Rick Page's Blog, page 3

The ABCs of Selling - J

J -Justification

As in cost justification also called value proposition.  We see many sales reps submit a cost justification with their proposals calculating the potential savings or revenues from their solution and ending with an ROI (return on investment) percentage.

Yes, this is a necessary step in most sales cycles. However, don't expect a good ROI to cause a deal to close in this economy (unless it's really big).  Why?  Because every CFO has a dozen or more investment opportunities...

The ABCs of Selling - I

I - The Least Important Word In Selling

Although most good salespeople are driven by their egos, this word needs to be removed from most conversation and written correspondence with clients. Only when you are making a commitment at the end of the message should you use it.

Selling is serving and solving. You need to talk about their pains, their problems, their needs and how you and your solution can solve them. If you will listen first, out-care the competition, and present benefits and...

The ABCs of Selling - H

H - Hunters

Hunters - this term has come to be the label for new-name business salespeople. These are the fighter pilots and the Jedi Knights of selling. The term is common, but what makes a good hunter? We have worked with Ross Rich at Selection Strategies and Spring Lake Technologies to assess and identify what traits, skills, and behaviors predict success.

Here is what I look for:

Aggressiveness - there are make-it-happen people. They know that they can do more than influence individual...

The ABCs of Selling - G

G - Growth, Personal Growth

I have given over 250 keynote speeches to sales organizations and countless classroom workshops. I often ask what the salespeople in the room read to develop themselves as professional salespeople. Then I ask how many have read Spin Selling or Solution Selling - two foundational books on consultative selling. A few hands, very few. I ask how many read the Harvard Business Review or Fortune. Even among consulting firms the hands are few.

Dave Stein asked in one of...

The ABCs of Selling - F

F - Financial Benefits

Usually when salespeople sell the financial benefits of their solution they focus on price, cost savings or ROI. But these are the only financial benefits that could come from a solution.

The problem may not be the price; it may be the payment terms, or a lack of cash. In my first book, Hope Is Not a Strategy, I related the story of a win at Turner Broadcasting from when I was selling in the software industry. We were losing the product evaluation of financial systems...

The ABCs of Selling - E

E - Execution

Our principals review many sales deals along with the managers of our clients. Among the reasons that we see sales plans fail are simply poor execution. Almost all of this stems from:

poor attention to detail
failure to anticipate what could go wrong 
no strategy session before the event about tactics, messages, or plan B 
and leaving things to chance  

Horror stories emerge from delivering the wrong message to the prospect because we didn't prepare, arriving late for a...

The ABC's of Selling - D

D - Differentiation

After the client deterines the "Why Buy?" question, then the next question in the sales process becomes "Why Us?". Differentiating your solution and company in a professional manner is an essential skill and part of any complex sales process.

There are different types of differentiation:

Absolute - we got it; they ain't got it.

Relative - we both have it, but ours is better because... (faster newer, older, easier to use, more experience, lasts longer, easier to get...

The ABC's of Selling - C

C - Courage, Confidence and Commitment

Today is brought to you by the letter C.  I'll have lots of postings that begin with C, especially when in comes to sales Competence - a later post. This post is about willingness rather than ability - motivation and effort.

In building countless hiring profiles for my own sales forces as well as my clients, one of the consistent traits that we have found in most successful salespeople is that of "courage." It is one of the 10 Pillars of Sales...

The ABC's of Selling - B

Buying - Why They Buy

Very early in my sales career a sales trainer named Roy Chitwood helped me understand that ther are about a half dozen reasons why anybody buys anything:

safety and security
fear of loss or lower risk
opportunity for gain
social status or pride
comfort and convenience
solve a problem

Not very complicated, but after years of selling, training thousands of salespeople working hundreds of deals, as people's motivations ususally come from one of these.

One...

The ABC's of Selling - A

Accountability

Coincidentally, this series begins with one of the most important attributes of great salespeople and achievers in general. It is a major trait that separates winners from losers and should be examined in any hiring interview. There is a character flaw in many people that will always restrain their success -- it is basically whom they  hold responsible for their performance.

Some people are extra-punitive. They blame everybody else, or fate, or luck, or the government, or...