In today’s world great sales people are really not the pushy, over-confident stereotype that most people think of when they hear the word ‘sales person’ or ‘salesman’. The highly male-oriented, winner-takes-all environment that many associate with sales is dead for any organisation that wants to be successful, regardless of their target industry.

This is because buying organisations across all sectors are polarising their purchasing decisions and responsibilities between commodity purchases (those dealt with by transactional procurement teams and based on price with low margins) and strategic purchases (those dealt with by senior business sponsors and multi-discipline business improvement teams and based on value with high margins).

This means that, unless selling organisations are confident that they can win high-volume, low-price contracts by having the lowest cost base, they must establish capable business development teams that work together and use best-practice consultative selling skills to consistently win high-margin strategic sales.

Traditional sales techniques are no longer enough

Traditionally, people have thought that a good knowledge of the target client (and sector) and a good knowledge of the selling organisation’s products are the critical success factors when it comes to selling. Indeed, this has formed the basis of many recruitment policies for organisations developing a sales capability in their target sector.

But successful selling organisations are now realising that a good knowledge of the target client (and sector) and the selling organisation’s capabilities is just one dimension needed for successful selling. Best-practice selling in today’s world requires consultative sales techniques, professional selling attitudes and behaviours, the ambition and poise to be seen as a trusted advisor, and innovation at the decision-making level.

Develop consultative selling skills

To be successful at strategic business development in any industry, you need a consistent consultative selling methodology that enables the selling organisation to:

a) rapidly develop unique insight into the implicit and explicit needs of the buying organisation and the individual members of the decision-making unit (DMU); and

b) build trust and a perception of value.

This is because consultative selling skills are highly effective and transferrable across any industry.

By appling a consultative selling methodology and the right business development framework, a high level of knowledge of the target client (and sector) and the selling organisation’s capabilities can be rapidly developed and aligned to the point where competitors using traditional ‘Feature Advantage Benefit‘ (FAB) sales techniques become redundant and ineffective.

Individuals and organisations that are able to develop best-practice consultative selling skills (along with professional business and relationship development methodologies) and realise a positive shift in their attitudes and ambitions can therefore quickly achieve success in any (existing or new) target sector.

The emergence of Sales Academies

In today’s environment, many selling organisations are failing because they miss the fact that the selling skills, behaviours and attitudes of their customer-facing people represent a major part of the proposition that differentiates the great selling organisations from the “also-rans” in the industry.

This is why forward-thinking selling organisations are establishing Sales Academies to develop the right behaviours and attitudes in their sales people, in addition to the right knowledge, selling skills and sales techniques across their sales forces that will enable them to consistently beat their competitors and win over the trust and value-perception of the senior decision makers in their target markets.

By putting their people through a Sales Academy, the selling organisations we are currently working with are experiencing a real, positive shift in the selling skills, behaviours and attitudes of their sales forces. By developing consultative selling skills that are transferrable across any industry and refining the attitudes and behaviours of their people, these organisations are realising huge benefits that are enabling them to drive their performance despite the difficult economic conditions.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

The Feel, Felt, Found method is one of the most familiar objection handling techniques available to the modern day salesperson.

Although it has been around for years and some buyers are wary of it, we feel that it is still a highly effective means of handling objections in most selling situations.

Here is how you can make it work for you…

Feel

First, empathise with the prospect’s objection. Let them know that you understand how they feel.

e.g.

“I understand that you feel that way about [the high price], Mr. Smith.”

“I know exactly how you feel about [the level of service], Ms. Jones.”

This should enable you to build rapport with the client as you will be seen to be harmonising with their objection.

Felt

Second, tell the prospect about another client that (initially) felt the same way.

e.g.

“I spoke to a client last week who felt exactly the same way as you do about [the high price].”

“Many of our clients have felt that way about [the level of service].”

By providing the prospect with an example of another client who has felt the same way as they do, you should further convince them that you understand their objection. This should enable you to build trust with the prospect.

By demonstrating to the prospect that other clients have felt the same, you should also make the prospect feel as if their objection is completely natural. This should make the prospect feel more comfortable as they may no longer think that they are not alone in their objection.

Found

Finally, tell the prospect about how this other client found that he or she actually had a positive experience from buying your product or service, despite their initial reservations.

e.g.

“But when she started using our [widgets], she actually found that she [reduced her labour and maintenance costs].”

“But when they went ahead with the deal, they found that they [received a much better level of service than they had with their previous suppliers].”

By showing the prospect how somebody else has been able to overcome a similar concern, you should make the prospect feel much more confident that they can overcome the objection themselves. Since the prospect should feel as though they are part of a group of individuals that have overcome the objection, they may well change their own mind accordingly.

But be careful…

The Feel, Felt, Found method is great in most situations. But be careful. If used too early, it may fail to address the real objection. This may lead to you comparing the prospect’s situation to clients that are in a completely different situation to the prospect. In turn, this may create further, more complex objections rather than defeating the real objection.

To make this objection handling technique work for you, make sure that you have fully probed the prospect’s objection and understand their concerns first. Ask open questions and carefully listen to the prospect’s response in order to find out as much about the prospect’s objection a possible before clarifying it with the customer.

Then, and only then, should you be in a position to apply the Feel, Felt, Found method in a manner that effectively aligns the objections of others with that held by the prospect.

By demonstrating that you clearly understand the way the prospect feels, providing the prospect with an example of a client that has felt exactly the same way as they have, and showing them how this client has experienced positive benefits despite their concerns, you should put yourself in a far greater position to defeat the prospect’s real objection.

But still be aware… this is an objection handling technique that has been around for years. Many buyers will be highly wary of the Feel, Felt, Found method an on the lookout for salespeople who implement it.

