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A Reactive and Bad Way to Deal with Objections (#video)1

By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca

There are times when an objection is not what it seems, but by treating it as an objection we could inadvertently create a scenario and situation that is risky when it didn’t have to be. Often, prospects’ questions at critical points in the sale sound like objections, when they are just the buyer thinking out loud.

Sellers need to slow down, step back assess, then deal with the situation, statement in a way appropriate for that situation.

Take a look at what I mean. Then download the Objection Handling Handbook.

What’s in Your Pipeline
Tibor Shanto

An Empty Wagon – Sales eXchange 1943

By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca

We have all heard the expression that an empty wagon makes the most noise, no doubt from an older relative trying to tell us that that we were talking a lot, saying very little of substance, worth hearing, or had as near the level of impact as the noise we were making saying it. Well, I can tell you that there are a lot of empty wagons when it comes to sales and sellers, usually in lack of substance or delivering on the hype.

You see this when sellers embrace half of an idea, usually the easy half, but fail to follow through on the entire concept and end up making a lot of noise as a result. Specifically in the early stages of the sale, when they resort to talking about how their product/service will improve Productivity, increase efficiencies, reduce Costs, minimize Risk, enhance their work-flow, and a few other generic variations of the same thing.

The half they bought into is the need to go beyond feature – benefit, and venture forth to where they are presenting their offering from the “what’s in it for the client” perspective. Where they fail to follow through, is in adding specific substance to the above phrases, leaving them beige and generic. This unnecessarily extends the length of their sale cycle, or kills the sale all together.

Picture yourself as the person getting the calls, dozens of calls every week, from the copier rep, the wireless rep, the IT integrator rep, the office supply rep, the transportation rep, the sales training rep, and the oodles of other reps. All telling you that they CAN improve your productivity, not HOW they could do that, what the actual impact would be, but just that they can improve your productivity. Multiple that by all the “buzz-phrases” and by the number of calls, and by Tuesday afternoon, it all sounds like an empty wagon.

It takes little extra effort to replace the generic phrases with actual example. How do you in fact increase efficiencies, what has been the actual impact of that increased productivity, and how can you best present it in a way that the buyer can relate to in their world. All you need to do is go past where marketing leaves you, and study some real world examples, be they your customers specifically, or any client your company has helped. Understand what their reality was before they used your product and service, and where they after taking your offering on board. Yes, this requires effort, but in the end a lot less effort than the effort it take to push things up the generic hill, the hill where you and every other generic rep looks frighteningly the same and unappealing.

You will quickly move from saying “we help companies like yours increase your efficiency…” to “clients implementing our software have seen an average increase of 8% in the number of units produced per hour, with a reduction of 5% in rejected product, and a 6% reduction in materials used; this has allowed them to increase revenues by 7%, and a 10% rise in profit margin as a result of cost take out”. Sure there are a couple of extra words, but the substance, weight and specifics they communicate to a potential buyer are more direct and make a lot less noise than the emptiness of the generic descriptions used by most.

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto

Sell What You Have – Sales eXchange 1931

by Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca

At the risk of stating the obvious, the job of a sales person is to sell their company’s offering in order to deliver revenue AND Profits for their company. This can be a challenge at times, but should not be so as a result of our doing. Some sales people seem to want to sell things they don’t have, at times they do this on their own, other times they let their prospects lead them down a dead end path.

How many times have you heard sales people say that they could sell their product, or more of their product “If Only…..”. All too many times we allow ourselves to be distracted from what we can sell, and end up losing sales for all the wrong reason. I am always surprised how many sales people act as though they were in product development rather than sales, sadly some would be better at that than sales; but until they do officially transfer, they need to focus on selling what they have, not what they or the buyer wish they had.

Don’t get me wrong, sales people play a crucial role in the feedback loop that helps your company develop and market your offering better. But that should not be at the expense of selling what they have now, that is job one.

Part of this comes down to knowledge not only of your own product, you’d be surprised how many sales people know little more than what’s in the brochure or on their websites, but also that of the competition. It is hard to sell what you have if you don’t know, it is harder to sell if you don’t know how what you have can help the buyer, and harder still if you can’t discuss how what you have applies to the buyer’s world. You quickly go from an exercise in creative selling to being on your heels in a defensive posture.

