Thomas A. Freese's Blog, page 16

The Most Powerful Tool in Sales

Have you ever noticed that companies spend millions of dollars telling salespeople what to say, but they spend almost nothing teaching them what to ask? It’s true. While the typical sales process has been defined many times over, organizations assume salespeople already know how to ask the right questions, in a manner that will maximize the value of your products and services.

In my first book, Secrets of Question Based Selling, I refer to questions as: The Most Powerful Tool in Sales. Besides just gathering information, strategic questions are also a salesperson’s best tools for:

                        * Piquing Customer Interest               * Establishing Credibility

                        * Understanding Requirements         * Creating a Sense of Urgency

                        * Qualifying Opportunities                    * Competitive Differentiation

                        * Negotiation/Positioning                     * Securing Commitments

                        * Maintaining Margins                           * Getting Leads/Referrals

                                                    * Winning More Business!

…which is much more than just probing to understand the customer’s needs.

For me, Question Based Selling represents the culmination of a career-long journey—one that has helped me realize that strategic questions are more than just staples of everyday conversation. Perhaps this marks the beginning of a new journey for you as well; not only as a motivated reader, but as a student of the question-based sale. Congratulations on taking the first step. I wish you the best!

SellingPower: Sales Makeovers

Heather Baldwin of Selling Power Magazine called me, having heard about some of the success our clients were having with Question Based Selling. “Do you have any real life examples,” she asked.

That was easy enough. Since I had already trained several sales teams within IBM, I called Jim Hardee, Vice President Teleweb Sales, and asked if anyone wanted to participate in a laboratory experiment to ‘field test’ the QBS Methodology. We got tons of volunteers and the article about what happened with one person in particular.

“The results have been remarkable. Freese’s guidance has given him more confidence, made him more relaxed, and he sounds more natural. Now, Scott gets to the heart of the customer’s issues every time.” –Jim Hardee

In the article, Scott Fletcher attests that his conversations with customers have definitely become more meaningful. “Without a doubt,” he says, “This process makes customers ‘want to’ engage with you instead of pushing you away. Once you can get customers to open up, it makes the sales process a whole lot easier and the QBS approach does just that.”

[Read Entire PDF Article]

Did you see my Centerfold in “Go?”

You know those wonderful in-flight magazines that keep passengers occupied and entertained while stranded on the tarmac? Well, I trained the sales team for Ink Publishing earlier this year in London. They are the company that produces most of the leading in-flight magazines. As a result of their sales training, Ink Publishing has featured me and Question Based Selling in an article called "Selling Points", to appear in Go Magazine, which will be in the seatback pocket of every Air Tran Airways flight starting January 1st.

Not scheduled for an Air Tran Airways flight any time soon? You can simply download the article right here. Hope you enjoy!

Customized QBS Methodology Programs

Question Based Selling (QBS) is a proven and highly leveraged sales methodology that teaches salespeople and sales teams how to more effectively differentiate their products, their company, and themselves, in a highly competitive marketplace.

QBS Methodology Training is delivered in a high-energy, interactive, two-day program that was designed to give salespeople a significant edge over their competition. An abridged one-day version of this QBS training is also available for sales meetings, mid-year kickoff events, or vendor-sponsored partner seminars, which can be scheduled upon request.

The QBS Methodology takes a common sense, yet disruptive, approach to showing veteran sales professionals how to upgrade traditional habits—all based on the theory that what a salesperson asks (and how they ask) is more important than what they will ever say. Who’s job is it to uncover needs? It’s the salesperson’s responsibility, of course. But, just because a sellers wants to ask questions to uncover needs doesn’t mean prospects and customers want to share information with people they don’t yet know or trust. Likewise, just because you have a great story, doesn’t necessarily mean prospects and customers will want to hear it. Now, the question is, what makes prospects and customers “want to” engage?

Decision Making 101

Decision Making 101 is a college course that unfortunately is not taught at the Harvard Business School, or any other universities for that matter. That’s no surprise since sales continues to be the least taught profession in the world.

Ultimately, decision makers want to know three things:

1.)  What are my options?

2.)  What’s the impact on my business (or personally)?

3.)  What are the associated costs?

Knowing this, a salesperson can very easily ask for a meeting by saying, "Mr. Customer, would it make sense to get the appropriate people together so we can map out your options, the impact on your business, and the associated costs?"

Don’t just ask for a meeting! Asking for just another meeting where a vendor is likely to pitch their wares is a bland request at best. Of course they won’t prioritize it enough to ask their boss to attend, or even block out much time.

Just know that when you suggest getting together to "map out" a strategy, most customers immediately default to saying something like, "We have to make sure that Larry, Susan, and Bill are involved if we’re going to be mapping stuff out!"

Bingo! Asking for more than a meeting causes people to block out more time, invite more people, and they come ready to discuss the decision at hand.

                                          –Thomas A. Freese

The Playing Field has Changed

Sellers are often very excited about their products, or the fact that their company is an industry leader. These are important points of consideration, to be sure. No one wants to buy sub-par products from an inferior company.

But, let’s consider for a moment what your competitors are likely saying about their product, service, or company. Just a guess, they’re the “leading provider of widgets in North America, with a track record of success and a long-standing commitment to our customers in terms of providing excellent service, blah, blah, blah…” 

For competitors who are at all viable, it’s easy to craft a story that sounds just as good as the next. Granted, if you happen to have a highly differentiated product, like the cure for cancer, you won’t have any problem getting customers to pay attention. On the other hand, if you sound just like everyone else, then you forfeit whatever competitive edge you may have had.

