The Sales Handicapper

The UVP Your Competitor Can't Match - 7 years later

I originally posted this article in April, 2009.  Seven and half years later and nothing has really changed!

Just about everyone you're selling to is already doing their job without the services or products you're selling. And, unfortunately, every one of your competitors is also saying the same thing you are; "we deliver unique value blah, blah, blah".   Even worse, it's probably true.  Unless you have invented something that is not available from anyone else, there is most likely no real difference behind the distinctions you're claiming; except one - YOU!

YOU are your company's Unique Value Proposition (UVP).  When everything else is pretty much the same, the difference behind the distinction has to be you.  There is nothing left.  How do "you" become the difference between you and your competitor?

1. Begin the relationship discussing your prospect's business, not "asking" about their business.
2. Learn their culture and display empathy rather than sympathy. 
3. Talk about the challenges you know they face instead of being lame and "asking" about the challenges they face. 
4. Talk in terms of profit, not revenue or expense.
5. Ask the hard questions early.  The truth will set you free.  
6. Become comfortable with winning 51-49 instead of 100-0! 

Discuss your prospect's business; don't go in asking questions about it.  Why should they waste their time educating you about their business so you can sell them a solution to a problem you've already demonstrated you know nothing about?  Do your homework and begin your relationship with a relevant discussion about their business. Take the problems you know you can solve and ask them how they are dealing with those problems.  Be careful though.  Anyone can ask canned, yet insightful questions. Where you become the the UVP is in knowing what to do with the answers and where next to direct the conversation.  The more you "know" vs. memorize, the more unique you'll become in your prospect's eyes.

Ask questions about what their daily life is like.  Make sure the questions are level 2, not level 1.  A level 1 question goes something like this; "have you been impacted by the current economic crisis"?  That's a dumb question.  Of course they have been impacted!  The real question (level 2) is "how" has their life changed in the last 6 months".  Listen carefully, because the answer to this question will assuredly tell you if they know they have pain, where it is and its level of acuity.  (See post on Pain Selling)

When you ask a prospect to share their challenges, you are either wasting their time or playing games.  Go into the conversation already knowing their business challenges and asking questions that will help you determine the degree to which those challenges are debilitating or just minor.  Remember, right now, people are not spending precious budget on minor pain.

When you understand your prospect's business, you understand how they make a profit; not just generate revenue or incur expense.  Ultimately, it is your impact on their profit that will guide their decision.  If the person you're speaking with can't talk profit (especially if any aspect of your solution professes intangible benefits), find someone who can or you won't make the sale (and you'll waste a ton of time). Profit dollars pay for your solution, not top-line revenue.

The world is not perfect and neither is your product or service.  You know it and so does your prospect.  So, if a benefit is irrelevant or a feature is missing, don't try to sell around it; agree with it!  The reality is you don't care about winning every comparison or on every point, just those that make a difference in the buying decision.  In fact, most often if you ask if the issue is important, they will most likely may answer "no, I was just curious".  Try to win on every point, however, and you may win the battle, but you'll lose the war.

If you're not ready to be the new UVP in your company, you should probably look for another career.  More and more aspects of services and products are becoming commoditized.  Business acumen and creative are the new killer apps in selling.  Let me here what you think?

Your Company's Value Proposition in Three Words - Time, Tools and Talent

Updated from original post of August 2010.

Time, tools and talent; we solve for little else when trying to sell our products and services.   Not just in today's market, but always.  Our prospects and clients "must" suffer from one or more of the following conditions or we can deliver no real compelling value:

1. They have the human resources (talent) they need, but don't have the tools or time required to address the challenge or opportunity.
2. They have the technology (tools) they need, but don't have the talent and/or time to use them.
3. They have both the tools and talent, but the time required to apply them hasn't been prioritized.

If one, two or all three conditions exist and your product or service aligns with one or more of the them, then you have a Value Proposition and a viable sales opportunity.  If you can't qualify at least one condition exists, then you have nothing to solve for and should move on to the next opportunity.

