The Law of Paradoxical Intent A favorite sales tactic of many of my clients, is the anti-suggestion. The basis for this sales tactic is the Law of Paradoxical Intent: If you’re desperate to make something happen, and you try to control events and people, you push away the very people you want to influence and you prevent the desired outcome. Role Reversal The term “anti-suggestion” … Read more
Zombies are terrifying because they can’t die, they don’t know they’re a problem, and they can take you down with them. A zombie sales deal might not be quite as scary, but having too many of them on your forecast and on your mind can hurt both you and your company. What do I mean by a zombie sales deal? A deal that you haven’t closed, … Read more
Uncover the Budget Traditional consultative selling methodologies implore salespeople to ask, “Do you have a budget set aside for this project?” Imagine a poker game in which one of the players asks another, “Can I see your cards for a quick second?” This question almost never gets the desired response. In the real world when sellers ask buyers about their budget, it undercuts trust and … Read more
As a Key Account Manager, you have a leadership responsibility. You are the leader of a cross-functional sales team. While account plans are OFTEN created ONLY for the sake of compliance, account planning is a process you, as a leader, use to: 1. Engage and involve everyone who touches the customer – on-site consultants, S.E., customer support, etc. 2. Empower every member of the cross-functional … Read more
As I progressed in my sales career, a successful colleague pointed out that when I was pursuing large opportunities or managing key accounts, I was no longer a lone wolf. At her suggestion, I sought out a service support specialist who had regular after-the-sale contact with my client. She knew more about the customer than I did and had clear ideas about how we could grow … Read more
The first televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon in 1960 revealed an important insight into the criticality of non-verbal communication. People who watched the debate on television thought Kennedy won the debate decisively. People who heard the debate on the radio, by contrast, thought Nixon won—by an even wider margin. In all acts of persuasion, style trumps substance. By style … Read more
The heart of consultative selling is dispassionate diagnosis. How the Diagnostic Step Goes Wrong In my role as sales coach, I listen to thousands of hours of recorded sales calls which I use like game film in sports. I hear salespeople with all levels of consultative sales. Amateur salespeople try to control when they pitch and use hard closes. They try to control situations and people, … Read more
In 2010, Washington Redskins’ two-time All-Pro defensive linebacker Albert Haynesworth was suspended without pay because according to head coach Mike Shanahan he would simply not cooperate with the team’s coaching staff. The crux of the problem was that the Redskins switched from a 4-3 defense (within which Haynesworth had excelled for his entire career), to a 3-4 defense (within which he felt constrained to … Read more
Activity Matters Activity is really just about how a person spends time. A recipe for optimizing sales activity is: Set a clear goal – For example $1M in revenue in the next 90 days. Identify the four top high payoff activities required to achieve the goal. Examples include, prospecting calls that lead to discovery meetings that lead to Mutual Action Plans that lead to revenue. … Read more
Beliefs Matter Most of us are familiar with the old saying: “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Most of us have probably said it ourselves. And meant it. Unfortunately, it isn’t mostly true. It may actually be more accurate to say, “I’ll see it when I believe it.” What we believe matters. The fact is that in the matter of individual experience perception really … Read more