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Identifying the Primary Business Objective of Your Buyer

A buying cycle begins with a motivation for change. In Neil Rackham’s description of the buying cycle, he uses the word “needs” to describe what is most important to the buyer early in the process.  We have renamed needs “primary business objectives” or PBOs to emphasize the buyer’s point of view at this stage.  

Just like Rackham’s needs, however, PBOs must be determined at the onset of the sales process.  

How do you determine the PBOs of a prospect when you meet them for the first time? If you’re lucky, they will simply tell you and you’ll be saved the hard part of digging for the key driver in the motivation to make a change. But salespeople shouldn’t count on luck.  

Or maybe you can safely make an assumption. If you have the title of an individual that you will be meeting with and that person is in a similar role as another customer you have in that same industry, will their PBOs be similar? Perhaps.   

Regardless of whether or not a prospect tells you the PBO at the outset, or you can make an assumption based on previous experience, it’s critical for salespeople to understand the importance of getting a PBO shared before launching into a presentation, asking a series of questions, or giving testimonials.  

This seems obvious, right? Yet, as simple as it seems, it is often overlooked–even by the most seasoned salesperson.  

As long as we stayed focused on learning this information, it’s usually easy to discover. Here are three ways to get the PBO shared by the key players:  

  • Ask questions. Ask questions to understand their business problems and pain. 
  • Offer a menu. Probe with a menu of business objectives that might be relatable. 
  • Tell a story. Tell a story about how you helped a similar customer, although you’ll have to make some assumptions to do this. This is also a way to share your insight into an area of the prospect’s business that they might not have thought about.  

Once you define the PBOs with a prospect, you’re well on your way to helping them identify a solution to address their problems: your solution! 

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Worst Sales Advice from around the Web

We’ve all received questionable sales advice at some point during our careers – some from mentors or managers, some from peers, and sadly some even from training experts and consultants who are paid to know better.

We’ve spent some time scouring the web to uncover some of these pearls so we can share them here with you here. Enjoy!

1. “Here is a script, read it…”

Nothing says “I have no clue what you do” more than using a generic sales script. Reading from a script is impersonal and prevents you from having a genuine two-way conversation and building rapport.

2. Sales is just a numbers game

Sales is not just about numbers, and cold calling alone is not going to drive results. If you’re only relying on cold calls alone and not finding genuine leads who are actually interested in your product, you’re wasting your time and their time.

3. “Selling is telling”

This one made us laugh – it’s got a quite a ring to it, you must admit. Unfortunately, it was actually a common theme to training programs during the early 80’s. How wrong it was, yet, unbelievably, so many “sales professionals” thought it was right!

4. Always be closing (ABC)

This one conjures up an image of the stereotypical used car salesman. Unfortunately, as any good sales professional knows, customers hate being pushed and really hate pushy sellers. Customers want you to have their best interests at heart and to help them make the best decision, even if that decision is to buy elsewhere or not to buy at all. That’s impossible when you’re concentrating exclusively on closing the sale.

5. Mirror and matching

This one has to be our favorite – as if sales people don’t have enough to handle building rapport, adding valuable insights, asking the right questions and taking great notes. Do we really expect them to cross their arms when the prospect crosses their arms? Really?

What is the worst sales advice you’ve ever received?  Don’t be shy…chime in! This stuff is too good not to share.

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On The Road Again: Mt. Diablo, Northern California

John got some altitude after a day of sales calls in the East Bay outside of San Francisco and Oakland. Click on the arrow above to hear more about ways to tighten up your revenue engine.

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How to Make Sales a Win-Win Situation 

For years, selling focused on making enthusiastic, detailed presentations. To that end, product knowledge was key. Companies invested heavily in teaching their salespeople product knowledge at the expense of selling skills. Even today, it’s estimated that roughly 80% of the training salespeople receive is about product knowledge. Clearly, sales skills training has taken a back seat to. But at what cost?  

Why the product-first focus fails

Here’s a typical scenario that results from this kind of approach: XZY Software has brought their entire sales force to corporate headquarters for three days of intensive product training on the latest version of their software. The salespeople are shown how to demo the product, and they’re taught all the features, specifications, applications and more. At the end of the three days, they’re product experts.  

Imagine what’s likely to happen on the first sales call they make after training. Unless the prospect beats them to the point by asking about new software features, the salesperson will likely to lead with, “Let me tell you about our newest release. It’s got (feature A, feature B and feature C), and here’s how it can help you solve (problem A, problem B and problem C).”  

The prospect doesn’t even get a chance to talk about their needs. The focus on teaching product knowledge takes the focus off qualifying and asking questions. And this kind of “premature presentation” will hurt you more than it will help you, as it turns prospects off but also backfires.  