To make it work, try to use this technique as naturally as possible and, preferably, when dealing with prospects that have not been “sold to death” by many salespeople in the past. If selling to savvy buyers that encounter salespeople on a daily basis it is probably best to use this method with caution.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

In an earlier blog post, Steve Eungblut showed how important it is for salespeople to be aware of their own personality. This is crucial for salespeople to be able to adapt their communication style to fit their circumstances and to be aware of their own biases and blind spots. He also spoke about the importance of being able to identify and understand the personality of the buyer.

This latter ability is probably one of the most useful in the salesperson’s arsenal. A proficiency in identifying and understanding your buyers’ personality will lead to a better qualification of opportunities, greater value creation, more accurate sales proposals, higher win-rates, and faster close times.

If you’re able to reliably identify and understand your buyer’s personality, then you’ll be able to ensure that information is presented to them in a way that will let them easily make use of it. In turn, this should encourage clients to make informed buying decisions regarding what you have to offer.

The best salespeople seem to be able to do this almost naturally. However, for the more mortal amongst us, it helps to have a framework to use. This is especially powerful when working in teams because it will provide a reference system and a vocabulary we can use to share our thoughts and test them with others. It also helps to build a coherent contact strategy.

There are many tools and methods that are available to help diagnose and define personality types. The majority of these are based on the work of the psychologist Carl Jung. Although Jung’s research was conducted in the first half of the 20th Century, his theories have stood the test of time and are, to this day, widely regarded as being both useful and accurate.

Broadly speaking, Jung’s model shows three dimensions of personality based on: a person’s preference for being with others (Extraversion/Introversion); acquiring information (Sensing/Intuition); and coming to a decision (Thinking/Feeling). Combinations of these preferences lead to 8 possible personality types.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is probably one of the most well-known diagnostic models based on this theory – it is certainly the most rigorously researched and validated. Myers and Briggs added a further dimension based on how people prefer to act on their decisions (Judging/Perceiving). This enhancement therefore creates 16 possible type combinations.

For the salesperson, there are two important aspects embedded in all this theory:

Firstly, how do you recognise the preferences of another person and secondly, how can you use that information to radically improve your win-rate as well as your value to the client?

Although it is beyond the scope of this post to provide the full picture, here are a couple of examples of how this may be achieved:

If you’re meeting with someone who talks about the finer details of their issues then it is likely that they prefer ‘Sensing’ as a way of acquiring information. If, on the other hand, they make leaps of thought or discuss the “bigger picture”, then their preference would appear to be more inclined towards ‘Intuition’. There are a whole host of visual and vocal clues that can quickly help you make an assessment of a buyer’s personality type.

The question of what to do with this information is where the real treasure lies for the sales professional. The key to this question is in the various combinations of buyer personalities.

For example, if you know that someone prefers ‘Intuition’ as a means of acquiring information and ‘Feeling’ as a way of arriving at a decision, then you can reliably infer that they will be seeking to understand the strategic value behind your proposal. Consequently, you should spend less energy on the details of how a solution will be implemented and more energy on how it will impact on people, the business as a whole (especially), and how it will fit with their value system and their customers’ needs.

Similarly, someone who has a preference for a ‘Judging’ style will be more eager to move to closure than someone with a preference for ‘Perceiving’, who will prefer to take time to think about their decisions and reflect. This is crucial information when it comes to deciding how to handle that most delicate part of the sales process, as well as forecasting close dates more accurately to your own manager.

Written by: David Vachell, Managing Director of Coley Learning

In terms of fundamental selling skills, the list could be endless. To just scrape the surface, a great salesperson should be excellent at pitching and persistent in their approach to selling. They should have an advanced array of negotiation skills and closing techniques that enable them to sign off favourable deals in line with their forecasts.

They should also be confident and competent at crucial aspects of the sales process, such as cold calling, objection handling and writing winning sales proposals, while they should have a positive, “get up and go” attitude to selling.

But there’s more to an outstanding salesperson than first meets the eye. What really separates an average salesperson from an extraordinary salesperson is a constellation of attitudes and behaviours that have a considerable impact on an individual’s – and, indeed, an entire selling organisation’s – sales performance.

Here I am going to run through these critical selling attitudes and behaviours that sales managers should look out for when hiring or evaluating the performance and capabilities of individuals within their sales team.

1. Does the salesperson understand the customer?

Having already qualified their prospects, the best salespeople invest a lot of time getting to understand what really drives their potential and existing clients and how they operate. They ask a lot of questions to uncover the specific needs and desires of their prospects. They also ask questions to uncover what the buying organisation is doing well and where there is room for improvement.

By asking these questions, the best salespeople are able to align their solutions with the most important needs and desires of their prospects. They are also able to uncover and anticipate previously unidentified problems which may be crucial to creating new sales opportunities.

While average salespeople are usually aware of who makes decisions in the buying organisation and have an idea of when the next orders will be coming through, the best salespeople are already one step ahead of the game. By taking more time to understand their prospects, the best salespeople know when their customers are ripe to buy. While they are eager to make each deal a success, they strike only when the iron is hot and capitalise on the buyer’s needs, desires and outstanding problems when the timing is most appropriate.

2. Does the salesperson use their knowledge to attract customers?

Outstanding salespeople are experts when it comes to their target marketplace. To customers, they are seen as industry experts. This enables them to forge great relationships with their prospects by taking a common interest in, and acquiring a great knowledge of, the buyer’s environment. In turn, the best salespeople compel their prospects to want to do business with them and nobody else.

