Archive for category: Improving win and retention rates

We spoke with a customer who did not to choose our client’s solution following an extensive evaluation. The main reason for this loss was that the customer had no confidence in our client’s ability to deliver a solution based on the fact that the client did not fully understand its customer’s business needs. This was represented by the ratings for sales performance, solution features, and company drivers.

One of the reasons that our client did not adequately understand the customer’s business needs was that the sales team didn’t take the time to ask the right questions. This was evidenced by the client presentation and the shallow responses to customer questions when asked about solution capabilities. Our client’s implementation plan was also questioned as being “really quick” compared to other vendors, another indication of our client’s lack of understanding of the customer’s business needs.

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In order to think like the customer, salespeople need to talk less about product features and talk more about real life situations to which customers can relate. In CustomerCentric Selling, we call this a usage scenario. Usage scenarios work when selling any product or service to any business or consumer. Over the years, we’ve worked with a wide range of companies in a variety of industries spanning the gamut from retail banks and companies offering credit card sales to merchants, overnight delivery services, and temporary housing providers.

All benefited from this approach, even in cases where the offering was just one in a crowded field of entries. In fact, our experience suggests that in situations where the offering is perceived as a commodity – that is, interchangeable with the competition – the most powerful differentiator is the buyer’s conversation with the salesperson.

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Many people have unusual thoughts about selling. I wanted to share two strange views people have shared with me:

1. One person’s definition of selling was: “Saying yes to buyers until you have to say no.”

2. Another offered the advice: “Never confuse the sell with the install.”

The message from both was the same and reflects a belief that sellers should say whatever is necessary to get the business and sort things out after getting the order. Certainly following this approach doesn’t make a positive buying experience a likely outcome.

In my experience, there are times when by saying “no” sellers can establish credibility with buyers. In some cases, they can improve their relationship. I wanted to share some examples.

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As sellers become competent they start to recognize the difference between sales activity and progress. When first going on quota virtually every seller is busy. Many are overwhelmed as they try to perform activities they’ve never done before. Over time most sellers start to understand what activities move opportunities forward. This understanding allows them to be productively busy. Competent sellers recognize buyers that will just waste their time, situations with low probabilities of success, situations where they can’t gain access to decision makers, etc.

In my experience writing proposals Read more →