SalesVPI

How I Blew a Sales Layup

A layup is the easiest shot in basketball, if you're not able to dunk. But it's not unusual for a player to miss a layup. Why is that?

Most likely because they overlook fundamentals and fail to concentrate.

We recently had a sale not close -- neither lost nor won, just won't close. The customer has a significant and recognized need, high interest in our service, and our sales person has known and worked with the company previously. There was significant and acknowledged potential value from the service. The deal was a "no brainer."

So what happened?

We followed most, but not all elements of our sales process. As we performed our opportunity review post mortem I remembered something we had overlooked. We had neglected to perform an Opportunity Flight Check prior to submitting our proposal.

Our colleague, Rob Scanlon (www.privatesalescoach.com) has developed a unique and insightful program that assesses sales opportunity risk and makes recommendations for improving the odds of success.

In just 10 minutes, answering sequenced questions in five key selling dimensions, we receive a visual Flight Check of our strength and weakness within the opportunity.

Without any further information, look at our Flight Check and see if you can determine our areas of risk, and what ultimately did us in.

The Flight Check also provides written advice to help the sales team understand the implications of their status in each dimension, and to provide actionable recommendations. Here were ours.

Fit Advice

Since we have assessed that the prospect recognizes their problems, next we need to find out about their level of awareness concerning the solutions that solve those problems.

We can ask ourselves the following question: If the target prospect group were a patient seeing a physician, - on the standard pain scale of 1-to-10 – how would the prospect rate their pain?

“Mr. Prospect, you have indicated that X isn’t working as well as you would like. Not all imperfections are worth addressing. So we have found organizations at this point take one of two paths:

1. They examine the market and start looking for solutions to remedy the issue or
2. They just decide to live with it.

Where are you?”

People Advice

Having written down everyone who will decide and influence which company gets the sale, categorize each person on the list into one of three categories.
1. Supporter
2. Uncertain
3. Blocker

Urgency Advice

We need to use the platform of ‘educating’ them about the market to create an organizational vision for the impact of the solution.

The prospect needs to visualize the impact of the solution if there is to be any Organic Urgency.
• Organic Urgency is the organizational energy, focus, and will to act, generated because the organization visualizes the results. This is different and more powerful than Synthetic Urgency which is created by discounts, favorable terms, etc.

The potential impact is uncovered by asking the question, “What will this mean to the organization if X solution is implemented by mm/dd/yy with us or with someone else?”

Caution: It is important to include the phrase “with us or with someone else”. This phrase keeps the discussion on their needs and avoids to use of a Barrier Selling technique often employed by sales people who try to manipulate prospects rather than help them.

Selection Criteria Advice

It appears that the targeted prospect group does not have a clearly articulated or documented set of buying selection criteria.

This is an opportunity to shape their selection criteria. We can use the platform of educating them about the market as a vehicle to shape their beliefs and selection criteria.

When a targeted prospect group has not yet established a set of selection criteria, many sales professionals will see this as an opportunity to ‘pitch’ their differentiators. The ‘pitch’ is typically a parochial and often self-centered explanation identifying the reasons why the targeted prospect group should select the ‘pitched’ solution.

A ‘pitch’ is rarely the most effective method of influencing targeted prospect groups. These groups usually have keen radar that tracks when sales professionals are ‘pitching’ a set of capabilities and trying to manipulate the selection. It is transparent to the targeted prospect group that the sales person’s ‘pitch’ is simply a manipulation and that the seller is working their own agenda. Consequently, the targeted prospect group often discounts the ‘pitching’ sales person’s arguments and admonitions.

In contrast, we can better leverage the targeted prospect group’s lack of firm selection criteria by taking a more the disciplined and consultative approach.

We can ask for the opportunity to provide a more objective education to the targeted prospect group.
“How helpful would it be if we sat down with your team and provided a brief overview of the market and the different approaches taken in this area?”

Once given the opportunity, we then provide a brief and objective overview of the market without using the names of competitors and without criticizing them.