While average salespeople spend some time to get to know the products and services in their buyer’s industry, the best salespeople recognise that products and services change. The best salespeople also understand that the needs and desires of their customers change over time.

Through their expert knowledge of the target marketplace, they are able to anticipate these changes and align their selling strategies accordingly. This enables great salespeople to build a strong bond with their customers based on a common industry expertise, an ability to analyse buyer needs, desires and problems, and the capability to align compelling solutions with these issues.

3. Does the salesperson maintain close contact with their customers?

In today’s challenging and complex selling environment, buying decisions are taking longer than ever before. With many industries facing a lack of confidence and cutbacks in spending budgets following the recent financial crisis, the sales process has thus become much more difficult and prolonged in today’s marketplace.

Consequently many salespeople are drifting away from those customers that are taking a long time to make buying decisions. Many salespeople, impatient to make sales and close deals in the short-term, are writing off these customers which seem to be taking forever to make buying decisions.

In contrast, the best salespeople are aware that buyers can be unpredictable, particularly during these unpredictable times. They know that buying decisions are taking longer than ever before. But they also know that writing off a customer simply because of a delayed buying decision could be a huge mistake, potentially resulting in lost sales opportunities and prospects being induced by the competition. As a result, they maintain close contact with all their customers – even those that seem to be taking forever to make a buying decision.

4. Is the salesperson good at networking?

The average salesperson spends a lot of valuable time trying to knock down closed doors in an effort to exploit new business opportunities. They spend a lot of time cold calling and chasing customers with whom they have previously had little contact with. Conseuqently, these salespeople are often perceived as intrusive, turning potential clients away and tarnishing the reputation of the sales organsation.

Although cold calling and new business development remain a crucial aspect of selling, many salespeople fail to have recognised a fundamental shift in the world of selling. They don’t realise that customers are increasingly deterred from invasive sales techniques which indicate that the salesperson is only interested in the sale, rather than satisfying their most pressing needs and desires.

Great salespeople, on the other hand, are aware of this fundamental shift in selling. They understand that their time is often better spent networking with potential clients to create the underlying conditions which will lead to being invited through the door. Rather than attempting to force their way through it and being perceived as invasive, these salespeople are welcomed into the buyer’s office with open arms.

5. Is the salesperson a ‘customer-centric’ consultant?

The best salespeople are highly customer-centric. By this I mean that the most outstanding salespeople have a great ability to make the prospect believe that they are on the same side as the salesperson. These salespeople achieve this by using customer-centric language when talking both to their clients and about their clients to third parties. They subconsciously use terms such as “we” and “us” rather than “they” and “them” to instil greater confidence and comfort in their customers.

By becoming one with the client, these salespeople find themselves in a better position to see things from the client’s perspective. In turn, they find it much easier than the average salesperson to nurture their client relationships while uncovering important needs, desires and previously unidentified problems. This enables the best sales people to open up a wider array of new sales opportunities, while achieving greater success at up-selling and cross-selling to existing clients.

The best salespeople also take a consultative approach to selling. By this I mean that the salesperson takes on the role of a consultant to their clients. They bring their industry expertise and superior knowledge to the table to solve their customer’s most pressing issues.

This creates the underlying conditions which enable the salesperson to subtly align their solutions with the client’s external pressures and internal pains – without being perceived as too pushy or concerned only with making the sale. Instead, great salespeople are seen as a trusted advisor by the client who is there to solve outstanding problems that face the buying organisation. Through consultative selling, these salespeople distinguish themselves from average salespeople and compel clients to want to do business with them on a regular basis.

6. Does the salesperson know when to say ‘no’?

Under many circumstances a sales should simply not be made, no matter how tempting it is to close the deal. After all, if the deal is not in the best interest of the customer it is highly likely that they will experience difficulties in the future that may jeopardise future sales opportunities.

Yet most salespeople are so driven by their targets and commissions that they have conditioned themselves to maximise short-term sales with no afterthought of the long-term implications on both the buying organisation and the selling organisation. When they meet with clients they are so eager to close the sale that they find themselves unable to walk away from deals that are not right for the customer.

On the other hand, great salespeople know when the time is right to walk away from a sale. When they know deep down that their solution is not in the client’s best interest they raise objections and come up with alternative solutions that will more effectively solve the customer’s problems. They know that, further along the line, an honest and consultative approach to selling will lead to a greater number of opportunities with that client in the future, while it will help them maintain their reputation as an industry expert and a valuable asset to buying organisation.

Again, this is all part of being a consultant rather than a traditional salesperson who is hungry to make the sale, no matter what the cost to the client.

7. Does the salesperson have a vision for the future?

Many salespeople are only driven by what’s going on right now. Driven by their sales targets and commissions, many do not stop to think of the potential future implications of their actions. As I mentioned in the previous point, many salespeople are too eager to make immediate sales and find it difficult to walk away from a sale that will later pose a problem to the buying and selling organisations.

A lack of a vision for the future also prohibits many salespeople from recognising what is really happening in the present. Without spending time to think of the future implications of their actions or business trends, they fail to prepare their customers for what’s on the horizon and struggle to cope with change and the unknown. This significantly inhibits their ability to be preceived as an industry expert, consultant and/or a trusted advisor by their customers.

Outstanding salespeople, however, are constantly thinking about the future. Their vision for what lies ahead enhances their ability to be seen as an industry expert, consultant and trusted advisor because it places them in a much greater position to prepare their customers for future events.

By having a vision for the future, great salespeople are also able to adapt their consultative selling approach to cope with any unforeseen events that might have a negative impact on their sales performance. Consequently, these salespeople are able to anticipate and adapt to future selling conditions which, in turn, further contributes towards their outstanding success.