The most opportune condition is "talent".  Most companies today are loathe to add "new" headcount unless the need is strategic.  If they are adding "tactical" headcount it's most likely replacing a cost rather than adding a new one.  So, if your product or service is replacing an existing headcount(s) then you have a real opportunity. If your offering addresses a strategic need and can be leveraged by existing headcount, you also have a real opportunity.  However, if your offering will only add new cost at a tactical level, good luck.  Your ROI promise will have to be amazing to win the deal.  Additionally, if your solution cannot eliminate headcount and deliver incredible returns, then you better be talking to the CEO or it will die an early death.

Solving for "tools" is the most competitive and your "Value Proposition" usually won't be enough to win the day.  You'll need to win on your "Unique Value Proposition" and most of the time, that will be "you", the salesperson or the Subject Matter Expert (SME).  

Solving for "time" is the hardest situation.  Determining what employees spend their time on is a strategic issue, not a tactical one. It is very easy to get sucked into your buyer's desire to allocate more time to the challenge or opportunity your products or services address.  But you have to be careful.  They aren't spending time now solving that problem for a reason.  Make sure you qualify the condition of "time" very carefully and challenge your prospect's response aggressively.  If you can be sold that the need for more time is mission critical then you have a great opportunity.

Finally, be sure you are aware of and have addressed the new "Deal Dynamic". It is the #1 hidden killer of deals even after you've solved for Time, Tools and Talent.

Time, tools and talent - we're not solving for cancer, so keep the evaluation of your opportunities simple.  Your prospects will appreciate it.

the "deal" dynamic - ignore it at your own risk

Inspired once again by Jessica Hagy - jessicahagy.info  

Thanks also to Lary Moseley (www.linkedin.com/in/larymoseley)

The Power of Transparency

Today's prospect and customer, whether B2C, B2B, B2B2C, C2C or any other "2" you can name, is living a more transparent life than ever before. With every tweet, Facebook update, rating or review, blog post or forum rant, they are expressing the very behavior they want to experience from their providers of products and services. They are telling us over 2 billion times a day what they do and want, how they feel, where they live, what's missing in their lives and what delights them.  They are speaking to each other and to us and they have an ever increasing expectation we will reciprocate in kind.

Believe it or not, it's not that hard to do.  We simply need to listen with different ears and search with different eyes to learn what we need to do.  Then, just act with the same (or even a higher) level of candor and transparency we are being given and we'll get more than we ever thought possible.   Simple, huh.  Then why do we find it so hard to do.

 Picture inspired once again by Jessica Hagy, @jessicahagy, www.thisisindexed.com

 

Win Early

Thanks for the inspiration Jessica (@jessicahagy)

 

 

Need motivating? Talk to the people who keep your promises

I've been away quite a while.  Glad to be back!

Ever have that feeling when you aren't feeling anything?  Ever get down because your pipeline is low or you haven't closed a deal since Bush was President?  Ever wondered what you needed to do to start feeling good again?  If this doesn't sound familiar then you're not in sales.  If it does, then I have the solution to your problem; talk to the people who keep all the promises you're paid to make.  Talk to your Client Services and/or Product Development teams.

As salespeople, we don't have to keep a single promise we make.  There are lots of other people doing that for us.  We only have to make sure we don't over promise and we'll be fine.  If you're in a relatively normal company, your Client Service and Product Developemnt teams are doing a great job of keeping your clients happy.  They are generating the relationships you wish you had, but don't have the time, tools, or talent to do it.  They are creating the success stories you will take to the market to secure more clients for them to delight.

Take a few minutes and ask them about their day or what they're working on or about their latest client success.  They will appreciate it more than you know and you will feel more motivated than ever to tell their stories to your prospects.  I guarantee it! 

Five Most Important Sales Questions - where are "you" in their sales process

Sorry this post is so late. Life got in the way.  Thanks for understanding.

We're finishing our deep dive in the Five Most Important Sales Questions.  We've determined that budget is the most important question, decision criteria is the hardest to get a straight answer to; who else are you involving in the decision is the most sensitive and where they are in their decision process is the primary driver of your sales tactics.  But,

    5.  Where are "you" in their decision process...

...can mean the difference between you selling them or making them sell you.  If you're early (or better yet, first) then the normal tactics you've developed can be applied.  If you're late, then all the best tactics for selling won't work.  You may have to resort to having them sell you.