“There are a number of valid approaches in the market.
One approach is to do X. Customers take this approach usually to ____ (the key benefit of X approach)
Some organizations choose not to go down that path because of _____ (the key drawback of X approach)”
“Still another approach is to do Y. Customers take this approach usually to ____ (the key benefit of Y approach).
Some organizations choose not to go down that path because of _____ (the key drawback of Y approach)”
“A third approach is to do Z. Customers take this approach usually to ____ (the key benefit of Z approach)
Some organizations choose not to go down that path because of _____ (the key drawback of Z approach)”

We need to be prepared to answer the spoken or unspoken question, “Why have customers been successful with our solution?”

We need to make sure our answers thoughtfully explain how our approach is in their best interest.

This objective consultative approach is consistently the most effective manner for establishing winning selection criteria.

Messages Advice

Our Banners are currently not strong. They might even be weak and ineffectual.
Determine why our Banners to-date have been ineffectual.
1. Do our messages need to be simplified?
2. Have we told crisp sales stories which support our Banners?
3. Have we provided appropriate supporting data?
4. Has our team contradicted itself?
5. Have we failed to develop sufficient trust with people so they will be open to our messages?
6. Have we used ineffectual advocates in the targeted prospect group to communicate our messages to others?

Develop a new messaging plan:
1. Write down clear, short, simple Banners.
2. Use Stories, facts, and images to support the Banners.
3. Pick articulate sponsors – informally practice and coach them on the messages.

“Thank you for your support. Some of the points about the solution are challenging to explain. How do you explain X,Y,Z to your colleagues? That is great. When we talk about X we usually add brief explanation how Account Y did this.”

Develop a ‘build trust plan’

If we believe that a lack of trust is hindering our ability to plant effective Banners, then we need to address the fundamental trust problem. If there are ‘trust’ issues, determine why they exist.

Develop a plan to win the trust of the people who do not trust us.
• Do we need to have some one-on-one meetings?
• Are there questions we have not addressed which are required for them to trust us?
• Is there a previous negative experience we need to address before we can move on?
• Have we done a good enough job demonstrating that we will put the prospect’s ‘best interest’ ahead of ours?

Conclusions

Had I conducted the Flight Check prior to submitting the proposal we would not have submitted a proposal until we had resolved issues in several areas:

• The customer had not been looking for a solution in this area. Although she was somewhat familiar with the category, she was not totally comfortable she understood all the decision criteria and associated business elements;
• While the problem and value was acknowledged, the decision to decide, to make this project a priority was not;
• The primary decision maker with whom we were working would also be responsible for implementation. She was just a few months away from maternity leave and was clearly pre-occupied with getting things in place for her absence;
• The beneficiaries of our services -- sales and the business leaders (as well as our marketing customer) -- had not been actively consulted and brought into the decision process.

It really comes down to fundamentals. Today's B2B sales are as complex as flying an aircraft, especially with multiple stakeholders on the buying team, and multiple participants on the selling team. A Flight Check is a great way to quickly review fundamentals and make sure that nothing is missed, and execution is flawless.

From now on we are religious about conducting Flight Checks at strategic intervals in our sales opportunities. In another situation this helped us recognize that the trajectory of the deal was moving us away from a success path, in time for us to take action to get back on track.

It's one thing to blow a layup, another to learn from it.

Risk of User-Generated Video Content

I'm really interested in John Jantsch's new book The Referral Engine. But I'm not sure I'll be reading it.

I have a full reading list and limited time. I primarily read material referred to me from a trusted source. It's a new book, so I'm waiting for reviews to emerge.

That's why today I jumped on the Twitter link to this "review" by Jim Kukral.

Warning: there is some negativity in this blog, delivered in the spirit of feedback and insight, born of disappointment and frustration.

A Review IS a Referral

Think about it. A "review" is a referral. I would hope that a book about referrals would teach someone how to provide a referral. This glaring omission in this particular review has me questioning whether it's missing from the book as well.

I'm making these criticism because we're dealing with professionals here. Not some geek … oops, after writing that I went back to Jim Kukral's website bio only to read (his words) "I'm a geek marketer." NO, really?

But he is a professional marketer, writer and speak. He's important enough that John forwarded a free, pre-release copy of his book for the review.

My primary point is not the poor quality of the review or video production. Although the poor content, production and delivery quality is relevant to my main point.

Organizational Risk

This video is a terrific example of what companies should fear when they think of user generated video content. And this was from a professional reviewing a high profile marketing and selling book.