The challenge is that with an 80% overlap between most leading products, it mostly comes down to how you sell that will determine the difference. Your ability to align the attributes of your “solution” to the real requirements of the buyer, based on their objectives, and their obligations to their organizations. For example, last week I was out with a rep I am tasked with helping, during a routine sales call, the buyer kept interjecting “can your product do this?”, “can your product do that?” Each time the seller apologizing for the products inability to do some of the things the buyer raised.

The seller clearly had not prepared for the meeting by knowing what his competitors offered and did not offer. Most of the things the buyer put on the table with their questions were not available from any of the products in the market. Had he established that this was a wish list, not a requirement, the issue could have resolved. I finally had to ask the buyer, “I am just curious which product that you currently use allows you to do that?” A long pause, and a shrug allowed us to move forward. By asking that simple question we were able to get back to what was required, available and affordable.

Sell what you have, if they are not the right buyer, prospect another, but sell what you have, or you may find that you have all prospects for what you don’t have, and no buyers for what you do.

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto

Dude, You’re Gonna Need More Than 15 Minutes3

By Tibor Shanto – tibor.shanto@sellbetter.ca

Sales people are constantly working at communicating value to their buyers, especially in the early stages of the cycle, lead gen to prospecting and engaging the buyer to where they could complete an effective Discovery process. After sellers have done all the work involved in getting to the point where they can engage with a buyer, I am always surprised at how easily they are willing to undermine it, and risk their opportunity by saying something completely unnecessary, and serves only to sooth their nerves.

The expression that does this most is “I just need 15 minutes of your time” or “A quick 15 minutes”. Both are stupid and useless, the second is one I never did get, how is a “quick 15 minutes” different than 15 minutes, don’t all minutes have 60 seconds, it is just the quality of the content that seems to make some minutes last a lifetime.

I know why it is used, generally comes down to two things, both can be dealt with more intelligently and effectively. First is the popular notion that if you can get 15 minutes, and do well, they’ll give you an encore and you can stretch it out; I guess we all think we can do a good job. On the other hand I used to work for a VP of Sales who managed his calendar down to the minute, busy guy. He would ask you how long you needed, and would book you in for that time, if you said 15 minutes, he would end the meeting right at 15 minutes. He wasn’t rude, he had to get to his next scheduled meeting, if you couldn’t live up to the expectation I set, it was your issue, not his, you had to deal with it, not him.

Which brings us to the first contradiction, most decision makers have more than what to do in a day, how realistic is that they don’t have other meetings behind your, or other things that require their time and attention. Yes, no doubt we have all had instances where we were able to extend 15 minutes in to 45 or even 60 minutes, but an occasional anomaly does not make for a sound strategy.

The other issue with this approach is that you are in fact misleading the prospect before you have even met them. Think about it, do you really want to start things off by lying to the prospective buyer? Any way you rationalize it, that is exactly what you are doing, not a good foundation for a trust based relationship.

The second reason sales people do this is linked to the first, and just as weak. Specifically they are trying to minimize the apparent impact on the buyer, trying to make it “easy” on them, “Your time will not be wasted”, is the implication. But unless you are selling a coffee service or window cleaning, how much real or tangible value can you effectively communicate. More so, when you are selling what you would call a “solution”, where information has to be exchanged, 15 minutes is not going to get you there, you can pretend all you want, you are going to pitch, worse, you are going to ‘speed pitch’.

Some will tell me, “I can at least get things started”, sure then comeback and continue, with a bit of recapping, you are costing you and the buyer more time. By asking for 15 minutes you are undermining your so called “value proposition”. What the prospect hears is that this is so basic and unimportant, what they are asking themselves is as follows: “we’re going to make real progress in 15, can’t be that important or unique, maybe it can wait, or I can delegate it to someone who deals with unimportant things.”

Think about it, assuming things get started, small talk, while you assume they checked out your web site, you have to validate; if they did, you still need to create context, if they didn’t you have to do a bit more than that. From here, you need to at least go through the motions of gather information or executing a Discovery of facts and objective. Ah, look at that time is up! I remember someone trying to sell me an ad in local board of trade directory, they said they just need 15 minutes, I pointed out to him that he will need to ask me some questions, I will certainly have some for him, so let’s get real, how much time will we really need, he was honest enough to come across with a real time frame.

What’s worse, it is usually the seller who brings time in to the equation, not the prospect, again communicating a lack of confidence in their offering, or their ability to sell, or both. Just stop this juvenile practice, and sell.

