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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Keenan
Read between
May 11 - June 10, 2023
The technical problem isn’t going to drive the sale; it’s the conversation starter.
The business problem provides the motivation for change. You’re looking for the “holy shit” of outcomes.
“Why do you think this problem is happening?” “How do you think your current processes are affecting this?” “How has the implementation of this product affected your business?”
You’ll know it’s qualified because if you’ve done the discovery correctly, you’ll easily be able to answer “yes” to these four simple questions: Does the prospect have a problem you can fix? Does the prospect agree they have a problem? Does the prospect want to fix the problem? Will the prospect go on a journey with you to fix the problem?
Don’t worry about the budget, need, authority or timing. That stuff will take
You should never be satisfied with the first answer you get. Without digging further and asking for clarification, there will be no way you’ll be able to find out that a customer’s headache is really being caused by a tumor, not by a lack of caffeine. This means that your customer’s future state isn’t just a place where the headache is gone, but a place where he lives to see his kids grow up, and to have grandkids, and retire by the beach, and everything else that goes with enjoying the rest of a long, successful, fulfilling life.
Trust me, you don’t want to assume that a new buyer’s current state and future state match the current and future state of your initial buyer. I learned that the hard way a few years back.
Never assume you know what your buyers are experiencing and what they want to achieve.
Can You Pass the CRM Challenge?
your goal is not to ask specific questions. It’s to get specific information.
you’re having a conversation, not an interrogation, and like all conversations, it’s going to move forward and back and around, and many times your questions and answers will overlap.
When you get this part right, your customers will work with you because they believe it will benefit them to give you all the information they can, and that’s exactly where you want them.
The gap-selling relationship is collaborative. The beauty of this is that there is never any reason for you to pressure a customer to buy anything, because by the time you’re done with discovery, they’ll be so aware of their problems, they’ll be begging for your help.
Once you understand what you’re selling, all you have to ask yourself is, “Is this gap big enough to warrant what it’s going to cost my customer to change and get them to reach their desired future state?”
Have patience. Go slower. Focus on gathering as much information as you can about the world your buyer is struggling with and why they want to change. Remember, change is what this whole game is about.
Good salespeople are patient—they don’t just have the patience for the work; they embrace it. They understand that the success or failure of the sale is deeply rooted in getting as much information as possible so they can clearly identify the gap. Great selling takes a maniacal commitment to doing the work and doing it well.
Drill deep enough so that you know enough about your customer’s organization that you can confidently and credibly offer near-irrefutable advice, insight, and direction. That is the most reliable formula for sales success.
Your discovery is all about quantifying your prospects’ current and future states.
“How far are you from your goal?”
And then Keenan did a great job of exploring all the issues, jumping from them to the business problems, and then from the business problems to the impacts they were having, to the root causes and back.
Once you know your customers desired future state and intrinsic motivations, all that’s left is to make sure they not only believe that that future state can happen, but that you can make it happen better than anyone else.
“Tell me a bit about what is driving this change.”
From this moment on, you will focus your sale on your customers intrinsic motivation because it’s all they’re going to be thinking about whenever they decide anyway.
You can start sharing information about what your product does. You can explain why your service is better than that of any other competitor on the market.
You should never, ever combine a discovery and a demo.
You can’t customize your demo unless you know what problems you are trying to solve.
Remember, a discovery should answer the following questions: 1. Does the prospect have a problem you can fix? 2. Does the prospect agree they have a problem? 3. Does the prospect want to fix the problem? 4. Will the prospect go on a journey with you to fix the problem?
What this means is that sometimes you’re going to have to refuse to do a demo even when the customer is eager to learn more about your product or service. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s really important. Don’t try to work around this rule and squeeze a discovery in during the first ten minutes of your demo, either—you’ll short-change both of them. Instead, if a customer refuses a discovery, inform them that the demo is a...
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There is no “if” during a demo because you’re supposed to already know! If at this point you’re guessing at what might be troubling your customer and trying to demo features you think they might like or you think might be valuable to them, you have done a lousy discovery.
It’s like handing a teenager two pair of cargo shorts, a bathing suit, and a wool sweater when she comes into your store looking for something to wear to prom. I mean, sure, one day it is possible she will need these items—summer and winter do come along, after all—but your customer is not in bathing-suit mode right now and quite frankly, it would be distracting and annoying to be asked to think about bathing suits when all you care about is finding the perfect dress before 5 p.m. Saturday night.
3. Stick to Six Features
If you’re trying to cram more than six features into your demo, there’s no way you can spend the appropriate amount of time showcasing each. It is always better to spend a lot of time highlighting one feature’s business value than it is to spend a little time introducing a whole bunch of features that may or may not be relevant to solving your buyer’s problems. Think quality, not quantity.
“Can you see how this feature will improve your churn rate?” “Do you see how this will shorten data input?” “Can you see how this will increase your conversions?”
One thing that you’ve probably noticed throughout this book is that much of the time when we’re selling, we’re actually double checking that our customers want what they think they want.
“I’m confused. You said .
Good closers are bad salespeople.
A good salesperson is a consultant, a collaborator, a partner—not a servant.
salespeople need to consider their ROSE (return on sales effort) when judging where to target their energy and time. That often means learning to say no.
A great salesperson isn’t a gofer or a servant. A great salesperson is a skilled consultant and valuable asset. And you need to behave like one.
If they went so far as to tell you they were interested in going forward with the deal and now they’ve disappeared, you can bet they’re not purposely trying to be rude; something has happened on their end that they weren’t anticipating. But getting desperate and begging them to talk to you by “just checking in” isn’t going to prompt them to explain themselves.
“I’m confused. You said…” which highlights the gap between your prospects’ words and actions.
“I’m confused. You said you were tired of getting beat out for bigger, more complex projects, and you agreed that my product would improve your value proposition tenfold and get you to your financial goals. So I’m surprised I haven’t heard from you. Has something changed? Were you able to solve your problem? Have you decided not to pursue bigger projects?”
you’ll do the same thing you would do if a deal goes dark: Remind the customer of their current state, their desired future state, and the impact they’re suffering by putting off their desired outcomes.
“Tom, I’m more than happy to push that meeting off another week, but I’m a little confused. You said that every month that goes by without a new system in place you’re losing money, and yet you were hoping to increase your profits next year by 4%. It’s going to get awfully hard for you to reach that goal if we keep going at this rate, isn’t it? Is that OK?”
Every time you hear an objection, you’ll want to hold it up against your customer’s future state. Are they aligned? Would resolving this concern or so-called problem get them any closer to their desired outcome?
Never defend your product or service.
Make them tell you why the lack of a particular feature is an issue. Make them tell you why their objection matters in the pursuit of their desired outcome or future state.
The only reason you need to worry about losing a deal is if you haven’t done a proper discovery. If you’ve asked all the right questions and are thoroughly informed about your customer’s current state, intrinsic motivation, and desired outcome,
Don’t let anyone determine the price of what your selling based on the product, service, or widget. That’s not what they are buying! They’re buying the outcome of your product, service, or widget. Therefore, remind them of the desired outcome and the value it has for their organization—the gap—and then make them defend it against what you’re charging for the tool that can make it happen.
After you put the value of the desired outcome back in their lap, just shut up and listen. Literally, just shut up! Don’t say a word; just listen. Let the buyer try to explain