Just because we can turn on a webcam, record a talking head and throw it up on YouTube doesn't mean we should. John Chambers of Cisco has bought the company that makes the Flip camera. He's advocating that sales people record their own customer video testimonials.

Is your organization ready for this? What about the adverse and unintended consequences?

Are you ready to address the issues and impact on quality and brand, perceptions about your company, best practices, standards, "costs" (more than but including monetary costs), legal, and wasted time, to name just a few?

Sales people and marketers do find video content especially compelling. Imagine "arming" your sales channel with PowerPoint, print brochures or PDFs when your competition is delivering relevant, compelling video. Reminds me of the old sales cartoon where the Indians are storming the fort and the general doesn't have time to meet with the salesman selling the brand new gatling gun!

What's a marketing function to do?

Think Like a Publisher

This is a fantastic opportunity to "think like a publisher."

Publishers have specialists that perform different duties to publish the finished product. Some acquire source content, others edit, manage, editorialize, write, layout, etc.

The potential of video communications is so compelling it won't be stopped. The question is will you get out ahead with an effective strategy, plan and support program?

Remember the old adage: "Give me a fish and I'll eat for today, teach me to fish and I'll eat for the rest of my life." I like to add my coda: "Yes, but who's going to stock the pond?"

Marketing should be stocking the pond. Creating content like publishers. Writing the obituary before the person dies.

When a sales person needs to send a video it must be ready. When your marketing automation system needs to send nurturing, educational, video content it must be relevant. When your social media strategy requires people on your business front line to be engaging using compelling, relevant content, with what will you arm them?

How to Think Like a Publisher

In 1982 I joined Ziff Davis publishing company in a special group that Bill Ziff set up to figure out how to migrate his print publishing empire into electronic publishing. This experience fundamentally changed my thinking and my life path.

Content marketing thought leaders today are regularly instructing us to think like publishers. When I ask people to explain what this really means and, more importantly, how they would create content like publishers, they typically respond with blank stares.

Those familiar with the way many websites are supported by content management systems have some familiarity with this concept. But this doesn't inform the creation process.

How does the CMS analogy help our understanding of creating like publishers? Publishers separate the major tasks involved in producing finished work products. The database is key to this approach.

A content management system is a database that stores source content that populates website templates. This makes it faster and easier to change content on websites by simply changing content in the database. It reduces website maintenance costs by lowering required technical competencies.

Typical stages in the creation process are:

• Acquire (source information or knowledge)
• Edit into small modular segments
• Store source assets in database
• Design delivery templates (magazine formats, websites)
• Use editorial process to write timely stories (scripts)
• Layout and assemble work products
• Complete physical work product or deliverable (website, doc, video, etc.)

Contrast this with a typical business production process. In most cases, whether we're producing a letter, presentation, brochure, video, etc. we take what I call a "point production" approach. We create a single work product or for a single purpose.

Usually one individual or group perform the work in each stage, or skip stages that don't apply to a production process. For simple content environments, such as when content explains specific company or product factors, this works just fine.

Publishers disaggregate these functions. Each stage is a function that can be performed independently. This allows special resources and processes to be applied. It brings speed, economies and higher quality to each stage of the process -- not unlike specialization on the manufacturing floor.

But today's challenges of producing customer relevant content significantly raises complexity. In order to be able to tailor content to make it relevant by roles/personas, business issues, buying stages, industry factors, and competitive factors, we must produce significantly more content, and build it in different ways.

We must also produce content for multiple media or delivery methods: print, audio, video, electronic on web and mobile for example.

Here is a resource for more information about creating content like a publisher and for detailed processes for each of the above stages.

 
 
 

Improve Your Connect Rates

I continue to hear from sales people who still try to use email as a prospecting tool. I contend email is no longer a communication tool -- especially when unsolicited -- it's primarily a delivery vehicle.

Those who use marketing automation to track email open rates know it's probably on the low end of 1% to 5%. Even if it's "opened," unsolicited emails might not be read, let alone have the message internalized. And this is what I mean by communication.

In the email solicitations I receive I continually see "selling" in email messages. The objective of a prospecting communication must be to gain attention and to get a referral, meeting or conversation. Period. To accomplish this, the message must be compelling and relevant with a focus on the customer's problems or opportunities.

I know most people read emails on Blackberry and other portable devices. Therefore I have to write differently with a compelling title and a very short -- three to four line -- message.