Now I know that there times when you will be asked by a prospect how much time you need; in my case I gear my first meetings to about an hour, I am the one that gets antsy after 50 minutes. But rather than saying “one hour”, I pause, and ask, “how long can you give me?” They usually come back and say “is an hour enough?” Touch down!

But assuming they ask again, I just say “I usually need about 30 minutes for Discovery, I assume you’ll have some questions, so 40 minutes is safe.” If I feel they have a sense of humor, I add “any longer than that I take as interest on your part.”

I do have people who say “I can give you 30 minutes.” Great I can work with that; if they offer 15 minutes, I say no, I know what is going to happen, it is not a good use of my time, my most important resource. Either we can find a mutually better time, or on to the next one. If you have lots of prospects, this is not an issue, if you only have one or two, you may have to settle for the scraps that a quick 15 minutes represent.

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto

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Guest Post – Megan Totka

It’s that time of year – the time that many people enjoy even more than the holiday season. NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl have rolled back around, and they bring with them one of the greatest advertising displays of the year. The Super Bowl has always been known for being one of the most expensive advertising opportunities. Many people who care nothing about football, tune in to the game just to watch the commercials.

But how has online advertising impacted the more traditional world of television advertising? The answer is, quite a few different ways.

TV commercials point viewers to social media or company websites – instead of just broadcasting an ad and hoping that consumers notice and buy their product; companies are taking it several steps further. Many ads are interactive, and they include a call to action for viewers. Most ads direct people to the company’s website, Facebook, or Twitter. Or, they include ways to tag the company, such as a specific Twitter hashtag to use to identify that the viewer is responding to the ad that they saw.
Video sites enable people to share their favorites, instantly – this is probably one of the biggest changes, and actually could work against some companies. Instead of having to watch TV to see a favorite advertisement again, all the viewer has to do is log on to YouTube to watch it over and over. This is a double-edged sword, because while viewers will watch an ad over and over, they may not tune into the television shows that will contain future new ads and products.
More interaction between viewers and companies – Doritos has asked fans to film their own Super Bowl ads. The fan-made ads are then posted on the social media pages of Doritos. The fans who made the ads then are encouraged to get their friends and family to vote for their ad. The winner will be broadcasted during the game. This is a level of interaction between company and consumer that is really unprecedented in the world of traditional TV advertising. This is great for companies because consumers want to be talked to, not at. Also, it’s generally common knowledge that the more you can get someone involved, the more likely they are to be loyal to your brand.

I’m interested to watch the Super Bowl this year, and not because I am invested in any of the teams that could potentially be playing. I am excited to see what the companies who pay a huge premium for ad space are getting for their money, and how they are going to continue to be creative in ways to draw in new customers and interact with them. While most small businesses don’t have the capital to advertise on such a large scale, there are other affordable marketing products they can take advantage of. And perhaps there are still some ideas to be drawn from the advertising event of the year.

About Megan Totka

Megan Totka is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. She specializes on the topic of small business tips. ChamberofCommerce.com has over 7,500 listed Chambers.

Jan 25th, 2013 Buying Process, Communication, Communication Strategy, Guest Post, Marketing, Media, Proactive

Communication, Guest Post, Marketing, Planning, Proactive, Prospecting, sell better

3 Ways To Trump Status Quo (video)34

Want to make more money, sell to the Status Quo. Here are three ways you can start:

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto

Sometimes it is not what you say but how you say that help the buyer get engaged. Take a look and give it a go.

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto

When I work with new companies I ask people at all levels of the sales team a few basic questions, all dealing with ‘who’.

Who do you call on?
Who uses your product?
Who decides?
Who pays?
Who benefits?

In most instances three or four of these people are not the same. It is also true that more often than not only one or two of these people are actually called by reps when they are prospecting.

I start out by asking who they call on first when prospecting a company. Most will only call on one person, when as you can see from the list above there at least three, if not more, that can be called on, one right after the other; if for no other reason than there is safety in numbers.

While reps tell you that they call on the “decision maker”, in reality most will usually call on the user. After all, “you can’t go around them, they may get upset”. Personally I think sales people should be upset that they are calling on someone who at best can have an opinion in the decision, but can’t take one.

At times all five are one person but you need to address the requirement of each of the five elements to keep competitors at bay, and to sell the deal at full value.