When a features focus backfires

When skills training was considered necessary, salespeople learned ways to overcome objections and close deals for a very good reason: Product pushers who overwhelmed prospects with features and benefits desperately needed those skills. However, there’s a flaw in pushing features and benefits that’s often overlooked: Sales pitches sometimes give prospects ammunition they can use for objections. For example, if the salesperson starts discussing features, specifications or pricing, the prospect can find something that compares unfavorably to the product he or she is currently using.  

On the other hand, if the salesperson limits the amount of information given, it’s more difficult for the prospect to find something to object to. Plus this leads to question-asking, not feature-pushing, when the salesperson pulls back and withholds information to focus on learning information instead. Investigative skills are more important than presentation skills in today’s selling environment that rewards the problem solver, not the product pusher. 

Sales should not be adversarial

Another misunderstanding is that the entire selling process has to be adversarial. Both parties seem to think they must gain the upper hand and not let the other take advantage of them. Feeling you have been taken advantage of leads to resentment and possible retribution at some point in the future. This is not a good foundation for a long-term business relationship. Years and years of manipulation by both parties have caused this unfortunate imbalance in the typical sales process. 

Sales should result in a win-win

Selling has to become a cooperative effort. When a sale is made, both parties must win or they shouldn’t do business together. To make this happen, the salesperson should start out by communicating the need to exchange enough information to find out if there is a reason to start a business relationship. If after exchanging information it doesn’t look like a fit, either party has the right to disengage.  

The focus of qualifying should be for the salesperson to ask questions about the business objectives the prospect wants to achieve, not on what the seller has to offer. At the end of the process, the seller will make his or her recommendations based on the answers to the qualifying questions and the prospect will give the seller a decision. No manipulation will be necessary by either party to gain an advantage. 

And we can finally say goodbye to product-focused presentations all about features and benefits too.  

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Having A Trustworthy Attitude

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Your Sales Attitude: Aggressive or Inquisitive? 

Trust is the foundation for success in sales. And the more complex the sale, the higher the dollar value of the sale, the more important trust is. Unfortunately, the general perception of salespeople causes buyers to be wary. As a result, the trust factor is very low initially—if any trust exists at all. Therefore the seller starts out at a distinct disadvantage and faces an uphill battle to earn trust. He or she has to first dispel the idea that their primary goal is to ensnare the buyer.  

To compound the problem, many salespeople show up with a misguided attitude. They come across as saying, “I’ve got the best solution available, and my job is to convince my prospects that I’m right. To do this, I will offer a precise, logical argument supported by as much data as necessary to prove my point. I will become skillful at overcoming their objections and if they don’t buy, I will be persistent and follow up relentlessly until I win their business.”  

This is the “try harder” approach: If you don’t get the sale, just try harder. These aggressive salespeople win points for effort, but not for effectiveness. This attitude just doesn’t fly. And certainly doesn’t build trust! 

An alternative approach: Ask questions

Contrast that attitude with an entirely different one, such as, “I firmly believe in my product or service. But I also realize not everyone is a prospect for what I sell. And I realize that the harder I try to sell, the less receptive my prospect will be. Therefore, my best strategy is an inquisitive approach, to ask questions and encourage the prospect to tell me about his/her situation without fear that I might take advantage of them. Coming to a point of understanding without the pressure of trying to sell will meet both the prospect’s needs and my company’s needs most effectively.”  

Put yourself in the prospect’s shoes. Which salesperson would you prefer to deal with, the aggressive one or the inquisitive one? Which person would you trust the most? Which attitude takes the pressure off? Most people would prefer—and be more likely to trust—the inquisitive salesperson. 

What kind of attitude are your salespeople taking? How’s that working for you?  

 

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Keep the Focus on Your Revenue Goals: Do Your KPIs Need a Tune Up?

kpiIn a meeting with one of our customers, the CEO used a powerful analogy while discussing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) with his senior leadership team: “The rear view mirror in a car is 50 times smaller than the windshield.” There is an obvious reason for looking through the windshield while driving a car, but that same focus may not be quite as obvious when the objective is to drive revenue in your organization. What is your focus on; lagging or leading indicators?

Lagging Indicators – What are they?

