Do you understand FOFIP? A common sales strategy these days is to use FOMO (fear of missing out) as a catalyst to make something happen. What we don’t often talk about is FOFIP (fear of failing in public). People are more afraid of failing than they are of spiders. In fact, fear of failure is the number one reason people don’t try new things. This … Read more
Pain Drives Sales We’ve all heard the advice to focus on a customer’s pain points, but I recently had an experience that drove the point home for me. I was in a Pilates class and realized that everyone in the class, including the instructor, had started Pilates to recover from an injury. I had been hearing about the value of Pilates for years, but like … Read more
Avoid Sales Obstacles with a Mutual Agenda When you demonstrate that your goal for the conversation is to truly understand their needs, they understand why you are asking questions, and are glad to answer them. The context controls the outcome. A Mutual Agenda results in a better conversation for both parties, because: In any given sales interaction, left to chance, the probability that the buyer’s … Read more
The Most Powerful Sales Questions The best type of sales questions? The answer might surprise you! Open ended? Closed ended? Interrogative led? Challenging? In The Surprising Power of Questions, Harvard Business Review May-June 2018, Alison Wood Brooks and Leslie John, provide an answer that agrees with my own observation of sales game film. The Best Type of Question? (Drum Roll Please!) Brooks and John conclude … Read more
Why Sales Leaders Must Focus on Beliefs to Transform Sales Behavior I just began work with a new client whose baseline call recordings showed their talk ratios on initial sales calls with buyers were: Sales team 90% Buyers 10% The Sales VP reported that his initial use of a Mutual Agenda led to a conversation in which the buyer willingly opened up and shared their … Read more
Why Intent Matters People don’t argue with their own ideas. When you hear an indication of need on a discovery call, follow their thought. Two ways to follow their thought are: “Tell me more.” “Is there more I should understand?” Call recordings show both approaches work. But not equally. “Tell me more.” is a command. A command may work in face-to-face selling because people fear … Read more
The Enlightened Customer Success Manager Koan = A paradox used in Zen Buddhism, usually a short statement or story that causes the hearer to take pause in order to develop enlightenment. CSM Koan= Assurances made by customer success managers reduce customer satisfaction. Has this given you pause? Let me explain. As I review CSM call recordings, there are CSM’s who make frequent assurances, such as: … Read more
Money and Power: How to Get to the Decision Maker I have discussed previously why co-building the business case is important in its own right. In addition, it opens the door to power. Power = person who makes the financial decision and controls the purse strings. Junior and/or technical people are often uncomfortable or unable to talk about money. You can use this to your … Read more
Sales Lessons from a Heisman Winner In his Heisman acceptance speech Caleb Williams said, “Don’t get bored with consistency.” His insight is valuable for sales performance. Most people tell me that it is not possible to have your questions for a sales call prepared in advance. While it’s true that no plan survives first contact with reality, it is not true that you should improvise … Read more
You Can’t Win a Conversation High pressure selling and arguing with a buyer’s objections will push them in the opposite direction and eliminate trust. Avoid whack-a-mole objection handling. Whacked buyers may stop voicing their concerns. That doesn’t mean the concern is resolved. Instead, stay left by validating their concerns and work to understand the reasoning behind the objections. When the buyer feels heard, you can … Read more