Summary

While it is important that all salespeople are able exhibit their competence in terms of fundamental selling skills, such as closing and negotiating, it is crucial that sales management teams look beyond these sales techniques when hiring new salespeople or evaluating the performance of their current sales force. To ensure that you have the right people on your side, you need to look out for these important selling attitudes and behaviours that truly set master salespeople apart from average salespeople.

By employing and maintaining customer-centric salespeople that are perceived as industry experts, consultants and trusted advisors by their prospects, sales managers can ensure that they get the best out of their sales force on a consistent basis and build up a reputation for the selling organisation that is envied by the competition.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

One thing is for sure, however. The best salespeople are consciously aware of their natural sales personality. On the one hand, they identify aspects of their sales personality that work in certain situations and actively seek to do more of the same under similar conditions. On the other hand, they identify aspects of their sales personality that is limiting their sales performance and actively seek to change their selling approach in these areas.

The best salespeople are also consciously aware of various buying personalities. They prepare for every aspect of the sales process by identifying each prospect’s natural preferences and habits. They then adapt their selling approach to suit each prospect’s personality and increase their chances of closing the sale.

Although it is important for every salesperson to maintain an air of authenticity, a greater awareness of your own (and your prospects’) preferences and habits is crucial to a clearer understanding of “what works” and “what doesn’t work” in certain situations. It will enable you to focus on (and repeat) “what works” and change (or adapt) “what doesn’t work” in certain situations. In turn, a greater awareness of your own sales personality and your prospects’ buying personalities will allow you to adapt your selling approach to suit different situations, enabling you to significantly enhance your sales performance.

Here we take a look at some of the most common sales personality traits to help you identify your own preferences and habits, providing advice on how to turn a greater self-awareness into a better sales performance.

Proactive or Reflective?

A proactive salesperson is typically great at making calls, booking meetings and following up on any agreed actions with buyers. They are known for making things happen without being pushed into action by their peers. They are highly driven to implement their actions and tend to be highly energetic.

Yet proactive salespeople can suffer from a lack of planning and are often accused of taking action before giving things a lot of thought. This can lead to proactive salespeople failing to uncover their prospect’s greatest needs and desires and frustrating prospects that have a preference for planning and a high level of detail.

In contrast, a reflective salesperson is normally great at planning and thinking things through. They take time to carefully consider the right selling approach and any issues that may arise during the sales process. They are also good at gaining a great deal of information through their conversations with prospecting, making it easier to close the sale later along the line.

However, reflective salespeople are often accused of failing to follow up on discussions with prospects. They can spend too much time discussing and over-analysing the “right” selling approach when they should really be taking action to ensure that they meet their sales targets. In turn, reflective salespeople can irritate action-oriented buyers and can be susceptible to missing out on sales opportunities by failing to meet deadlines.

A greater awareness of whether your sales personality leans towards a proactive or reflective approach will enable you to make outstanding changes to your selling approach.

If you see yourself as more of a proactive salesperson you should consciously make an effort to pay greater attention to those parts of the sales process which you tend to rush in certain situations, such as when planning for a sales meeting or writing a sales proposal. When selling to a reflective prospect, this is particularly important as they will most likely feel uncomfortable and become frustrated if you try to rush them through the sales process.

Likewise, if you see yourself as more of a reflective salesperson you should make a conscious effort to be a little more proactive in certain situations. To avoid frustrating action-oriented buyers and missing time bound deadlines, you should be more willing to make decisions without thorough preparation beforehand.

Visionary or Analytical?

A visionary salesperson likes to look at the “bigger picture”. Similarly to proactive salespeople, visionaries prefer to summarise rather than pay a high level of attention to detail. They tend to be good at putting things into perspective and interconnecting aspects of a sale to provide the prospect with a compelling overview of their solutions or proposals.

But looking at the “bigger picture” can also prove to be the downfall of many visionary salespeople. When dealing with prospects that prefer a high level of detail, visionary salespeople tend to be seen as lacking attention as they can neglect to mention crucial details in their sales proposals and conversations with buyers.

In comparison, analytical salespeople prefer to pay a high level of attention to detail. They feel more comfortable when they know all the facts and other information that might be required during the sales process. This high attention to detail can provide for a more comprehensive and complete approach to selling and is likely to be highly effective when dealing with like-minded prospects.

However, analytical salespeople can fall into the trap of paying too much attention to details that are unimportant and may focus on the wrong information. When dealing with visionary buyers that prefer scope to depth, this high attention to detail can irritate “bigger picture” prospects who have little time to comb over the finer details.

If you see yourself as a “bigger picture” salesperson you must keep in mind that analytically-minded prospects need more information if you are going to compel them to buy. When selling to analytical prospects you should think about which aspects of your sales process would benefit from a greater deal of information. Sales proposals and sales presentations often benefit from a higher attention to detail when dealing with analytical prospects. During sales presentations, you should use handouts to provide prospects with additional information. This will allow you to present the “bigger picture” to your audience while, at the same time, facilitating the comforts of analytical prospects with calculations and finer details in the handout.

If you see yourself as an analytical sales person you should make an effort to focus more attention on the most important details during the sales process. When selling to prospects that prefer the “bigger picture” you should try to summarise messages in your sales proposals and sales presentations. Think about including diagrams that help you articulate complex ideas on just the one page or slide to maintain the attention of visionary prospects.

Driven By Desires or Fears?

Most salespeople can be distinguished between those that are motivated towards their desires and those that are motivated away from their fears. On the one hand, those motivated towards their desires tend to position their actions in terms of compelling objectives that can be achieved. On the other hand, those motivated away from their fears tend to position their actions in terms of problems that can be avoided.