So, what does that mean? If you find out you're late to the game, all the positioning of your unique value will be viewed as defensive.  Everything you say or do will be met with the proverbial, "yeah, ok, but that is no different than the other Nth companies who want my business".  So, if you're really honest with yourself you'll admit that you're behind and playing catch up.  You can't win because the deck is already stacked against you.  For every minute lost trying to go through the normal motions with this prospect, your next big sale is being positioned away from you by the person who got there before you.

If you've qualified the prospect with the other four questions and you truly believe your solution is their last, best hope for success, then you're left with no alternative but to make them sell you on why you should continue to fight what appears to so obviously be a losing battle.  This may sound counter intuitive, but I have used it many times and I can assure you it works.  

How does this work?  One key thing to remember, if you know you're late then so does your prospect. So, you have nothing to lose by saying something like,

•  "hey, I think we both know I'm late to the game, so if you were me, would you even bother to keep trying?" Or, 
• "given how late we are to the game, and given that all of us competing for your business can deliver about 85-90% the same things, what is the 10-15% you REALLY want me to focus on so we're not wasting each other's time? Or,
• "you know, if you think you've already made your decision or at least have seen and heard all you need to, then it's perfectly OK to tell me and we can call it day".

Now I know these may sound weird, but if you say them with true sincerity and transparency, the prospect will appreciate it and most likely give you an opening you could drive a truck through.  If you try and fake it or are not truly vulnerable to the possible outcome, then the prospect will see through you, right to your competitor.  

But remember, if you go looking for the "no" then you have to be prepared to take it. But, if you're truly late to the game, then unless you are delusional, you've lost before you start so you may as well start at the end; and have them sell you on why you should continue selling to them.

NOTE:  If you want to learn the most powerful "late to the game" approach ever, then email me with your contact information and I will share it in a brief phone call.  Sharing it in an email is not an option because the effectiveness lies equally in the delivery as well as the message.  The only condition is that if you use it, you will let me know how it worked.

 

Five Most Important Sales Questions - Decision Criteria

In continuing our deep dive into the Five Most Important Sales Questions we come to:

2.  What are your decision criteria?

While the first question regarding budget is the most important, the decision criteria question is probably the hardest to get a straight answer.  Why?  Because the old adage that people buy on emotion and justify with facts later is true even more today than ever!  Even if the prospect is using a formal RFP process and assuming most of the listed criteria are evenly weighted amongst competitors, winning still comes down to the best story and relationships.

So, how do you make sure you've identified the criteria that will make the MOST difference between winning and losing?  Ask the prospect to clearly define the criteria in two columns; NEED and WANT.  If they can't do that, then assume they're not really serious about buying and go back to the budget question and re-affirm the business need.  If they can differentiate between the two, then quicky review the NEEDS and make sure there are no "knock-out" issues for your company.  If there are none, then focus your time and energy on the WANTS - because that will be where the decision is made!

In reviewing the WANTS, you must address them as if they are NEEDS until the prospect says otherwise. This is very important because assuming the NEEDS are going to be evenly addressed by you and your competitors, the winning difference will be in how many of the WANTS you can deliver that they can't. Also, make sure you also ask "who" has helped determine the NEEDS vs. WANTS.  If it's only your primary contact, be wary.  Just as in real life, WANTS are prioritized by rank (just ask my wife and kids).  If the WANTS are only those of your primary contact (me), you stand much less of a chance winning on them than if they are owned by Power (my wife and kids).  Be sure and probe into "who" owns the wants and whether your primary contact knows the "why" behind the "what".  If they can't sell you on why the item is in the WANT column, then ask to talk to the one who owns it.  If they refuse then ask them if it can be removed from the list.  This will most likely lead to you either speaking to the WANT owner, or discovering that the owner is your primary contact and the WANT is theirs alone. Either way, you have an answer you can act upon.

The interesting thing about NEEDS and WANTS is that oftentimes there is a very fine line separating the two.  If one of their WANTS is one of your unique differentiators, then spend the time to get it moved over to the NEED column.  Why not just leave it where it is? Because the more WANTS they have that are unique to you that you can get moved to the NEEDS column, the more pressure it puts on your competitor(s) to meet the minimum requirements.  CAUTION:  Your competitor(s) is going to try and do the same thing to you.  That leads us to the final point.

