In sales we have learned to get to the critical issues (or pains) the prospect is wrestling with in order to propose capabilities that will alleviate those pains.  But often, even when we have sharply outlined the critical issues, it is still not enough to bring about a transaction within a predictable time frame.  Why?  Because issues are not enough.  While issues are important at the front end of the sales process, their importance tends to wane over time and are usually overtaken by the perceived risk of a capital expenditure for the solution.  Issues become data points with no life and little meaning.  Sales Teams need to go beyond the issues and get to the events that transpired to create the issues.

When I say events I mean occurrences and stories with real people, real drama and most importantly, real consequences.   Once the actual event is uncovered we can evaluate to what extent the prospect organization can afford to have that event occur again and when in their business cycle that event is likely to occur again.  Having identified this and confirming with the client that the cost of the event occurring again outweighs the cost of the solution, then we have an event that is compelling enough to warrant a transaction.  When this is achieved we have a good shot at a predictable time line to value, which is co-owned by the Sales Team and the prospect.

How to do this?  When in discovery, don’t just settle for the the issues.  Let the issues guide you to the events by asking questions like: What’s the story around that?  What happened that created this issue?  Who called and talked to you about this issue?  What brought the issue to their attention?

Once you have a solid answer on the event(s), you can ask: When is this likely to occur again.  In what business process did this occur?  Who were the people involved? What is the perceived cost of this event occurring again? (both political, and monetary)

Theses events must be co-developed with your prospect and must be consistently re-played throughout the proof stage, negotiation stage, and the rest of the buying process.  Before major expenditures, risk is always heightened for the prospect. If the perceived risk of the events outweigh the perceived risk of the expenditure, then a transaction can occur.

Issues are lifeless.  Events live and breathe.  Don’t settle for issues.  Strive to co-develop compelling events and make the buying process come alive.

For example, one of my favorite blogs is Chad Levitt’s  blog called New Sales Economy.  He always has interesting articles on Sales 2.0 strategies.  He also guest blogs on other sites and has interesting guests write in his blog.  He is a thought leader in this space.

But guess what…

He is a sales guy for Hubspot, a company that sells inbound marketing software which helps grow traffic to your site, get leads, and make sales in this new environment.  Chad’s story is in alignment with what he does and who he works for.  Chad is part of that big conversation out there.  He gets leads by virtue of who he is and what he is passionate about.  Chad is in alignment with his story and there is a tremendous amount of power in that.

Think about ways that you can amplify your thought leadership and become part of that big conversation out there.  Be more than sales – be an authentic Thought Leader.

Your prospect knows that you are a salesperson. But what is your story?  Why do you work here?  What are the themes and events in your life that have brought you to this company?  Why do you want to spend a third or more of your life working at this company, selling this product or service, providing these benefits to your prospects and customers?

I’m surprised at how few salespeople know and tell their own story. As stated in my last post, they prefer to just hand over a business card.  People authentically connect through story.  Prospects want to know that there is a reason, other than a commission plan, that you are invested in your company.

One of the greatest sales minds of our generation, Mike Bosworth, has recognized this.  His life’s work has been about helping improve the lives of salespeople.  In the early 80’s Mike noticed that a typical salesforce adhered to the 80/20 rule.  Essentially 20% of the salesforce was responsible for the high performance of bringing in 80% of the revenue.  Mike wanted to help the bottom 80% perform like the top 20%.  He new that authentic connection was essential, but the general consensus was that this connection wasn’t teachable.  So Mike created a diagnostic needs-development framework in his book Solution Selling.  Many companies implemented it and garnered positive revenue results.

Then Mike noticed that their was a misalignment between sales and marketing and he addressed that in his next effort which was Customer Centric Selling.  CCS continues to be a world class sales methodology for many major corporations all over the world.  It consistently generates positive results for companies that implement it.