Salespeople who are motivated towards their desires usually set themselves goals around their ambitions and seek desirable outcomes rather than avoiding problems. This may be great when dealing with like-minded prospects who are also driven by their desires. However, these salespeople often fail to see the potential dangers that ought to be avoided. By chasing their dreams they neglect these dangers and encounter problems which they have not prepared for later on in the sales process.

In contrast, salespeople who are motivated away from their fears are determined to avoid problems and the negative implications that may result. In doing so, they tend to be better at forseeing problems that may arise during the sales process and are relatively successful at avoiding them. However, an overriding focus on fear means they often lack clear and compelling goals in terms of each sale and their career. Furthermore, they tend to be perceived as too negative by buyers who are motivated towards their desires.

If you are motivated towards your desires, you need to take a step back and take greater care to think about the potential problems that must be avoided to successfully close each sale. This is particularly the case when dealing with buyers who are driven by their fears. These buyers will feel uncomfortable if you neglect to raise concerns about potential pitfalls, potentially hindering your success in such an environment.

On the other hand, if you are motivated away from your fears, you should take a step back and start thinking instead about the compelling objectives that motivate you and your prospects. When dealing with prospects who are driven by their ambitions and desires, you need to ensure that milestones and objectives are predominantly expressed in terms of strategic desires to avoid being perceived as too negative.

Summary

The best salespeople are consciously aware of their own sales personality. They are conscious of their natural preferences and habits that affect the way they sell and, with this clear understanding, they actively repeat the positive aspects of their personality that work in certain situations while actively seeking to change the negative preferences and habits which do not work under certain circumstances.

The best salespeople are also highly adaptable. Having established a clear understanding of their own sales personality, they seek to identify their prospect’s preferences and habits from the moment of their first conversations. They then adapt their selling style to suit the personalities of their prospects to increase their chances of making successful sales.

Although the above observations are somewhat generalised and, in reality, there is a vast range of sales personalities, a greater awareness of theese selling and buying preferences and habits will make it easier for you to adapt your selling approach on a deal-by-deal basis to suit certain circumstances and will dramatically enhance your sales performance.

Although the above observations of differing sales personalities are generalisations, an awareness of these preferences and habits in yourself and in your prospects will enable you to appropriately shift your selling approach on a deal-by-deal basis and will dramatically enhance your sales performance.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

Sales proposals are therefore a critical component of the sales process that every B2B sales person should master if they want to increase sales and hit their targets.

But why do so many sales proposals fail to captivate the interest of senior decision makers?

Here we outline some of the key reasons why sales proposals fail and what you can do to ensure that you don’t fall into similar traps when preparing your own proposals.

1. The sales proposal is too long

Sales proposals often fail to make the right impression because they are too long. This has the effect of diluting the powerful messages within the proposal or losing sight of the buyer’s needs and desires. If a sales proposal is deemed to be too long, there is a good chance that it will end up being tossed aside before the buyer has even had time to finish reading it.

With sales proposals, less is often more. In today’s marketplace, senior decision makers are pressed for time so try to keep your sales proposals short. Try to keep the proposal to a maximum of one side of A4 paper. If selling a complex solution and you need to go over this limit, make sure you include an executive summary for the buyer and be sure to get all of your key points across on the first page.

2. The sales proposal is too cautious

Sales proposals often fail to impress because they are too cautious in their approach. Sales proposals that use cautious words such as “possibly” and “might” tell the buyer that you’re not entirely confident that your solution will satisfy the buyer’s needs. This can result in the messages of the proposal creating fear, doubt and uncertainty.

Overly cautious sales proposals can even suggest that you are frightened of legal action if you let the buyer down. This is a big put off because it creates the impression that you are unwilling to make a firm commitment to fulfilling the buyer’s needs.

By using more assertive words in your sales proposals, you will provide senior decision makers with greater assurance that you will satisfy their demands and fulfil your commitments as outlined in the proposal. Your proposal will be viewed as more credible and will be more likely to create interest and a sense of urgency on the buyer’s behalf.

3. The sales proposal is overconfident and reckless

On the other side of the spectrum, sales proposals frequently deter senior buyers because they use over-confident and reckless words. Some proposals make outrageous claims such as “100 percent guaranteed” or being the “perfect” solution to the buyer’s needs.

Although confidence can be a good thing, unreasonable and unrealistic assertions may create the impression that you are either naive or trying to mislead the buyer. Overconfident and reckless words may also give the impression that you are desperate and care only about making the sale. If your sales proposal creates the impression that you are naive, misleading, or desperate, you can be assured that the sale will grind to a halt.

It is important that your sales proposal achieves a ‘middle ground’ between being too cautious and being too overconfident. While sales proposals should be assertive to provide buyer’s with greater assurance of your capabilities, this is not to say that you are entitled to make overconfident and reckless claims. Be assertive but also be measured and confident that you can follow up on any commitments that you make in the sales proposal.

4. The sales proposal is full of unnecessary detail

Many sales proposals fail because they are full of unnecessary statements that should have been covered earlier in the sales process. Proposals that talk up the wonderful features of your products and how wonderful your company is, for instance, are most likely a waste of time since the buyer should already be well aware of these details by now. Buyers are also put off by sales proposals which make generic statements such as “We’d be delighted to work with you”. This is needless and tends to lengthen what ought to be a short and refined letter.

To make a better impression, make sure that your sales proposal is succinct and not overcomplicated. Do not go into detail about your products or your company. To create interest, your sales proposal should immediately discuss the imminent external pressures and challenges facing the buyer and the internal improvements the buyer needs to achieve in order to overcome these pressures and challenges.

