Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

If you are involved in prospecting then you will already know the challenges of persuading a prospect to give you the business. Ultimately there is a four-step process involved in buying that all of us follow;

1. We have to feel motivated to make a purchase, irrespective of its type or size.

2. At some point after we’ve become motivated to want to buy, we make a decision to buy.

3. Then, after we have made a decision, we want to feel convinced that our decision is the right one, and at this stage we may seek approval and input from other people.

Then we’ll make our purchase.

4. Finally, after making our purchase we seek reassurance.

Interestingly, if sales people haven’t nurtured newly acquired customers, this can result in ‘Buyers Remorse’ and the customer may get ‘cold feet’ and cancel their order.

Every step of this process requires careful handling, yet if the salesperson lacks the ability to motivate their prospect to talk to them, let alone buy from them, the other steps become redundant.

People are fundamentally motivated in two main ways:

1. What problem or pain they can avoid and move away from
2. What pleasure or benefit they can move towards

Imagine your alarm going off in the morning and you realise that you have to get out of bed. It’s just too warm and comfortable where you are, so you give yourself another five minutes. Then, after this time, you decide to lie in for another few minutes until you suddenly get a picture in your mind of your angry boss! The consequences of being late for your meeting with him, scares you into jumping out of bed.

Alternatively, imagine your alarm going off on the morning of your holiday. The prospect of sun, sea, and Sangria fills you with excitement as you jump out of bed to start your two week vacation.

If a prospect feels content with their current supplier or their current situation, then it will be a huge challenge to motivate them to want to buy your product or service. That’s why every pain your prospect feels is an opportunity for you. Your task, during the initial fact-finding stage, is to uncover their ‘pain’ and help them to dwell on their problems.

The stronger the pain or the bigger their problem, the greater their motivation will be to move away from it. If you can convince prospects that your organisation can reduce one or more of their ‘pains’, then you will have suddenly discovered a powerful way to unleash their motivation to buy from you.

Here are some examples of questions that probe for pain:

“What areas of your current situation don’t you like?”
“What is this costing your organisation each year?”
“How do you feel about (problem)?”
“Who else is aware of these issues?”
“How do they feel about it?”
“Why haven’t you tackled this before?”
“How do your issues compare to those in similar organisations?”
“Which of these problems is causing you the most concern?”
“What have you done in the past that’s not worked?”
“When did you begin noticing this issue?”
“Why is this such an issue for you?”
“When will you decide to resolve this?”

When probing for pain, it’s more effective to start with general questions to build rapport, encourage discussion and plenty of input from the prospect.

As you begin using questions that probe for pain you’ll notice shifts in their body language that can provide you with important feedback that your questions are hitting the mark. Ideally, encourage the prospect to define the consequences of their problem, this magnifies the problem in their minds eye and consequently builds their motivation to want to get it solved.

Finally, you need to gain their commitment to resolving their problem by asking, “How committed are you to resolving this issue?”

Today’s News: I have spent most of this week editing the latest Top Sales Experts ebook, and it has certainly been a labour of love! All being well, it should be launched next week, but I’ll let you know. Understanding my frustration, the genius that is our graphics guy, Bill Jeckells, produced this: 

Tomorrow: We launch: JF Uncut, a new initiative every Saturday and Sunday - it’s my take on what’s going wrong in the world. Be sure to join me - if you dare!

The JF Guest Author Spot

Paul McCord

Are you a salesperson, professional or business owner who is trying to market to anyone and everyone in your market that might even remotely have a use or need for your product or service? If you are, why?

Why would you try to do something that most salespeople and professionals can’t possibly do well? Marketing on a general scale is expensive—just ask Coke, Microsoft, Old Navy, Sears, State Farm, UBS, or any other major company. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year trying to do what you’re trying to do on a shoestring.

But, you say, you’re only working in a very limited area? Fine, do you have the budget of a major, local auto dealership, or major, local furniture store, or any other major, local business that is trying to do what you’re trying to do?

But, again, you say that you’re not marketing to the general consumer but to a specific industry. OK. Do you have the budget your major competitors have to do direct mail, sponsor association events, advertise in industry specific publications, and all the other things your big competitors do?

