor that could supply all of my products or services". Typically customers would prefer a little more competition to keep vendors on their toes. The true value of end to end is that customers won't have to buy from a variety of suppliers and figure out how to make it all work together.  If your end to end solutions are designed to achieve a seamless experience and can guarantee these products will work together to achieve the customers' objectives then you are providing real value. Otherwise, "End to End" is ala carte. You are more like a one stop shop. Nothing wrong with that, however your value is limited to the convenience of shopping. 

The Power of Positive Feedback

What we have concluded from working with thousands of coaches, managers and sales people is that coaching feedback needs to be specific, focused on behavior and provided in a timely fashion. When we ask people about the coaching feedback they receive, the reviews are mixed. The comments we hear sound something like this: 

"She tells me when I am not doing a good job." 

"I have been told that I take too much time with each customer." 

"Coaching is for people that are not making their numbers. Right?"

"My manager wants me to close more, but I am not really sure what that means."  

"I have regular one-on-one meetings but not a lot of feedback." 

"I never get coached. I am a top performer".

"We don't have sales coaches, just managers." 

"We get regular sales tips and trainings from our manager." 

"My manager wasn't as good a sales person as I am." 

How do you ensure coaching feedback supports improved performance? 

• Consistently reinforce positive behaviors as well as improvements. Managers tend to err on the side of corrective feedback. Provide a balance. 
• Make sure you provide specific observations of behaviors that affect performance. If you are giving opinions based on personal experience or style your feedback may not actually support results. If your feedback is too vague it is left to interpretation. 
• Be sure to keep advice focused on the future as they can do nothing about what just occurred. For example, "Next time you open a call, you could ask the customer if there is anything they would like to add to the agenda, that way you will ensure you are on the right track." 
• Get validation. Ask your sales person if the feedback you are giving them is helpful. It doesn't matter what you think if they don't like or understand what you are saying. Make sure it is hitting the mark. 
• Positive reinforcement and advice for improvement does not always have to be given at the same time. If the expectation is that you will always give both positive and negative feedback then people tend to wait and listen for the criticism. The reinforcement can get lost.  Think of feedback as bank account. You will make deposits (positive feedback) and withdrawals. If you are overdrawn, performance can start to suffer. 

How to Give Positive Feedback More Effectively
Many sales managers think they are providing positive feedback when they say, "Hey great job today!" It's nice to hear, but it doesn't tell your sales person what they are doing well. If you want to reinforce behaviors that contribute to higher performance - be specific. For example, "I observed three things you did in that meeting that drove a successful close. The first was the way you validated the customer's acceptance throughout the call by getting feedback. By asking, "What do you think about that?", you were able to uncover concerns and address them effectively. The second was the qualifying question you asked about decision making. By knowing how they were going to make this decision you were able to close for the next step to advance that process. And lastly, you summarized the key points agreed to in the meeting and suggested the next step confidently. The result was the customer was comfortable in committing to you." 

Three Things You Must Know When Selling To Businesses

1. Customers only care about you if you care about them 

It is amazing how many sales training programs and managers teach an adversarial approach to customers. This rarely works and it makes selling a chore for both the customer as well as the sales representative.  More and more customers are seeking self-serve mechanisms to avoid the selling experience altogether. Don't be sales "road kill". Be concerned about your customers, their industry, the trends in their business and you will be in a much better position to add value. 

2. Have a purpose for every interaction

Customers do not have time to chew the fat with you. They are busy and if you are successful, so are you. The key to creating an effective purpose is "EMPATHY". To make your purpose compelling to the customer, you will need to express it in terms that are tied to something they would like to achieve. To do this effectively, you will have  to see the world from the customer's point of view without necessarily having the luxury of talking to them. So, how do you do that? Learning more about the customer's industry, their potential pain points or opportunities for them in the marketplace by conducting research can help you to create an engaging purpose.   This doesn't mean that you say, "Bob I'd like to talk to you about your pain points." This sounds dumb doesn't it? You will be much more compelling if you can state your purpose with some hint at how they could save time, money or improve revenue, productivity, creativity by spending time with you.

3. Be relevant or be gone

Many sales people we work with have one goal when selling to businesses; to get to that top executive.  They learn gate keeping techniques to get an appointment but do not have a clue as to how to be relevant at that level. The result? A kick downstairs is the best case scenario, the worst case scenario is you get a few minutes into your meeting and the executive excuses himself for a phone call to never return. Sales people think that the best case scenario is a win! Hey I got kicked downstairs by the CEO. That is a great reference! The problem with that thinking is that you have blown a great opportunity to partner with this company at a strategic level. If you have that type of product or service, be prepared with relevant strategic conversation at the C level if you are going to go there. If you lack the confidence, knowledge or skills to conduct this type of discussion, then bring someone in your organization who can. It will be a great learning opportunity!

The same point can be made at any level of the organization. If you are speaking with a technical user or a financial buyer, you must be relevant at that level. There is nothing more frustrating than listening to a sales person that can not tailor information to whom they are speaking.