Once this is done, you should discuss exactly how your solution aligns to these improvements and the buyer’s needs. Remember, the products and services by themselves don’t offer the buyer benefits – it’s the solution as a whole that should offer real value.

5. The sales proposal is too late

Perhaps the most criminal error, a late sales proposal is guaranteed to create a bad impression. This is especially the case if you have no existing relationship with the potential client.

A late sales proposal will lead the buyer to question your time management skills which will, in turn, cast doubt on your ability to fulfil future commitments. Handing in a late sales proposal also exposes you to the risk that the buyer will have already received proposals from competitors. If the buyer has already read, and is interested in, the sales proposal of a competitor, he or she might not even spend time to open, let alone read, your sales proposal.

To avoid this trap, get a grip on your time management skills and make sure that you provide the buyer with a sales proposal within two days to a week of your initial meeting. Whether you should wait two days or a week to hand in the sales proposal really depends on the complexity of the solution you are offering. The more simple the solution, the less time-consuming the sales proposal should be and the sooner you should send it to the buyer.

6. The sales proposal offers little value

Countless sales proposals are rejected because they offer no obvious value to the buyer. Often, the salesperson has neglected to include clear calculations in terms of the buyer’s return on investment, leaving it up to the buyer to figure out the potential value and return offered by your proposal.

Given the busy schedules and time constraints faced by most senior buyers in today’s environment, many will simply disregard a sales proposal that requires the buying organisation to work out the value and return on offer. It will be seen as an additional cost that is not worth pursuing.

To offer the buyer real value in your sales proposal, you need to include a tangible value proposition with a clear indication of the return on investment that your solution will deliver.

Having already discussed the external pressures and challenges facing the buyer, you need to include the financial implications that will be experienced if these pressures and challengers are not addressed. This should be followed up with the positive performance and financial improvements offered by your solution that satisfies the buyer’s needs.

Finally, you should take time to describe the value-added capabilities that your company will provide which separate you from your competition. Make sure that the value offered by your solution is at least three times its overall cost – this is the sort of return on investment buyers are looking out for in today’s tough marketplace. Ideally, you should also include a payback period indicating the time it will take take for the buyer to recoup the costs of buying the solution.

By including a tangible value proposition with a clear indication of the buyer’s return on investment, the value-added capabilities offered by your compnay, and the payback your solution will deliver, you can be sure that your sales proposal will stand out from the crowd and create both interest and urgency on the buyer’s behalf to move on to the next stage of the sale.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

Here are six quick tips on how you can improve your negotiation skills through effective planning and preparation.

1. Set your objectives and an agenda

You must have a negotiation strategy in place with set objectives for every aspect of the negotiation. This is a crucial part of planning for negotiations and can either make or break an effective negotiation. By clearly defining your objectives you will be more focused and confident of achieving favourable terms at the end of the meeting.

Your negotiation strategy should also include a detailed agenda for every aspect of the negotiation. This should be a strategic plan that is designed to ensure that you raise each of your key points and objectives during the meeting. Try to designate timescales to each key point and be ready to adapt to the client’s reaction at each stage.

Remember, many negotiations break down and result in lost sales due to poor time management and a failure to resolve outstanding issues. By spending your time on each key point efficiently you can ensure that you get all of your points and objectives across during the negotiation.

2. Pick the right environment

The right environment can have a big impact upon the success of a negotiation. If you have a choice you should ensure that the environment is practical and professional for the specific negotiation. If the negotiations are taking place at your office, ensure that the layout and any necessary equipment are professionally organised.

It may be worthwhile holding the negotiations at a third-party location. This might be more appropriate and can create the right psychological environment for the buyer by providing a sense of neutrality. Remember, the setting can influence the negotiation process by either creating a hostile or a relaxed atmosphere.

Also, make sure that you have the right documents and tools at hand that will help make the negotiation a smoother process. With the right setting and the right tools you will be better equipped to focus on your negotiation skills and achieve a win win situation at the end of the meeting.

3. Prepare an opening speech

Many salespeople will be averse to this concept and see an ‘opening speech’ as unnecessary. After all, the stereotypical salesperson is a great conversationalist and is known for having the ‘gift of the gab’. But, for many, preparing an opening speech will save a lot of embarrassment and will dramatically increase their chances of success.

Preparing an opening speech will prevent you from faltering and hesitating in the critical early stages of the negotiation. A faltering and hesitant dialogue can kill your hopes of negotiating a favourable deal because it provides the buyer with an advantage and confidence. Preparing an opening speech is therefore crucial to your success in negotiations and your abilitiy to close more sales.

Your opening speech should demonstrate a clear understanding of the client’s world. This will enable you to sell your own position in the context of what drives your client later in the negotiation. It should set the stage for agreeing the external and internal pressures which face the client before aligning these pressures with the client’s needs and your own desired outcome later on in the meeting.

4. Be aware of the buyer’s (and your own) authority

It is critical that you are aware of the buyer’s authority before you commence negotiations. If it emerges that the buyer has no authority to make buying decisions then you will have wasted precious time talking to somebody who is in no position to negotiate or sign the contract. If it only emerges that the buyer has no authority during the meeting then you should immediately ask to see somebody who does have the authority, unless there is key information that can still be obtained that will usher the success of later negotiations.

It is also important to be aware of your own authority in advance of the meeting. Knowledge of your own pricing authority is crucial as it will make you clear on just how flexible you can be during the negotiation process. This knowledge will not only prevent you from dissatisfying employers but will provide you with greater confidence and self-assurance of you capabilities throughout negotiations.

5. Be prepared to walk away

Although walking away from negotiations empty handed will either stall the sales process or result in a lost sale, a willingness to exit negotiations is another crucial aspect of your preparation. If you are not prepared to walk away from a negotiation you will be in grave danger of conceding too much.

