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
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
USI versus Salesforce: A Strategic Marketing Lesson I worked with the sales teams of both USI and Salesforce in their early days. One flopped and one skyrocketed. The difference is that USI tried to broadly sell software as a service to everyone. They did not focus on a single application. They did not focus on a specific market. Salesforce did what Geoffrey Moore recommended. They … Read more
4 Rules of Price Concessions When a buyer puts pressure on a seller, the seller’s natural reaction is to start offering concessions. Yet if a seller gives big discounts quickly, they degrade themselves and diminish their offering in the eyes of the buyer. Before giving any concessions, savvy sales negotiators will deploy the mobile defense plan to politely, but firmly, stand behind the price. If … Read more
The Road to Sales Mastery In one of my recent Software Sales Bootcamps, one of my students mentioned that his CEO had been through one of my bootcamps and was using the techniques he learned on sales calls and it wasn’t always smooth and natural. My question to him was, “What makes you skeptical? Is it because his technique is not working?” The student said, … Read more