No, you say, but you don’t need the sales volume they do in order to support all of those things or the massive staff they have. Good, now we’re getting somewhere.

You don’t need the sales volume they need, you don’t have the budget they have, and you don’t have the staff they have. So, why are you trying to capture the same general market they’re trying to capture? You don’t need it and you can’t afford it.

Rather than spreading your time, effort and marketing budget so thin, why not focus on one or two very specific segments of the market where you can become a real player? Instead of trying to spread your marketing budget over say, 40,000 people, why not focus on a small, but highly focused segment of maybe 5,000 people? Instead of trying to get to 11,000 companies, why not focus on 2,000 companies that fit within your ideal prospect template? Better yet, why not focus on 800 companies that are perfect fits to your ideal prospect? 5,000, 2,000, or 800 is still a large number.

By defining your ideal prospect in as detailed terms as you possibly can and then focusing only on that group, you increase your likelihood of selling each prospect, you are more capable of making inroads with each since you can focus your message to that group specifically, and you maximize your marketing dollars. You also can become the expert to really understand and resolve their issues and problems.

Finding and exploiting one or two niches is a far more effective marketing format for most salespeople, professionals and small businesses. Unless you have the time and money to compete with the big boys, you’re better served to do what they can’t—concentrate on and become the expert in a highly focused segment of the market.

Why don’t more salespeople, professionals and business owners focus on niche markets? Fear. Fear of possibly losing a sale. Fear that the niche may not be big enough to find enough clients to stay in business. Fear that they won’t be able to penetrate the niche. Fear that they’re leaving money on the table.

These fears are unfounded for the most part. Becoming a niche player does take time. It takes effort. It takes discipline. However, there is a lot of money to be made being a big fish in a very small pond—and no money to be made being a dead fish in a very large lake.

Today’s News: Most salespeople are looking to finish the year strongly and over at Salesopedia, Clayton Shold is in conversation with Jim Messenheimer about this very topic.

Clayton says: “I refer to Jim Meisenheimer as a sales expert; he refers to himself as a lifetime student of the selling profession. Which ever way you look at him he is a “player” in the sales game having trained tens of thousands of sales producers and thousands of sales managers. He knows what is required to finish the year strong. This podcast examines if you have what it takes to nail the fourth quarter. Jim walks you through six critical questions which strategically look at your business. He professes if you invest at least one day working through these questions you will not only have a banner last quarter but set the pace for next year.”  Simply click on the banner to listen in.

Tomorrow: What do doctors and salespeople have in common?

The JF Guest Author Spot

Keith Rosen MCC

If you eat healthfully and take care of yourself, then you will never need to go on a diet. A sound and practical philosophy, regardless of how challenging it may be at times to consistently do so.

This same philosophy holds true when it comes to selling. If you honor a well-balanced sales process, which includes everything from first contact to how you qualify a prospect, as well as how effectively you deliver your presentation, then you will not have to close.

Look what was being taught in the old school of selling. The old school taught salespeople to close, close, close. Salespeople were told to spend most of their time closing the deal. Trainers taught salespeople fancy closes to handle and overcome objections. Over the years, a new school of thought has evolved: the school of possibility. Imagine what would be possible if all the objections you typically hear at the “closing table” were prevented and defused throughout the course of your presentation.

There exists a choice a salesperson has to make. The first choice is spending minimal time on your presentation and spending the rest of your time attempting to close the prospect. The second choice is investing most of your time up front on a masterful presentation infused with well-crafted questions that defuse the most common objections you hear. This results in the prospect essentially closing himself, with minimal effort. Which school do you choose to be a student of?

Do you run into the same objection over and over again? If you see a pattern, wouldn’t it make sense to plan for or master a way to defuse these objections by preventing them from surfacing before they actually arise? Wouldn’t it make your job easier to put these objections or concerns to rest throughout your presentation? The end of your presentation should simply be the natural evolution of the selling process: earning the business of a new prospect.

If you can overcome an objection during the course of your presentation when it is still in its fetal stage, as opposed to waiting until the end of your presentation when it becomes a full-grown obstacle, you will find yourself spending less time closing and more time posting new sales.