A willingness to walk away is also critical from a psychological point of view. After all, if you are not prepared to walk away you will be resigning yourself to negotiating a deal that is unfavourable from your own perspective.

As mentioned above, you should be prepared to walk away if your client has no buying authority. You should also be prepared to walk away if the buyer makes unreasonable demands which are beyond your capabilities. After all, effective negotiations are a two-way process that should not be entirely buyer-oriented.

6. Know your prospect

One of the most important parts of preparing for a negotiation is getting to know your prospect inside out. Make sure you are well aware of the client’s world before your step into the negotiation room. Understand their business, their key performance indicators, their external pressures, their internal pains, and their main competitors.

By acquiring a great understanding of your client’s world you will be able to anticipate how your client will respond to your actions. You will be prepared to adapt to changes during the negotiation process and any buyer objections that the client might throw at you.

Most importantly, you will be able to create urgency for your product during the negotiation by aligning the client’s external pressures and internal pains with the features and advantages of your solution. In turn, knowing your prospect well will ensure that your are able to win deals on much more favourable terms. It will transform your negotiation skills and significantly contribute toward your success.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

Salespeople are responsible and accountable for hitting their numbers and maintaining client satisfaction. Yet research suggests that only 23% of sales strategies grant their sales force full pricing authority. In comparison, 29% of sales strategies give low pricing authority while 48% grant limited pricing authority to their people.

But how can salespeople meet their expectations if so few have full authority to make pricing decisions?

Arguments For Full Pricing Authority

Supporters of a sales strategy that delegates pricing authority argue that salespeople are in a better position to negotiate prices than their superiors. This is because salespeople have a superior knowledge of local market conditions, the client’s needs and desires, and the client’s willingness to pay.

Provided that incentives are properly aligned (i.e. commissions are based on gross profit margins and not sales), it is argued that delegating pricing authority should therefore allow for the optimal customisation of price. In turn, granting pricing authority to the sales force should allow selling organisations to close more deals and realise greater profits.

Arguments Against Full Pricing Authority

Despite these claims, however, evidence suggests that firms with sales strategies that give the least pricing authority actually generate the highest profits.

Limiting pricing authority can increase profits because it provides the sales force with encouragement to target high value clients. Furthermore, it prevents risk-averse salespeople from pricing their products or solutions at a suboptimal level.

Limiting price authority also tends to lead to a more optimal trade-off between price and effort. When granted a high level of pricing authority is part of a firm’s sales strategy, evidence suggests that salespeople show less resistance to customer’s price objections. Salespeople with full pricing authority are therefore more likely to discount prices rather than put effort into achieving high-value sales.

Conclusion

It is clear that there are both valid arguments for and against adopting a sales strategy that grants the sales force full pricing authority.

On the one hand, many claim that delegating pricing authority leads to the optimal customisation of prices and increased profitability as local salespeople are in a better position than their superiors.

On the other hand, it is claimed that delegating price authority comes at great costs, in terms of lower value clients, incentives to lower pricing and less resistance to price objections.

As is often the case, there appears to be no ‘one size fits all’ solution to the puzzle of pricing authority delegation that haunts many sales managers. Where local salespeople are better informed than their centralised superiors and it is costly to monitor the efforts of salespeople, it is likely that a high level pricing authority strategy is most appropriate. Where local salespeople are less informed, more risk averse or lack incentives, however, it is likely that a limited pricing authority strategy will be most appropriate.

But it is also important to take other factors into consideration. If sales managers find it difficult to align the incentives of their people with that of the firm, it is usually best to adopt a sales strategy with limited pricing authority. This will deter sales people from offering low prices and targeting low-value customers, while it will encourage them to challenge price objections.

If sales managers find it difficult to monitor the efforts of their salespeople and the market faces a high level of uncertainty, it is often best to grant a high level of pricing authority. This is because providing the sales force with higher pricing authority will reduce the firm’s costs of gathering information and minimise the costs associated with information inefficiencies (such as information leakages).

If sales managers are to provide their sales force with full pricing authority, however, it is important that they provide their people with an appropriate level of commission to drive the right behaviour. This is necessary to motivate the sales force to target higher value clients and expend a greater amount of effort into each sale. By properly aligning the incentives of their people with those of the firm, sales managers will be more likely to maximise profits under a pricing strategy that delegates full authority to the sales force.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

By acting like a consultant rather than your stereotypical salesperson, consultative selling enables sales professionals to create long-term relationships with customers which are based on trust. This adds significant value to each and every sale, making customers all the more likely to buy from you instead of a competitor.

Here are 4 quick sales tips that will enable you to master consultative selling:

Tip 1: Be a Problem-Solver:

Consultative selling requires salespeople to approach selling in the same way that they would to solving a problem. They need to treat any customer pain, need or desire as a problem that is there to be solved.

Here a commanding knowledge of your own company’s capabilities is necessary to align the customer’s problems with the right product or service. However, it is important for salespeople to open discussions around the customer’s pressures, pains and desires before aligning them with the product/service’s features, advantages and benefits. To become a problem-solver, salespeople need to qualify with their customers that the problem exists and can be solved before pitching their solutions.

Tip 2: Become a Trusted Advisor:

When consultative selling, moving the discussion from the customer’s problems to their desires will transform the salesperson’s relationship with customers. By applying a consultative selling technique, the salesperson will be perceived as a trusted advisor by the customer.

By acting like a problem-solving consultant, consultative selling can transform the buyer/seller relationship into a novice/trusted advisor relationship.

