BANT = BUNK? A Zen Koan is a riddle that Buddhist monks use to open their minds. Here’s a sales Koan: The B in BANT does not matter. Most sales processes qualify based on the buyer’s budget. After all, we do not want to put tons of time into an opportunity only to find out there’s no money, honey. What’s wrong with asking about the … Read more
We call it cold calling for a reason, as salespeople understand the importance of a live conversation. However, email does play a role in sales prospecting and can support your efforts to have a prospect engaged in a sales conversation. Here is an example of a good use of email in prospecting. Email #1 – follow up to a phone call in which the buyer … Read more
In A Proactive Sales Leader Knows How to Increase Sales I provide a sequenced checklist of recommended activities for a new Sales VP who is taking on leadership of a new sales team. This is the equivalent of what a new coach might do when she takes over a new team. In this sales leadership tip, we’ll go into more detail on the first step … Read more
Creating change in a sales organization requires a sales leader to utilize sales methodology training. Change is hard because most people take the path of least resistance and gravitate toward old habits. Leading a sales team starts with putting your sales playbook in place. If your new sales methodology makes their job easier, the sales team will use it. If it makes their job harder, … Read more
#1 – Prospect to Power Establishing Value on Major Opportunities Opportunity X-Ray The Perfect Discovery Call Checklist #2 – Understand customer problem & impact The Need Diagnostic: How Buyers Decide Brain Science and Decision Making: How Buyers Decide in B2B Sales Dispassionate Diagnosis: The Key to Consultative Selling The B2B Elements of Value Co-Create the Solution with the Buyer The Perfect Discovery Call Checklist #3 … Read more
It takes months to build quality pipeline. You can destroy a deal in a minute. When sales leadership focuses on late stage deals it leads to inconsistent revenue flow. Here’s a piece I wrote that applies: Proactive vs. Reactive Sales Management This may make the point even better.
Being a sales voyeur again I was sitting in a staff meeting with a client in which – the President and Sales VP’s were discussing negotiating, discounting and holding the line on price. One sales manager said, “If we can prove technical superiority, then I can discount less. But if I can’t prove product superiority you can’t expect me to hold the line on price!” … Read more
While I have heard various versions of what the acronym SMART stands for… Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timeframe …it never includes “Emotional Basis” Why we need emotion Our brains prefer the path of least resistance. Under duress, we revert to habit because the neural pathway is well worn and is, therefore, the path of least resistance. The brain is malleable, but neurons that have fired … Read more
We naturally focus on facts, not emotions It is natural to use facts and figures to convince prospects to buy. But stories make communication more effective. Ground-breaking work done at Princeton University by Associate Professor of Psychology, Dr. Uri Hasson, Ph.D. has shown that the brain of an individual listening to a story synchronizes with the brain of the individual telling a story. Use Stories … Read more
Sage advice from Simon Scaife of Synopsys to his sales team on 2-5-2019 “Know what you are going to say, before you say it, and say it with conviction.”