I am finding the inclusion of a tailored multimedia vignette to be an important addition to this tactic. The vignette is a short, relevant, introductory streaming multimedia program that makes it easy for the person to hear our story, quickly and conveniently. Done well, it adds an emotional quality that adds to a motivation for the viewer to take action. If a referral is appropriate, the vignette makes it easier for the person to forward the email by eliminating the need to add an explanation.

These are two of several situations we've identified when sales people need a "second voice". The first is when they can't speak directly to a person. The second is when a message must be delivered through a third party -- a referral or customer sponsor for example.

Now, this is a critical point. Given the volume of emails most people receive, especially those at higher levels of an organization, you MUST call and leave a voice mail with a compelling, customer relevant message, requesting the prospect find the email. Unsolicited emails, even those with compelling titles (who's to say), requires the attention prompted by the phone message.

The message should also explain the presence of the vignette. This piques curiosity, removes any anxiety regarding what is behind the link, and entices viewing because it's a different and more interesting way to receive information. This technique will make a big impact on your connect rates.

Finally, remember the importance of timing. It might require five to eight attempts with various combinations -- voice mail, email, regular mail and ideally a referral -- to make the connection. Persistence is key.

In our business, we seldom send unsolicited emails unless we have the opportunity to make the call and leave the message. Email is the delivery system for our vignette and compelling message, not the primary prospecting tool. All three factors -- message, vignette, voice mail -- are required for maximum likelihood for success. Otherwise we know ours will be just another unread and un-acted-upon email.

Think Like a Publisher

Marketing automation for lead nurturing raises the stakes and the complexity of the content creation process.

Buyers want to view relevant content based upon their: role, specific needs or issues, stage of the buying process, industry, alternatives, and information purpose (attention, general education, customer stories, vendor point-of-view, vendor capabilities, proof points, technical explanation and more.)

To create physical documents to respond to this requirement would require hundreds, perhaps a thousand documents (4 variables for 5 factors is 4 to the 5th power). Daunting, if even possible.

Business publishers need content to be available immediately when buyers, or their sales staff, require it. But budgets are tight and quality standards must be preserved. Volume and the ability to tailor content -- perhaps even personalize it -- really ups the ante.

Business publishers need to shift their thinking from re-active, event or project driven initiatives, to a planned and continuous process to create, manage, deploy and deliver content for the new digital era.

Sales messaging is dynamic so content must also anticipate and accommodate constant iteration and updating.

And content can be delivered in many more formats than before: text, audio, Flash and video. To personal devices, through web conference technology, streaming, downloaded and more. So content must be created in anticipation of, and to enable delivery using ALL practical media.

Publishers use databases, templates and a process that is considerably different than the traditional "production" process to produce quality output, quickly and affordably.

I recently did a podcast with Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor in which we discussed specific principles and practices that can have you thinking like a publisher right away.

This link is to a page with the source podcast and transcripts, as well as a link to a BtoB magazine webcast featuring Joe Pulizzi of Junta42 talking about Content Management. In the webcast Joe recommends thinking like a publisher, but is limited by time in delivering specific prescriptions. This webcast and his book, Get Content, Get Customers are highly recommended.

We've used this page to create several examples of thinking like a publisher. You will see how just a 20 minute podcast can be turned into many different content elements for different purposes. In fact, we'll be adding to this page over time.

Here is a starting checklist of what it means to "Think Like a Publisher":

1. Shift thinking from a traditional production process that is event or project driven to a continuous "publishing" process
2. Develop and document a process to create, manage, update, deploy, assemble and deliver content for multiple purposes and delivery modes, and to collect and iterate feedback
3. Define standards, policies and procedures, templates
4. Have a methodology: map your customer's buying process, customer needs, issues and interests, by stage of buying process, industry, their alternatives (your competition) and primary communication scenarios
5. Develop "value maps" and "message maps," the business equivalent of an editorial plan
6. Think of content as assets -- continuously acquire, edit into modules, convert into multiple formats, store in a database base for sharing and re-use
7. Pre-produce content based upon your message map so it is ready for instant use and delivery
8. Produce content for multiple purposes: train, remediate, share knowledge, market/promote, educate, support the buying/sales process
9. Organize deliverables as modules that can be easily and instantly converted into final work products
10. Collect feedback, track, report, analyze, learn, iterate

What techniques have you found to think and work like a publisher?

