Signals of a Transactional B2b Sales Person

One of the biggest signs of a problematic b2b sales performance is the challenge of unlearning the traditional or transactional sales tactics of the past. When b2b sales people start telling me how hard their job is today – and it is – I first want to empathize with them and then find the answer to their problem.

I agree with one “excuse” customers & prospects want to get the best deal – which to many means lowest price. To the superstars, it means they want the best value offer which is quite different from the lowest price concern.

Now as someone who has assisted many sales people and sales teams transform from Transactional Selling to a more Progressive B2B Selling, this has always been an issue for the sales executives. The Key was to fundamentally change or transform the mindsets of the sales teams.

An interesting observation from these experiences – it usually just took One Sales Person to accept the new mindset, change the way they sold and have success in the field. Amazingly, the majority of the team would sudden change their performance levels shortly afterwards. This proves the power of mindsets in the world of selling.

So, how do you know if you are a Transactional Sales Person today? Usually you are not happy with your results, while your gross sales may be the same – your margins are lower and you feel you get less respect from both the customer and the sales manager. So what is causing this issue?

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Game Changing B2B Sales Book List

One of my most common questions from my clients involves “what sales books should I read?” or “Do you have a List of Recommended Sales Books?”

So today I’m sharing what I consider to the B2B Sales Books which are all considered “Game Changers.”

Okay, someone is probably asking “what makes these books Game Changers” which is a great qualifying question (Very good if you asked this question to yourself).

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5 Reasons Team Selling Fails

Team selling is still a hot topic in the world of B2B Sales. One of the most important reasons is higher performance due to larger account buyers feeling more confident in the selling company.

The bigger the company you are selling, the more important it becomes to be seen as the “safe choice” or “low risk” provider. These big companies have a track record of firing people who make mistakes – either immediately for impact or during the next round of cost cutting.

Therefore, team selling allows your company to be seen as stable and having multiple “faces” in contact with them. Throw in an extra variable such as a complexity relative to what you are selling, and team selling becomes a necessity.

While many organizations are very successful with Team Selling, there are a larger number failing at the Team Selling effort. Why do Teams fail in the world of selling? Here are the five common reasons for Team Selling Failure…

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B2B Selling has Changed – Have You?

I don’t know if you have noticed a major change in selling, yet, I started to notice some major changes in the B2B Selling World during the past four years. And, yes, the Great Recession has a major role in the changing dynamic of our world of selling.

First, let’s look at some of the trends started during the past four to five years.

  • Consolidation of Industries and Niche Industries
  • Customers demand lower costs
  • Product Knowledge is known by our customers & prospects
  • Old techniques and tactics are basically useless
  • Real Decision Makers have disappeared from the Sales Process

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How Discover the Information You Need

Since I am a total proponent for the Questioning Model in Sales, how do you use this model to learn the Information you need to successfully make the B2B sales?

Obviously, you use questions during your discovery process as you want the prospect or customer doing most of the talking. Their answering questions allows you to learn about what is going on within their organization.

Note: even the very best b2b sales superstar is NOT an insider for the prospect or customer company. While it is important to have a coach or champion who wants you to win the account, not all the time will you have this person in place. And, sometimes (this has definitely happened to me) your inside champion leaves or is promoted away from your target area.

Now what do you do?

You plan your questions carefully to uncover the answers to several important pieces of information.

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The Single Best Question to Ask in Selling

Recently I have seen an increase of the number of requests for “the single best question to ask a customer or prospect” when engaged in b2b selling.

Truthfully, I really do not believe there is one single question that covers everything as sales situations will vary in circumstances.

Yet, there is one question that I always have ready to use with any customer or prospect I’m calling on. Sometimes I refer to this question as the million dollar sales question since it has the ability to open the door of an objective conversation with the customer or prospect.

The question to use is…

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Track Leading Indicators to B2B Sales Success

One of the most interesting topics about goal setting and achieving greater results in upcoming quarters is to be tracking specific indicators. Now the truth is – most b2b sales people (and sales management) – are only tracking lagging indicators. Thus, a lack of predictability of achieving any form of serious growth goals and objectives.

Most people are tracking their sales results and possibly their gross margin data, however, these are all lagging indicators. Meaning these data is found in the history statements of what you have done and there is no way to change the past.

Leading indicators are those specific guides or triggers – usually related to your sales process – which then followed lead to certain levels of success. And, tracking your leading indicators every day will lead to greater success and sales results.

I first discovered these leading indicators back in the late 80’s when I was still doing activity based sales (the traditional model of selling). It was a simple system for tracking my personal results. I basically tracked five things – 4 leading and 1 lagging indicator.

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Are You Really Listening?

Been doing some observation work with several b2b sales people and have noticed one thing. Most of the sales people need to ramp up their ability to really listen to their customers.

Again the signs are there for us to learn. Our customers and clients actually want us to listen and comprehend and understand what they want and need. It is our job to deliver these results by listening aggressively.

The truth is most b2b sales people are trained or have behavioral styles which are very adept at presenting and talking. Sometimes they can even ask questions after being trained on the Questioning Model of B2B Selling.

However, the question remains – are they really listening to what is being said by the customer?

Often listening is the one skill sales people take for granted. Their expectations are limited to believing they are naturally good at listening. Therefore, there is very little time and effort applied to learning exactly how to actively listen.

How about some b2b sales tips regarding the reasons to learn the skill of listening?

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Tired of the StatusQuo? Challenge the Decison Makers

Okay, how many of you were terrorized by the title of the post?

I will venture a guess – all of your who enjoy the comfortable path of no possible conflict with a customer or prospect.

This is same attitude which has helped to create the commodity pricing environment we all hate – or should hate since our margins are squeezed big time.

What I’m talking about is directly related to the impact of the great recession of 2008-2009. Buyers and sales people alike got scared of making a mistake and the old comfort zone has taken center stage in our b2b sales world.

Yet, some new research on highly successful b2b sales people has come out. In fact, the July-August edition of the Harvard Business Review is dedicated to sharing information about this new research on high performing b2b sales people.

It seems these high performers are doing something different.

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