Month: May 2011

Five Brain Teasers to Drive Credibility with Buyers

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Most b2b sales people charge into an account and begin a data dump of features, benefits and solutions on their target decision makers. Well, stop it today. No more direct or frontal assaults.

Even military strategist have learned the frontal assault is a very wasteful method to use. They now deploy end around techniques, deception techniques or other methods to gain an advantage on their targets. Well is it time for you to stop the frontal assaults?

Some of you are asking – what is a frontal assault in selling? It is the old school presentation model of selling made famous when the customers had no idea about what products or service were available. Thus, they had to rely upon the sales person to show them the way with lots of information about products and service – a data dump of ideas.

Well, welcome to the new world whereby the customer probably knows more about your product category then you due to the Internet and all its information at their finger tips.

You new sales techniques include one of the techniques used by the media to get your attention and interest. They use teasers to keep your interest at a higher level and you should be using teasers with your prospects and customers.

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Five Areas for Thought Provoking Questions

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We are being mislead by the continuous chorus of being politically correct or soft pedaling your questions. Well, throw those thoughts out the window – if you want to stay in the b2b sales game for a long time.

Okay, it is true about most b2b sales people being trained using the traditional or old school model of selling. This is one that relies upon you telling your story – over and over and over again. Unfortunately for you, your competitors are using the same stories for the most part and the customers are getting bored.

The boredom is transferred to asking you about price before you have had any time to develop a value to your sales presentation. The real reason for the price question is to stop you in your tracks.

So, how do you get the prospective customer to be patience and open up about their real situation? You must use thought provoking questions designed to show you are a b2b sales professional who wants to help them.

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The Real Five Reasons for an Ideal Prospect

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We all know the most important aspect of our b2b sales world is to continuously find fully qualified or highly motivated prospects. Without these new comers to our world, then real sales growth becomes very difficult.

And, you have probably heard about having an ideal customer profile to use as a guide when looking for prospects or truly targeted accounts.

While the ideal customer profile is a good tool and is very useful in determining who you should invest your time and energy with for your future sales growth, there are five other factors that truly make a difference in determining a real ideal prospect.

So what are these five reason someone can be labeled an ideal prospect? Here are the five reasons…

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Two Questions to Drive Your B2B Sales Improvement

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Seems most b2b sales people wait around for someone else to tell them how to improve their b2b sales skills. So, unless you have a great sales manager who takes great pride in coaching you up to the next level of success – you will be in a major delay pattern regarding your b2b sales improvement.

So, what can you do to improve your b2b sales skills?

It is very simple, yet, very effective. After every sales call, take out a notebook (not the computer kind – an actual paper based product) and write the answer to two questions.

Those two questions are…

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If Role Plays Suck – Why Do They Work?

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Okay, I know I was over the top with the title, however the statement is true.

The only time I can put the fear of God into a group of sales professionals is to tell them it is time for some serious role playing. It is a scene out of a horror movie. Moans and Groans are everywhere and these brave sales professionals are making excuses as to why they suddenly need to leave the session.

So what’s the deal with role plays? Why does every sales person fear or hate this exercise so much?

As best I can tell – it is due to having others see them fail or being less than perfect.

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12 Steps to Dislodging a Competitor

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Okay, maybe the title is a little misleading, however not by much. The reality is your sales skills and the use of the questioning model of selling are your true ally for dislodging the competition.

That being said, there are twelve questions to ask your coach or champion within a targeted account to gain insight into how to dislodge the competitor. These questions must be answered before you visit the key decision maker.

So here are the twelve questions to have answered prior to getting with the decision maker…

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Four Keys to Educating a B2B Buyer

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Often I’m asked about how does a sales person educate a buyer to help them make a better decision. Most b2b sales people take a frontal assault to educating their buyers, which can be a fatal mistake regarding any future sales.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Most buyers want some education if for no other reason than to know they are capable of making a good decision. Included in their thinking is education is simply unavoidable and must be done.

However, education of buyers needs to occur within specific conditions and according to maintaining a favorable relationship between the buyer and the seller. Therefore, these four conditions or keys must be observed and followed…

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Fifteen Ways to Touch Your Potential Customers

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Earlier this week I wrote about using a campaign as a method of touching your potential customers. And, it has come to my attention you wanted more information about exactly what you can use to effectively “touch” your potential customer as well as your current customers (good idea to also regularly touch your existing customers.).

So I thought I would provide a list of ways you can regularly touch your potential customers. This creates the top of mind awareness you want in your business relationships. So here they are…

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Are You Digging a Hole in Your Opening?

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Well, today I need to ask you a question about your normal opening with a potential customer. Are you digging a major hole during your opening interaction with your prospect?

Seems like a large number of b2b sales people are creating a gap for themselves at the start of their first meeting with a prospect – usually because most have no idea of the damage they do. Okay, I know you are now curious – if not, you should be – about what can cause a problem for ourselves.

Here are six common openings used by b2b sales people and the percentage of time they are  creating a negative or at best a neutral mindset or response on the part of the potential customer…

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Events That Open the Door to Change Opportunities

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So, you have been calling on a targeted account for a period of time and there has been zero interest from the prospect to change anything involving you and your company. Sound familiar? It happens to all of us.

However, the B2B Sales Superstars are always paying attention to events which can open the door to the higher possibility of change.

What are these sales people seeing and hearing that evade the average b2b sales person? Well, there are a number of events which you should be watching for either during your calls or from watching the business news in local papers or trade association magazines and newsletters.

Here is list of events to watch for the opportunity for change…

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