Sales Conversations -- Set Up the Listening

I spent the day yesterday with my executive coaches from GAP International. This group works with executives and their organizations to create "breakthrough organizations". A breakthrough is an extraordinary and important outcome for which the way of achieving it is not known. It is not predictable from a projection of the current state of the business.

The GAP concept is, extraordinary results are produced by extraordinary actions. Extraordinary actions are produced by extraordinary thinking. Most people, most of the time, take ordinary and predictable actions based upon "business-as-usual" thinking.

Therefore, to create breakthrough outcomes, and especially to create an organization that consistently produces extraordinary outcomes, requires a transformation in people's thinking. The "access" to this thinking is people's language.

By listening carefully to the conversations people conduct, and specifically the language they use in conversations, we can identify people's thinking. This will indicate the kinds of actions they will take, and can even become a predictor of the results people will create. We can change individual and organizational behavior by changing people's thinking in very specific ways.

Our specific conversation yesterday related directly to my work with selling, and one of the principles we work on regularly: sales conversations can create value for customers and become a key differentiator and competitive advantage that will result in higher win rates and margins (less discounting).

The GAP consultants defined conversation as both speaking and listening. I get the speaking part, and that I am responsible for what I say and how I say it. What is a new idea for me is that I am also responsible for how I am heard! Let me say that again, I am responsible for the listening of my audience.

This means I must "set up the listening", "shape the way people listen", and "attend to how people hear what I say". This is a critical concept for sales professionals, as well as marketing, executives and any business communicators.

We always speak "into an environment". Environment is "the sum of all the conversations people are having." These conversations produce a background of ideas, biases, priorities, areas of focus, etc. that people bring to any conversation. We're always listening "from something". We are pre-disposed to hear certain things or certain ways.

Before we begin speaking into an environment, it helps to know what is shaping people's thinking.

This week my colleague and I had a conversation with a prospective customer that illustrates this directly. It was the third conversation with the customer, and we were about to start the discovery stage of our process. My colleague offered a classic checkpoint question toward the beginning of the conversation that initially seemed very appropriate: "Nancy, how did you feel about what we discussed in our previous conversation?"

Nancy's response was, in effect: "Well the ideas were very interesting, but of course I haven't had time to check out your competition and I have a lot more work to do before I can make any commitments ..."

What happened here? My colleague was simply looking for what might have resonated with her, to confirm we were discussing relevant issues, or if she had any questions. What was shaping her listening? "I'm talking with a couple of sales guys, sales guys are primarily interested in completing the sale (little to do with helping me with my business problems), and I've heard this kind of sales checkpoint, or trial close, question before".

How might we have "set up her listening"?

How about: "Nancy, as we discussed in our last meeting, we're committed to helping customers address their primary business and sales communications needs and opportunities. Before we ask you some questions to delve deeper into this, I want to make sure we're on the right track and focusing on the primary issues you want to address."

"We discussed "issue 1" and "issue 2" as two of your most important concerns (or opportunities). Could you share how you felt about our previous conversation on these issues, and are we focused on the right ones?"

This approach would have:

• Re-stated our commitment to her as our primary intent (continuing to build trust, separating us from typical "sales guys", and shaping her listening)
• Focused her onto the primary issues we uncovered, which she might not even have remembered from the previous conversation,
• Kept her from becoming defensive and going off on the tangent that mis-directed our conversation and required us to spend valuable time re-directing (as well as prevent the re-inforcement of her negative stereotype)

When we set up people's listening we impact accuracy and speed. The conversation is more accurate, focused and on topic. It is efficient, so we move quickly through the topics we want to cover, and avoid tangents and distractions that have to be repaired.

So, how do we set up the listening. First, start with your own listening. Tune in to your environment and the listening you are bringing to the conversation. Check in on your pre-dispositions. Clear your thinking to get aligned with your intent for the person and the call.

Next, get people "present". Make sure they are really with you and not still thinking about what immediately preceded, or another significant person distraction. Get their full and complete attention and don't begin until you have it. This seems especially important with conversations over the telephone.

Then, create context. Tell people what to listen for, and what not to listen for. I find a clear statement of my intent to be a good starting point. It builds empathy and opens up people's listening.