Lagging Indicators are measures that a company uses to gauge performance by outcomes and results that are measured in the rearview mirror…at quarter-end or at year-end.  In most sales organizations, these indicators get most of the attention because they are captured in reports, which are monitored, by executives and shareholders. Lagging indicators include metrics like:

  • Total Sales Dollars
  • Revenue Growth
  • Margins
  • Market Share
  • New Customers

Leading Indicators – Real Time Data

In contrast, leading indicators are measured as you look through the windshield, navigating how you are tracking toward your destination.  They can be viewed as signposts along the way, warning you of speed limits or detours that may need consideration on route toward the revenue goal. As pipeline is being managed, leading indicators include activities that measure the progress of each person’s revenue journey.  Leading Indicators may include:

  • The number of qualified opportunities in the pipeline with qualification criteria that is clearly defined for each pipeline milestone.
  • Validation of  the customer’s business objectives and corresponding solutions from Decision Makers approval
  • Decision Maker input and agreement on the Value Proposition your product or service can influence
  • Evaluation Plans and Implementation Plans co-drafted with Decision Makers prior to proposals being submitted

How to Tune Up the KPIs in Your Organization

Before you jump in and hit the gas on the KPIs you wish to measure in your organization, make sure that your destination is clear.

  • Identify your goals (personal and organizational destinations).
  • Develop KPIs that indicate a step-by-step approach of how to achieve the business objectives outlined.
  • Validate that your KPIs will appropriately measure progress toward the attainment of the long-term objectives outlined.
  • Determine how the KPIs will be tracked and monitored so that re-routing may occur when necessary.

Connecting Leading and Lagging Indicators

As your team becomes more effective at executing Leading Indicator Activities, the Lagging Indicators will improve. There are other advantages to well-constructed KPIs:

  • KPIs set expectations for sales reps, indicating key activities for time allocation and opportunity prioritization which are tied to their performance and compensation.
  • KPIs improve team communication by putting sales activities into context as a measure toward a common goal:  To Drive Revenue.
  • Appropriate KPIs will give reps and managers real-time “caution signs” about current opportunities and provide them the insight to make educated decisions with regard to any re-routing of opportunities that may be required.
  • KPIs take the guesswork out of evaluation and coaching.  With each KPI tied to a coachable sales skill, Managers can use this data to customize coaching conversations with reps which will address skill gaps and boost performance development.

Evaluate the KPIs you are following now. Make the proper adjustments, and you will reach your destination of increased revenue this quarter!

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Understanding the 3 Phases of the Buyer’s Journey

Each of the engagements we have with our customers begins with a thorough understanding of their business objectives. We then back up and attempt to help our customers to identify how their customers get to them or if they initiate the contact. We delve into questions such as, what steps did the prospects that looked at their organization go through to get from interest to on–boarding?  

The concept of the buyer’s journey
There is a lot of noise in the sales enablement space today about mapping “the customer’s journey” and then aligning it to the sales process. This is hardly a new approach. It is a dust–off of a three–decade–old concept, decked out with fresh wrapping paper, buzzwords and a shiny bow to get companies to think more about customers than themselves and the products they sell. A dust-off yes, but still a useful approach if it helps sales teams to understand the phases of the buyer’s journey. 

In order to help our customers understand what is important to their customers, we rely on the research done by Neil Rackham. Rackham is the author of SPIN Selling. Rackham’s research yielded a chart that documents the three phases a buyer goes through, as well as what is important to the buyer in each of the phases. Much has been written about this research, and the use of the model has gone through adaptations when major innovative and market forces, such as the Internet, have entered the environment. But in general, the phases hold true.  

  • Phase 1 is called Solution Development. At this time, the main concern of the buyer is their needs, although we often replace the word “needs” with “business objectives.”  
  • Phase 2 is called the Evaluation. During this phase, the most important component to the buyer is proof: proof that your organization’s services and capabilities can match the buyer’s business objectives.  
  • Phase 3 is called Commitment. The most important component to the buyer when they are ready to commit, or make a decision, is risk. The risk comes from the uncertainty of knowing if their selection will do what was promised. This is especially true when moving from one competitor and another in the same industry.   

Note that price and cost are of course concerns for the buyer, but never are they the most important concern at any point in the sales cycle. Despite what you have heard about phrases like “sharpen your pencil,” or “give me your best and final,” price is rarely the final factor, and you’ll see it’s conspicuously absent from the three phases described above.    

Do you know which phase your buyer is in? 
It’s important to understand what phase your customer is in when you engage with them and make sure you identify what’s important to them. You also must recognize when different buyers are in different phases. For example, you could have three different buyers in an organization at different places along the buying phases spectrum.  

It is the sales person job to make sure that they cover all three of the buyers’ phases, regardless of where the buyer is on the initial contact. This is one of the reasons that proactive new business development is critical for sales people. If they can initiate the identification of a business objective, they will be in the driver’s seat to shape how that gets addressed, preferably in a specified solution that your competition can’t offer.    