But the results still weren’t good enough.  Mike realized that NO MATTER WHAT YOUR SALES PROCESS IS – YOU CANNOT EXECUTE IT SUCCESSFULLY UNLESS YOU HAVE AN AUTHENTIC CONNECTION WITH A PROSPECT.  So, he and his partner, Ben Zoldan went on a journey to find some answers in the field of Neuroscience.  They talked with  people outside of sales like, detectives, storytellers, therapists, and cognitive scientists.  They discovered that that there was a way to teach connectedness.  And this way was through Story.  He and Ben created StoryLeaders.  And in this effort they are already seeing very positive results.

Steve Bosworth from Bosworth-Kenney Selling says that the effective combination of a strong sales process and the ability to authentically connect drives exceptional sales performance.  I agree.

Try this:

What were you passionate about in high school?  What are the common themes between your passion then, and what you do now?  What about your product, service, or company really excites you?  What in your role is your favorite activity?  What about each place you have worked attracted you?  What have been your low points in your career?  How did you overcome them to be where you are today?

The answers to these questions will give you clues to your story.  And once you figure it out, go out there and tell it!

• Instead of handing them a card, tell the prospect about what you do and why you do it.  Tell them your story.
• Give the prospect your full attention as opposed to attending to the physical logistics of handing over a card.
• Consider handing out your card to a selected group of people after the meeting
• Send your card a few days after the meeting with a handwritten “thank you” note

Use your business cards to break the sales stereotype, not to reinforce it.

“The VP plays golf with my brother-n-law!” exclaimed the salesperson as he left the meeting.

Why do salespeople get excited about these outlying connections?  Clara Shih, a thought leader in Social Networking, calls it Transitive Trust.  Salespeople get very excited when they discover that they have a relationship in common with a prospect or customer.  When you are referred or have a trusted connection to someone you don’t know you temporarily step out of the sales stereotype.  Transitive Trust gives you a temporary unfair advantage over your competition and tools like Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Google and others help track and manage these connections.   Other tools like www.mypeoplemaps.com, help you aggregate them.  Your personal connections and friendships will do more to get you into an opportunity and out of the sales stereotype than anything else.  According to Nigel Edelshain, CEO of Sales 2.0, being introduced into an account by one of your connections makes it 8X more likely that you will get in the door.   Build and use your social capital.

But what really inspired me the most during this ceremony was the overarching commitment to the concept of team.  Navy SEALs work in teams.  They are essentially groups of individuals with complementary strengths and expertise that can only succeed as a cohesive unit.  They don’t just talk about teamwork as if it were a nice-to-have.  They don’t speak about teamwork in lofty platitudes.  It is who they are.  Their lives depend on it.  They live it. They rehearse it.  They practice it.

I wonder what would happen, if in our daily life, we took the concept of team even half as seriously as Navy SEALs do.  I wonder how much we could accomplished if we really practiced “Team”.

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I was also incredibly impressed with the published SEAL Ethos:  I have reproduced it here.  Read it and be inspired.

SEAL Ethos

“In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior ready to answer our Nation’s call. A common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by adversity, he stands alongside America’s finest special operations forces to serve his country, the American people, and protect their way of life.I am that man.

My Trident is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes that have gone before, it embodies the trust of those I have sworn to protect. By wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day.

My loyalty to Country and Team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own.

I serve with honor on and off the battlefield. The ability to control my emotions and my actions, regardless of circumstance, sets me apart from other men.Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond.

We expect to lead and be led. In the absence of orders I will take charge, lead my teammates and accomplish the mission. I lead by example in all situations.

I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time.  I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.

We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates and the success of our mission depend on me – my technical skill, tactical proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete.

We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required yet guided by the very principles that I serve to defend.

Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail.”

1) Manipulative Tricks and Techniques: Techniques like “are you available on Monday or Tuesday, 2 or 3pm?”   I still see salespeople do this.  I’m not a big fan of “closing techniques” either.  Business closes when a preponderance of future value has been realized within the buyer’s time frame. Manipulative tricks and techniques have run their course in sales process and should be thrown atop the ash heap of business history.

2) Assuming an emotional reaction from the prospect before you’ve earned the right to do so – an example of this would be asking discovery questions and when the prospect admits pain that you have capabilities to alleviate, you say something like,

“You’re going to Luuuuuuv what we’re going to show you”.