Sales conversations are the key to selling success in the complex, consultative, or solution oriented sale. Effective converstaions are the result of the sales professional taking responsibility for both their speaking and their audience's listening.

Watching Webex Webinar on Sales 2.0 Enabled Business

Do you want to see a fantastic topic mangled by inept programming?

Webex Sales2.0 Webinar

Two major points to be made about this webinar:

1) The ideas behind Sales 2.0 are very important for sales professionals and have important implications for the suppot marketing can provide sales

2) This is a classic example of many of the problems with the way webinars are run today

The Sales 2.0 topic will be covered extensively over the next few months.

Let's look at the bigger implications raised by the production issues with this webinar.

We are all going to be incredibly challenged to master communication principles and practices in this new era of web and multimedia communications.

For over 15 years I've been declaring the coming role of the "new producers". People on the front line of business in sales, sales support, marketing, even the executive ranks who will be producing the equivalent of TV or video programs. Well folks, here we are. It's called the webinar.

When communicating through the web, we have to rely on our visuals, our voice and our messages. It's a a completely different experience from live delivery for both presenters and audiences.

While many are challenged to deliver effective live presentations, this medium really ups the ante.

If we don't learn to produce quality programming, we'll kill our opportunities, our brand and ultimately our businesses as we turn off viewers and mangle our messages. If you thought controlling these things in the era of PowerPoint was a challenge, get ready for a multimedia nightmare!

But to not learn and master the effective production of multimedia programming as a marketing or sales professional is to put yourself and your organization at a competitive disadvantage. If you're not working your way -- and your organization's way -- up this learning curve, best get started.

A Few Observations

• A lot of learning about what not to do can be taken from this program:
• Get the audio levels correct before you start the program -- poor audio levels are both distracting and unprofessional
• Have a clear communication paradigm -- is this a monologue by two independent speakers, a phone conversation we're listening in on, or a presentation of ideas?
• Eliminate off the cuff ramblings -- stay focused on a tight outline if not a script
• Structure the program -- the end slides did a better job of explaining what Sales 2.0 is and why I should care, they should have been at the beginning.
• Have slides support commentary -- don't talk for more than a minute on one slide, and certainly not for 12 minutes on slide 1 and 6 minutes on slide 2
• Design the program -- especially when there are multiple speakers, each should know what the other will say and the parameters of the program

A Few Ideas

• A talk show is a lousy communication paradigm -- especially for business webinars. I'm not coming to this program just to be entertained, but to be informed, to learn something.
• I listen at 200 words-per-minute (wpm), but you speak at 100 wpm. Keep it moving! I've got a lot of other things to do. According to Wikipedia:
  • 150-160 words per minute, is the range that people comfortably hear words. Slide presentations tend to be closer to 100 wpm. Conversations are maintained at around 200 wpm.  Wikipedia WPM
• We've all grown up learning how to deliver live presentations. In live presentations we minimize the use of visuals, to avoid "blazing PowerPoints". "You are the message" Roger Ailes has told us.
• But on-line, multimedia communications are a different medium, a different experience. I think we're closer to Marshall McLuhan, "the medium is the message."  What did McLuhan mean?
• Most of us have little, if any, training or experience producing TV or video programs. We need to get some, and work with people who do have this experience, to come up the learning curve quickly, and to avoid mangling our opportunities.
• Rather than using a presentation paradigm when preparing a webinar, I suggest a "virtual video" paradigm. Video was originally 30 frames per second, that is, 30 pictures per second. Turns out, for most applications, you really don't need 30 fps. One picture every 10 to 60 seconds will do. In this medium more is better. Changing pictures engage people's attention. It will also force you to create better visuals. Because we don't see the presenter, all we have are the visuals. The user experience from this medium is akin to watching a video than a presentation.
• Make it easy for me to know where you are in your program, where you are going, and how long it will take you to get there. I am constantly considering my option to discontinue viewing. If you move to an uninteresting or irrelevant topic for me, how will I know it's worth staying?
• Think in terms of "series", as in TV series. Think also of your personal brand as a program host or expert. Are you creating an experience that will have me prioritize you and your programs in my future, limited time inventory?

Watch the webinar. There is good content embedded, and the lessons for producing webinars might be more evident through this experience than through a more professional program.