The decision criteria question is also the most fluid of the five because the definition of NEEDS and WANTS can change throughout the sales process.  New information offered by you or your competitor(s) may cause the shift of one or more criteria from one column to the other.  That is why you must continuously re-affirm the decision criteria with each interaction you have with the prospect.  Any deviation from the current path requires further review of all FIVE questions to uncover any new decision makers, influencers, criteria or timing.  It also requires re-evaluation of where you may stand in the process.  You may move from first to last in the blink of any eye.

Remember, if you don't take great care in accurately and continuously assessing your prospect's NEEDS vs. WANTS throughout the entire sales process, you'll lose control of the conversation and your prospect will buy someone else's story - and then give you a long list of "facts" as to why you lost.

 

 

Cellphone Selling - Words to the Wise

We've all heard these statements before while cellphone selling; "Whoever is calling from their car, please go on mute!"; or, "hey, can you speak louder?  I'm in my car and I can't hear whoever is speaking!"; or, my personal favorite, "Sorry, I'm in the airport and I can't find someplace quiet".  (I'm sure you've got some great lines too and I invite you to share them in the Comments section)

This is not rocket science folks.  We all think that because we are all busy, EVERYONE will give us a pass for being rude and not respecting our prospect's time.  Bad audio on a phone call is like taking a test on a subject you don't know anything about; you eventually complete the test, but most likely won't get the result you desire.

Just remember these words to the wise when cellphone selling, either 1:1 or, God forbid, on a conference call using a web platform (a post for another time).

1. Don't make a sales call from a moving car - no matter what you do, the road noise and cell tower tag will disrupt the call.
2. Even if you stop the car, make sure the air conditioning vents are not pointed right at you (unless you want your prospect to think you really like them)
3. If you're in an airport and you can't find a quiet place to call from, reschedule the call.  Or better yet, plan better and don't schedule or make a sales call when you are going to be rushing around in the airport.  Loud noises will cut your call short anyway due to your prospect's annoyance factor, so don't set yourself up to fail.
4. If you're calling from a public place you are either shouting or speaking too softly for your prospect to hear.  Either way, someone is annoyed.  Get to a "private" place, not just a "quiet" place.
5. Remember, good audio can overcame bad video, but not the other way around.  If you're conducting a sales webcast from your cellphone and PC and your slides are so good they would make Rembrandt weep, but your audio sucks, the call is a waste of time.  You'd be better served using no slides and verbally painting your presentation with a good, clear phone connection.

Being busy and being polite are not mutually exclusive.  Your consideration of your prospect's experience may be just the difference to help you win 51-49. 

The Dangerous Disconnect

No, I'm not talking about what happens when you drunk dial your wife at 2am.  What I'm talking about will have even more dire consequences.  This disconnect can cost you more than your life; it can cost you your job.  The disconnect I'm referring to happens when you cross a mid-level "innovator" buyer with their own "late follower" company.

How many times have you been able to excite and even sell your prospect (innovator) only to find out later that their company is a "late follower".  At best, the sale stalls.  At worst, it dies.  How do you make sure there is no disconnect between your prospect and their company?  Try these questions early in the selling process:

1. Tell me about the last innovation "you" were able to approve at this company? - If there isn't one or if its was minor, you really have to speak with someone higher up or walk.
2. Who, besides you, thinks this can happen?- You're listening for senior level sponsorship.
3. What are your top 2 goals for the year? - You're listening for either a strong revenue increase or expense reduction (or both).  Emphasis on "strong".  If their goals are not significant, then most likely neither will be managements' tolerance for risk.
4. What would keep this from happening? - Your listening for candor in the response.  If your prospect can't give you any definitive reasons then they just don't know what they are because they've never tried anything new.  There are always reasons why something won't get done.  This person is just disconnected from the mother ship.

These questions (along with the ones now popping into your head) presumes you've done your homework and have a fairly strong read on the company's cultural profile.  If the answers you hear don't indicate a strong connection in your favor, then nothing else you've shared relative to value will matter. Make sure there is no disconnect between your buyer and their employer before forecasting that next big sale or the next disconnect you hear may come from your company cell phone.