Consider this: if you were building a brick wall, what would be easier; removing a broken brick that has just been laid or waiting until the wall is fully constructed? If you wait until the end, you have to tear down the entire wall just to get to the broken brick, and then spend the rest of your time reconstructing it.

The same holds true with your selling process. Remove the defective bricks or objections first in order to avoid having to do so later, when it just may be too late to do anything about it.

Keith Rosen is the preferred, authentic coach that top executives and sales professionals in many of the world’s leading companies call first. As a prominent, engaging speaker, Master Coach and well-known author of many books and articles, Keith is one of the foremost authorities on assisting people in achieving positive, measurable change in their attitude, in their behavior and in their results. Keith’s articles can be found in Selling Power Magazine and has appeared in feature stories in The New York Times, The Washington Times, Inc. Magazine, Sales and Marketing Management’s Ultimate Motivation Guide with Stephen Covey and The Wall Street Journal. For his work as a pioneer in the coaching profession, Inc. magazine and Fast Company named Keith one of the five most respected and influential executive coaches in the country.

To speak with Keith about personalized, one to one or team coaching or training or to receive his free ezine,
call 1-888- 262-2450, e-mail info(at)ProfitBuilders.com or visit www.ProfitBuilders.com.

Today’s News: I am incredibly lucky to have a small, trusted group of advisors, of which Keith is a very important member. Another, my “Crazy Sister” Jill Konrath, is adamant that my writing style is “high-brow” - that probably has something to do with her catching me off-guard one time and me confessing my membership of MENSA: You can imagine the conversation - “My name is Jonathan… and I have been inducted into a society for ….” Something almost “Confessional”

The reality is that I have deliberately avoided subjects that might be termed “controversial”

I am talking about - my political views; corporate corruption; the hypocrisy within the Catholic Church; why we are experiencing the worst financial meltdown in decades……..

But not anymore.

From this Saturday, you can catch JF Uncut (I know, the mind boggles)

Every Saturday and Sunday, I’ll be giving you my take on the things that are really important to me - no holds barred - and totally unassociated with my usual Monday-Friday persona.

If you think you can hack it (expletives may be used) then join me.

First up, I am going to respond to this load of ********

My experience is that Jerry is a really nice guy, so it’s nothing personal - truth is, we are in this mess because of two emotions that have driven the finance sector for almost two decades - greed and fear. I’ll elaborate on Saturday. 

Tomorrow: Even skilled and seasoned negotiators struggle sometimes when it comes to trading concessions, prefering to take the swiftest route to closure and thus leaving so much money on the table - tomorrow my advice on how to gather up those last few cents.

The JF Guest Author Spot

Steve Kraner

Despite tons of money spent on CRM software, and hours of time dedicated to business pipeline reviews, the forecast is still not accurate. Why?

Hope-based forecasting

The fundamental flaw in all forecasting is that we are asking sales people to report on their own performance. It’s a bit like the US Congress asking pro baseball players if they use steroids. If we ask salespeople to report that they are failing, we are kidding ourselves.

Level 1 Fix

Most organizations and sales managers ask for a forecast and apply a lot of pressure in the process. For example, a Sales VP told me the other day that his people could not properly project their business. I asked what he had tried to improve forecast accuracy. He said, “Last December I asked them all to commit to what they were going to close in the following 90 days.” I asked if that approach worked and he said, “No. They didn’t make the number they had committed to and they were THEIR numbers!” I asked him what they said when he debriefed their opportunities and walked them through a structured analysis of each deal in progress. He said, “I don’t do that.”

Please stop and think about that for a moment.

If you hired a golf coach who said, “Steve, the problem with your game is that the ball doesn’t go in the hole early enough and often enough.” What would you think of that golf coach?

You can’t coach based on OUTCOMES. If you want to change an outcome you have to address the underlying behaviors. When we beat them up with their own numbers, we aren’t adding any value and we are probably damaging their self-esteem. This results in subjective and inaccurate forecasts.