Tip 3: Probe with Open Questions:

To truly master consultative selling, salespeople need to be great at asking the right questions about their customer’s pressures, problems and desires for improvement. By asking open-ended questions (i.e. who, what, where, why, when…), salespeople can probe their customer’s deepest motives, feelings and attitudes towards the solution.

By probing the customer’s pressures, the implications of failing to respond to these pressures (the potential pain), and the customer’s desire for improvement, the customer’s needs can be shaped and urgency can be created.

Consultative selling through asking open-ended questions enhances the salesperson’s understanding of the buyer’s situation. This makes them better equipped to qualify sales opportunities and align the buyer’s pains and desires with the solutions they sell, thus giving the customer confidence in the salesperson’s recommendations.

Tip 4: Give the Customer Added Value:

As part of the final step to mastering consultative selling, salespeople must learn to create added value for their customers. Here salespeople need to enhance the value that their solution will give the customer in order to differentiate their offer from that of the competition.

Added value comprises the tangible advantages and benefits that your company offers over and above the product or service that it is proposing. This may be a ‘right-first-time’ delivery guarantee that you know is better than that of the competition, or a managed implementation service that you can deliver across the region.

Each ‘value-added offer’ must be specific to the selling organisation’s capabilities and will increase the value of the overall solution to the client so long as it has been aligned directly to their most pressing need. When aligned directly to this need, added value will not only enable you to differentiate your offer from competitors, but will actually allow you to charge a premium. You will be able to not only increase your chances of winning deals but you will also find it much easier to up-sell or cross-sell during the meeting!

Summary

To summarise, consultative selling enables salespeople to gain a clearer understanding of the customer’s world. By achieving a clearer understanding of the customer’s most pressing needs and desires, salespeople are able to play the role of a consultant who aligns their solutions with their customer’s problems. By implementing an effective consultative selling methodology, you will be able to determine you customer’s most pressing pains and desires and respond accordingly.

Click here for a more in-depth Guide to Consultative Selling or, what we call, Selling from the Left®.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

Before the financial crisis, many salespeople came to resemble ‘order takers’ rather than hardened sales professionals. They could get away with basic selling skills and there was little need to create value for clients. For many, business was plentiful and the economy was enjoying steady growth. Even when business was lost to competitors, there was enough demand to replace it. An excellent set of selling skills was not needed to hit sales targets and meet sales forecasts.

Many sales management teams therefore dismissed the idea of formalised sales training. To many sales managers and sales directors, sales training was seen as an unnecessary investment as their sales teams consistently smashed targets in line with their forecasts.

Selling is much harder in today’s marketplace

Today the landscape has changed. Both the public and private sectors are cutting back on spending and competition for business has become much more aggressive. Buying decisions have become polarised. Buyers are either making purchases based on price or deals are being viewed far more strategically and at a much more senior level.

This makes the sales professional’s role more challenging in today’s climate. To win business and hit sales targets, salespeople need to work much harder. They need to sell more proactively and at a more senior level while offering real business value to clients. Gone are the days that salespeople can simply sit back and watch the orders come in. They now have to fight for both existing and new business, adopting successful selling skills and sales techniques in the process.

A change in thinking towards sales training

This tough environment has encouraged many sales management teams to change their philosophy towards sales training. The heightened requirements for successful selling skills in today’s marketplace means that many sales managers and sales directors are now considering the implementation of a formalised sales training programme for their people.

While successful sales techniques may be developed through years of personal experience, today’s challenging environment requires that selling skills are acquired at a much quicker pace. Effective sales techniques, such as consultative selling, are only developed and cultivated after many years of experience and meetings with senior clients. But a formalised sales training initiative provides salespeople with immediate knowledge and insight of successful selling skills from the very first day of training.

Companies are beginning to realise that, in today’s competitive environment, their salespeople need to quickly learn these selling skills and this involves rolling out a successful sales training programme that immediately embeds the required sales techniques in their people.

Realisation of the benefits of sales training has been fuelled by increasing levels of competition. Today a much greater number of salespeople have received sales training and this means that companies must follow suit if they are to keep up with the competition.

Traditional sales training approaches no longer work

Companies are also learning that traditional approaches to sales training no longer work. Sales managers are recognising that they cannot adequately train their new people by getting them to shadow more experienced salespeople. This informal approach lacks the structure of a formalised sales training initiative. It throws people in at the deep end before they can swim.

From our experience, work shadowing is far more effective if the new sales person has already acquired sales training. This enables them to develop their newly acquired selling skills in a more confident and self-assured manner.

While in the past sales management teams could rely on their salespeople acquiring successful selling skills through personal experience and work shadowing, the new world of selling requires a more strategic approach to sales training.

Polarised buying decisions and fierce competition mean that successful selling skills must be learned much more quickly and efficiently than was once the case. To quickly embed these skills there is no better option than a formalised sales training programme that coaches, accredits and assesses people towards being more competent sales professionals.

Online sales training – a cost-effective alternative

But many companies cannot afford to roll out a formalised sales training programme. Some don’t have the budget to invest in a structured sales training initiative, while some fear that taking their people off the road will jeopardise sales revenues.

For these companies sales training is much easier and more accessible than it may seem. Online sales training programmes are now available, such as Black Belt Selling, that teach all of the selling skills required for today’s marketplace. They are a low budget solution for companies that need to quickly train their salespeople. Furthermore, they offer salespeople the opportunity to learn the sales techniques in ther own time and at their own pace.

By putting their people through an online sales training programme, companies need not spend huge amounts of their budget or take their people off the road for a substantial amount of time. Online sales training offers a quick and cost-effective solution to enhancing the selling skills and performance of both individual salespeople and entire sales teams.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase