Depth of a Salesman By Kim Jones

For the past 12 years the Harvard Business Review has conducted an annual survey of chief sales officers-the executives in charge of their companies' selling efforts. In their 2006 survey a very clear trend emerged. Across industries buyers are behaving differently and the work required of the sales organization is becoming more complex.

It appears from the survey results that the buyer's cycle has dramatically diverged from the seller's cycle. Buyers have always had a buying cycle, starting at the point they perceive a need. Sellers have always had a selling cycle, starting at the point they identify a prospect. It used to be that these two cycles were somewhat in synch.

Typically the seller, through some sort of marketing effort, created the buyer's perception of need. The buyer could then pursue that need by contacting the seller, usually for additional product information. In today's marketplace however, the buyer's buy cycle is often well underway before the seller is ever aware of what's happening.

In my work with corporate clients I have seen how this seemingly minor change often dramatically shifts the balance of power. Sales reps traditionally used to live on the valuable knowledge they held in their brains, binders and briefcases. They were the keepers of data sheets, reference lists, white papers and price lists.

Whether the customer was a car owner shopping for insurance or a neurosurgeon researching a specific medical instrument – buyers used to require some sort of discussion with your sales rep. Today, all of that information is available on the Web, not just from the sellers, but also from other buyers and third parties.

This new sales paradigm has real implications for how you hire, train, and coach your salespeople. Your reps need to feel comfortable not only answering specific technical questions but they also must be prepared to provide purchase justification arguments and well thought out business cases. They need to know how to "unhook" what the buyer thinks they already know without putting the buyer on the defensive.

The concept of "consultative" selling has been eclipsed by a new paradigm which demands that your sales teams become not just consultants but contributors and eventually, true partners.

Companies that are able to make this change will be handsomely rewarded with increased credibility, greater access, larger margins and more repeat business. While a good vendor only needs to provide a good product, a true sales professional and partner will provide solutions that impact performance.
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For over 15 years Kim Jones has been helping businesses grow through incomparable marketing and savvy selling. Questions or comments can be e-mailed to Kim Jones.

Listening Cues By Tom Hopkins

Learn to listen for specific clues as to how to best present information to new potential clients. By that I mean to listen for them to say, “I see what you mean,” or, “We look for ____ in a supplier” which usually means they relate best in a visual manner. Gear up your visual aids or computer graphics presentation for this person. Use lots of color, charts, photos, graphs, and diagrams.

For those people who say, “I hear what you're saying,” you'd better gear your presentation to be more of an oral report. Be sure to include plenty of descriptive word pictures.

When people ask about investment information before you cover all the benefits they're looking for, they're probably “bottom-line” kind of people and your dollars-and-cents information had better shine.

People who like to “get a feel for” something will need to have something to touch during your presentation.

Remember, it's the little things that make the biggest difference!
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Tom Hopkins International
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Tel: (480) 949-0786 or 800/528-0446 Fax: (480) 949-1590
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The Complex Sale Today By Brian Tracy

The entire process of selling today is more complex than it has ever been before. It used to be that we would make a single call on a single buyer who would make a single decision on our product or offering.

In this simple form of selling, we used the attention/interest/ desire/action (AIDA) model of sales presentation and focused intensely on numerous different ways of closing the sale. Then, once we had made the sale, in many cases we never saw the customer again.

Everything Has Changed
Today, however, everything is different. Today we must make multiple calls, an average of five or six, in order to make the sale. We deal with multiple decision makers in an organization, each of whom can influence the purchase. Much of the sale takes place when we are not present. Sometimes we never even meet the final decision maker who signs the check. And it is not unusual for a sale to be derailed at the last minute by something completely unexpected.

The Competition is Fierce
If that weren’t enough, there is more competition than ever before and it is more determined and resolute than it has ever been in the past. Not only must we compete on the basis of price, quality, services, capabilities, financing and warranties with many other vendors of our product or service, but we must also compete with every other vendor of every other product or service who is striving to get the same customer dollar that we are after.

Our competitors are extremely determined, driven the same as we are by tight markets and careful customers. They are committed to starting earlier, working harder, and staying up later thinking of ways to take our customers away from us.

Customers Are Overwhelmed
Our prospective customers are beset on all sides by every conceivable sales offering. Because they are drowning in details, options and choices, they are in no hurry to make up their minds. With markets changing and contracting, the amount of discretionary funds they have available has shrunken and they are more careful today than they have ever had to be in the past.

The Key to Profitability
The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer. If a business does this in sufficient quantity and with proper cost controls, it will make a profit. The profit is the result of creating and keeping customers efficiently.

Create and Keep Customers
As the president of your own professional sales corporation, your job is to create and keep customers as well. And just as a company must continually restructure and redesign its product and service offerings to satisfy the changing tastes of a demanding and competitive customer marketplace, you as a salesperson must constantly upgrade the quality and sophistication of your sales procedures and approaches if you are going to create customers in sufficient quantity.

Action Exercises: Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, be prepared to make multiple calls on a customer to close a large or complex sale. Plan your sales work systematically so you always have a new reason for calling back.

Second, think continually about how you have to change and improve your selling and your offering if you want to succeed in a tough market. Work on yourself every day and never stop getting better.
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Brian Tracy is one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that you can apply immediately to get better results in every area. Visit the Brian Tracy web site.