Level 2 Fix

So then we try a ‘uniform milestone’ grading scheme in an attempt to remove the subjectivity by establishing clear guidelines for what it means to be “at 80%.” This is better, but still more subjective than objective. These approaches fail because they try to solve the problem with tons of paperwork or lots of annoying buttons in a CRM system. The problem is that the reps gather all the information and then PUT IT IN A FILE OR IN A CRM SYSTEM. They look at it as busy work and they do just what it takes to keep their boss off their backs..

Further, if you’ve ever been through an account or opportunity review as a rep you face a manager who keeps asking questions until he find one you didn’t ask. It’s reduced to a game of “gotcha.” Again, very little learning is accomplished and the rep’s self esteem is bruised.

State of the Art

The state of the art is to use an Ultimate Contract. It is an agreement between the salesperson and the customer that outlines all of the key qualification conversations and the due diligence process that will lead to the ultimate ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ The purpose of this document is to make sure you don’t develop a proposal unless you are certain you have captured the full set of requirements and that they are seriously consider buying from you.

“The greatest enemy of communication is the illusion of it.”  - Pierre Martineau.

The Ultimate Contract requires the rep to ask the tough questions. (Please note, the real problem is that reps don’t ask the tough questions! We need to help them learn how to do this.) The verbal agreement is then reduced to writing and SHARED WITH THE CUSTOMER to ensure clarity. Since you send it to the customer, it serves as a behavior trap that you set for yourself, to make sure you ask all of the tough questions.

Since the customer had to see it and agree to it, it adds the next level of accuracy to the forecast. Subjectivity is removed by verifying the conversations with the customer. The account review becomes an integral part of the sales cycle.

How to do it

The manner in which you get to those agreements - tactically - conversationally - is the difference between being pushy and mutual agreement.

We use the term ‘contract’ to emphasize that sales people on the average need to recognize that it is a two-sided agreement and that both parties should have an equal degree of commitment. Contrast that with a proposal - in which the buyer’s only commitment is to allow the proposal to enter their in-box. When you call to follow up, they say, “I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.”

It’s in both parties best interest that you reach an engaged agreement or pull the plug on a process that is going nowhere.

As with any sales tactic, if well-executed, it works well. If not, it comes across as pushy.

Don’t toss out the CRM system

By-the-way, you can still use the CRM system. Just have the salespeople attach the Ultimate Contract to opportunity. Ask them to do less paperwork, then insist they do the minimum essential. The Ultimate Contract will give you a clear window into the real status of every opportunity and into the skills set of the rep who produced it.

I humbly suggest that a verified, mutual agreement is central to the original question about accurate forecasting.

An engineer by background, Steve Kraner is now the CEO of Sandler Sales Institute, a company that helps high tech executives embrace and develop their sales strategies.

Steve confesses that he disdained the sales side of business early in his career. A mistake, he says, that’s often repeated by ‘techie’ founders and CEOs. Steve admits that he had to learn to love sales – and says that so do high tech leaders if they want to win. According to Steve, many technology leaders don’t like selling, so they hire salespeople instead of embracing and leading the sales process. The result, he says, “is a technology company with as many sales systems as salespeople: a company that cannot forecast, team sell or scale.” In sum, a company that’s going to lose.

skraner@hightechguru.com
www.hightechguru.com
703-966-0192

You can read more about Steve here

Today’s News: The Queen of Cold calling, aka Wendy Weiss, has made another royal proclamation:

What would happen to your business if you were able to double the number of qualified, prospects you are able to reach?
 
How would it affect your bottom line if you met with and/or had comprehensive telephone conversations with twice the number of qualified, decision-makers?
 
How would it feel to have qualified, decision-makers eager, willing and delighted to meet with you?
 
Join Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling, as she discusses cold calling and how she helps entrepreneurs, business owners and sales professionals - just like you - prospect fearlessly and schedule more new business appointments in less time.
 
The Cold Calling Free Preview Call is on September 18, 2008 and details can be found by clicking the banner below.

Social Media Today is enjoying a birthday today, so to Robin and the gang - best wishes!

Tomorrow: Question: Why do potentially good salespeople fail? Answer: Bad management.