This raises an important question. Whether you sell manufactured goods, financial services, real estate, energy, professional services, or you sell into any other highly competitive environment, if your product and company are not the differentiators, then how can you create a clear and differentiable advantage in the marketplace?

NEWS Flash! The field on which the ‘game’ of selling exists has changed. Instead of trying to convince customers that your claims are somehow more viable than that the next person’s pitch is a losing proposition—because it immediately takes you to a discussion of lowest price, as customers will stipulate that everyone’s claims of greatness are equally compelling (or, not so much).

Your goal today ought to be learning how to win when it’s a tie, or when it’s close. How do you win the sale when everyone has the same basic elevator pitch about their offerings? The answer to this question is literally intangible.

When multiple vendors compete for mindshare (or wallet-share), your probability of success in the sale is directly proportional to the customer’s perception. Are you, or are you able to demonstrate:

- Credibility     - Competence     - Integrity

- Responsiveness    - Thought Leadership    - Value

- Creativity     - Customer Focus     - Persona

- Confidence     - Comfort Level      - Experience

- Responsiveness      - Helpfulness     - Intelligence

- Forthright     - Interest Level     - Attitude

- Conversational     - Current       - Relevance

- Purposeful      - Knowledge     - Empathy

It’s one thing to get a meeting with a prospective client. It’s quite another thing to be able to demonstrate any or all of these desirable qualities within a small window of time. In fact, the key to winning the sale is to be able to demonstrate more of these intangibles sooner, at least more than the competition.

How can a salesperson demonstrate more credibility sooner? That’s where strategy and technique come into play. Credibility, for example, is not something that you can just claim without sounding arrogant. Likewise, announcing to someone that you are customer-focused is no where near as valuable as demonstrating that you are.

Fortunately, there is great interdependencies between many of these intangibles, where for example, in Question Based Selling, asking a series of Diagnostic Questions can build instant credibility, demonstrate purpose, convey relevance, pique the customer’s interest, and increase your perceived value.

From now into the foreseeable future, the playing field on which sales will be won or lost has more to do with the intangible perceptions formed by the customer, than the actual product or service that’s being offered. Thus, until your competition goes away, your job entails figuring out how to convey more intangible benefits sooner.

New: Download QBS to MP3!

By popular demand, we have partnered with an Internet content provider called CD Baby to make the 12-track QBS CD set downloadable to your favorite MP3 player. Whether you like to listen while exercising or driving your car between appointments, the downloadable version of Question Based Selling is available at:

Click to Order Here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/thomasafreese

Furthering the QBS experience has always been our goal.

New: Download QBS to MP3..!

By popular demand, we have partnered with an Internet content provider called CD Baby to make the 12-track QBS CD set downloadable to your favorite MP3 player. Whether you like to listen while exercising or driving your car between appointments, the downloadable version of Question Based Selling is available at:

Click to Order Here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/thomasafreese

Furthering the QBS experience has always been our goal.

2012 October QBS Boot Camp: October 4-5

"There has never been a better time for sellers to do everything possible to make themselves invaluable to their customers, colleagues, and their company."         -T. Freese

We're very happy to announce our next QBS Summit! If you would like to renew your focus on increasing your own sales effectiveness, or give your entire sales team an unfair advantage over the competition, join us on October 4 - 5 for the October QBS Boot Camp.

The event, featuring QBS Research founder Tom Freese in Atlanta and will be held on Thursday, October 4th and Friday, October 5th.

The learning environment will be highly interactive, with participants from a variety of industries including technology, financial services, healthcare, consulting, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, advertising, hospitality, and retail, and feedback from previous QBS Summit events has been "off the charts."

With limited seating, reserve your seats early since we are expecting a full house. You might also want to bring extra pencils and a stack of writing pads for note taking.

"Tom! I wanted to thank you for an amazing training two weeks ago-my head is still spinning from all of the great info. I met with our Regional Manager yesterday and he wants you to train the rest of our team. You will be hearing from us very soon…"    -Liz B., Michigan…your newest QBS groupie!

Click for Early Enrollment Discount &  SUMMIT DETAILS.

2012 QBS Methodology Spring Summit: May 3-4

"There has never been a better time for sellers to do everything possible to make themselves invaluable to their customers, colleagues, and their company."         -T. Freese

We're very happy to announce our next QBS Summit! If you would like to renew your focus on increasing your own sales effectiveness, or give your entire sales team an unfair advantage over the competition, join us on May 3 - 4 for the 2012 QBS Methodology Spring Summit.

The boot-camp style event, featuring QBS Research founder Tom Freese in Atlanta and will be held on Thursday, May 3th and Friday, May 4th.

The learning environment will be highly interactive, with participants from a variety of industries including technology, financial services, healthcare, consulting, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, advertising, hospitality, and retail, and feedback from previous QBS Summit events has been "off the charts."

With limited seating, reserve your seats early since we are expecting a full house. You might also want to bring extra pencils and a stack of writing pads for note taking.

"Tom! I wanted to thank you for an amazing training two weeks ago-my head is still spinning from all of the great info. I met with our Regional Manager yesterday and he wants you to train the rest of our team. You will be hearing from us very soon…"    -Liz B., Michigan…your newest QBS groupie!

Click for Early Enrollment Discount &  SUMMIT DETAILS.