This actually happened recently and I watched the prospects eyes roll back into her head.

3) Self Denigration – Saying things like “I’m just a salesperson”.  Or allowing your teammates to jokingly denigrate your role.  I used to believe that statements like this were self-deprecating and endeared the prospect to you. They don’t. The prospect simply says to herself, “ok, you’re just a salesperson — who has the real value here”.

4) Being a “Yes Man” – simply means this:  Your prospect does not believe that every single one of your customers is happy.  She doesn’t believe that there are absolutely no problems with your product or services.  In fact, she probably already knows the bad stuff. The answer to every question is not yes.  Talk about your company in the best light possible but don’t insult your prospect’s intelligence.

5) Lolly-gagging – Getting to know people is crucial.  However, prospects know when you are talking in order to create an inauthentic relationship.  Don’t overdo it. Lolly-gagging is a dead give-away that you are a typical sales chump.

Way 2 is “Ditch the Pitch”… coming soon….

When I think of a “pitch”, I think of baseball, where the pitcher throws the ball to the batter hoping to strike them out and send them back to the dugout empty-handed.  Let’s transport the analogy to sales.  Is the salesperson the pitcher and the prospect the batter? Is the salesperson trying to strike the batter out and send her to the dugout empty-handed?  Doesn’t really work does it?

Steve Yastrow, a great business author coined this phrase.  He is not saying to not know what you and your company do.  Quite the contrary, you should know it back and forth and be able to bring pieces and parts of it together within a genuine dialogue.  Martin Buber says that in a genuine dialogue participants really have in mind the objectives, intentions and being of the other. Much of what a sales pitch has become is a monologue disguised as dialogue where 2 or more people are standing in a room facing each other but actually talking to themselves.

Preparation.

While this presentation was different in many ways, the concepts were not new and they had been rehearsed many, many times… out loud… by myself…in other presentations.

Now, this presentation wasn’t exactly the presentation I rehearsed.  I reserve about 10%-30% of my discussion for improvisation based on the spirit of the room, content that the audience brings in, and cues that I pick up at a very intuitive level.  All this was working today.

It’s almost like that great golf shot that keeps you coming back.  Preparation doesn’t guarantee a successful outcome, but it does remove significant risks.  Looking forward to the next opportunity.

Jim had managed to work his way to the CEO of an organization to sell his solution.  After numerous meetings he was a bit discouraged because he didn’t seem to be making much progress.  The only thing that was progressing was the amount of follow-up information he was asked to generate after every meeting.  So, he reached out via email to a colleague to get some additional ROI information for the prospect.  The colleague emailed back asking some additional quesitons about what he was trying to accomplish there.

Jim clicked back, “I’m trying to get this dumb-ass to buy something.”

The appropriate ROI information was eventually sent back to the CEO of the organization and yes… the unthinkable happened.  The email was sent with the trailing thread that included the “dumb-ass” quote.  Jim said there was a second after that send button was pushed that he irked in horror “OH SHIT!”

So what happened then?  Jim immediately called his boss to tell him what had happened.  They discussed a few options.  Since the comment was at the bottom of the thread, they could take the chance that the CEO would never read it.  Or they could ‘fess up and take their licks.  They decided on the latter.

Jim went to the CEO and told him what happened.  He told the CEO that indeed, it was he that was the dumb-ass.  The CEO, who obviously was not a dumb-ass as accused and was actually quite a thoughtful person, lectured Jim that he needed to be more careful about what he said and wrote about his prospects.  After the lecture the CEO told Jim that despite this error he still wanted to consider Jim’s product.

Jim got the order last week.

There are lessons to be learned here the least of which is to never put in writing derogatory comments about your prospects or customers.  More importantly, we should avoid the mindset where we are disparaging our prospects or customers in any way.  We (our products and services) are not the center of their universe.  It is our job to earn their mind share.  Somehow, in ways not necessarily as overt as this story, your attitudes about your prospects and customers will manifest themselves.