An engaged sales process means knowing your buyer’s business objectives, offering them proof, and getting them to commit.  

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Establishing Value Around Your Product or Service

John recently addressed the Association of Language Companies (ALC) at their annual conference held in San Diego. The ALC is a professional organization of commercial translation and interpretation companies who operate in a global capacity.

The following video is a five minute outtake of the dialogue conducted. Listen in for the framework on how to help your customers and prospects understand the value that you provide. If you would like the tools that are mentioned, simply e mail to john@drive-revenue and they will be forwarded to you.

 

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Reinforcing Sales Skills: Try Our Online Learning Portal (OLP) for FREE

The Flannery Sales Systems’ OLP is another tool we created to:

  1. Enable our customers to understand buyer behavior
  2. Reinforce the core concepts and selling skills of Sales Process for all individuals in customer facing roles.
  3. Provide practice and repetition of skills in a self-paced, ongoing basis.
  4. Help Managers to understand where their sellers are competent, where they need coaching, and how to improve results.

The web based portal (view screen shot here) includes:`

  • Six reinforcement videos by sales stage and skill; each are 5 to 7 minutes long (click here to view a sample)
  • e-Toolkits that support each stage
  • A reinforcement quiz for each stage
  • The Manager’s Coaching Room
  • Support with live phone coaching sessions

In a previous article (How To Make Learning Stick), one of the key tenets of Adult Learning Theory emphasized a need for a learner (salesperson) to use repetition as a way to embed additional skills into their everyday routine.

Coaching is a major component to reinforce the use of enhanced skills, but until the new skills are entrenched, coaching will be difficult. The portal is designed to provide the repetition, and then offers the visibility for a specific skill that needs improvement (i.e. qualification, establishing value, negotiation, etc.).

Once the salespeople go through all six modules, Managers will be able to see the results of the scores on the quizzes completed. This provides the Managers with the objectivity needed to pinpoint coaching efforts.

Sales skills is often one of the last things to be addressed in the overscheduled world of most Sales Managers. The OLP provides Managers with an objective way to assess skills, as well as a platform to create skill related topics for sales team meetings.

Marketing, Customer Service and Inside Sales personnel can also benefit from the use of this valuable tool, as the OLP provides a window into the buyer’s world, the sales process that is being used in the field, and how other customer facing roles can use it in their respective roles.

For your FREE 30 DAY TRIAL, please contact John Flannery at john@drive-revenue.com or call 858-518-7039.

 

 

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The Tactical Execution of Strategy: Sales Process Illustrates the “How”

A Go To Market Strategy is the high level view of the vision or mission of an organization’s long and short term objectives. The strategy is carefully formulated by upper management to move an organization toward their specific destination. If, for example, an organization has the desire to increase revenue, a sales strategy for increased revenue may be formulated with the careful consideration of many different factors: assets, competition, the marketplace, margins, operational costs, the number of product lines, distribution, channels, value propositions, and plans for growth, to state a few.

We recently worked with an organization who wanted us to help them build a sales process to “get more sales now”! Their short-sightedness of only looking at the “close up” of the map gave them the misguided idea that their destination was nothing more than to get the reps out there selling better!  We were able to guide them through a sales strategy exercise, and THEN helped them build a sales process on how to execute their strategy.

One Conversation At a Time

The principal component of a sales strategy is execution. Sales process outlines the step-by-step, most efficient, customized directions of execution to get to the final destination.  It provides information on how to get to the destinations in specific detail, based on selling skills. The steps are broken down one conversation at a time for practice and mastery.  This specificity enables the implementation of strategy by providing the following advantages to the entire team:

  • A common path and language
  • Functional messaging tools based on the strategy
  • Skill sets that are tied to process steps
  • Flexibility to use the process in practical terms as competencies are mastered
  • Process steps that are tied pipeline milestones

Visibility with Leading Indicators for Success

If you ensure that all sales reps and managers follow the sales process, you can outline expectations and more easily benchmark your sales team against common criteria, providing an excellent evaluation of the strategy at the rep level.  A sales process provides:

  • Confirmation that opportunities are moving, or stalled, as the case may be
  • A measure of the skill of individual sales reps
  • An opportunity for focused skill coaching of sales people by managers
  • The backbone of reporting tools for leading KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) of performance measurement against key outcomes of the sales strategy.

When determining your organization’s sales strategy, take the time to ensure your understanding of the entire landscape.  Then, implement a sales process that allows you to execute toward your objectives, with the ability to gauge your success along the route, and soon, you’ll arrive at your destination:  Success!

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