In many cases the most overlook and potentially the most influential party is the last on the list, the person/people who directly benefit from the offering. There are many examples of this, but let’s look at IT and/or integrators. Most often they will call on their natural counterparts, the folks in the middle levels of IT. After all they are the users, they speak the same language, get each other’s gestures, and geek out over the same geeky things. But most often the beneficiaries are in other functional groups or departments.

When the IT folks need something, great, there is discussions, decisions, and revenue; but without that need what do you have. Seems to me there is more opportunity in speaking with the group who creates the need for the IT project to begin with. This of course requires a different approach, different language, and different measures of success. But there is a clear opportunity to “create demand” by this group for functionality, process enhancement, what have you; which in turn ends up creating the need for your IT based product. Creating demand in a group that indirectly benefits, drives demand and opportunity in your target group. You can now tie your product to other projects and initiative in the company.

This allows you to have more relationships in the company, deliver more value perceived value, and greater security from competitors still riding a one relationship pony. When you learn to do this well, it also allows you to deal with the budget issue, as now you have brought on another group that can contribute to a project they “all” seem to want. Another way to leverage the safety in number, remember sometime it is not that someone does not want to make a decision, they just don’t feel ready until their colleagues also get behind it.

So who you gonna call?

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto

While it is still early days, there are some definite ways social media is impacting selling and buying; some of this is good and has helped sellers better understand and meet the needs of buyers, others, well really not worth fostering, and should be nipped in the bud now.

One specific practice brings with it some risk for sellers, especially new younger sellers targeting more mature decision makers, even those active on social media, centers around communicating. Specifically, the real difference between connecting and communicating when it comes to selling. To some degree this is a generational thing, revolving around long formed habits, more specifically it comes down to each group’s view of communication, and expectations from that communication.

On one level it comes down to definition or semantics if you like, many social sellers blur the lines between ‘connecting’ and ‘communicating’, some go further and fail to understand the difference, and completely confuse connecting with actually communicating with potential buyers.

Connection and connecting is important, but it is only a step towards communication. Don’t get me wrong I am not suggesting or basing my statement on the notion that communication needs to be face to face, but it does need to be mutual, interactive and result oriented. The result does not need to be defined in a sale or moving the sale forward, but in delivering an enhancement of the relationship.

For communication to be meaningful, especially between two parties , it does have to be direct, one to one. There can be effective sales communication between an individual and a group, we have all done it on webinars, presentations at conferences, etc.; but again those fall more into the connect category; there still needs to be that one to one that results out of the initial connecting effort.

Part of this tracks the ongoing evolution in sales, blending existing best practices with new evolving and sometimes better practices, a necessary process. Where we run into problems is when the discussion takes the tone of out with the old, in with the new, rather than out with what no longer works, and in with what does, and does better. Where we are now in sales, is that if you throw out the old, you end up throwing many of best potential prospects out too because they are not as tied into the new as you and the “prophets on the new” are.

The best approach is to use social in tandem with other mainstream methods. As someone pointed out, will ‘spray’ your message, allowing it to touch a wider audience, creating a connection, perhaps a curiosity about your message. This initial connection is like a seed that needs to be nurtured to grow fruit. It is very much talking at an audience, not communicating with someone specific. So be prepared to do both, but realize that one will bring you to the point of talking at someone, you still need to take steps, even like a follow up cold call to someone responding to or retweeting one of your tweets, to fully communicate and move the connection to a prospect.

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto

A Failure To ACT!

One impact of technology on selling, are the increased number of ways of organizations and individual sellers can “connect with their clients”, even when they don’t have to. A recent favourite is surveys. After all, what better way to give the illusion of caring, than to send the client a survey directly to them, especially when they have just interacted with someone at your company. It seems you can hardly get off the phone with a provider, and within seconds there is an e-mail in your inbox with the subject line: “Survey on your recent XYZ LTD. Customer Support Interaction”.

I get it, you love me (or my money), you want to know what I am thinking, what’s important to me, so you can do even a better job than you have been doing to date. But the charade really wares quickly when the feedback leads to nothing, especially when the experience you had was not positive, your feedback was specific, and the organization surveying you repeats all the negatives over and over no matter what the feedback.

So it was with my recent experience with the support team at Sage looking after ACT!. The product did not work from the start, issues with integrating with Outlook, which I have to do since they cannot synch with iPhones, (although I was offered the option of synching with Palm). Several calls to their support team lead to little progress, the issues persist despite their questionable suggestions, it seemed we had reached an impasse, and end of the road situation.

But then a ray of hope in the form of a survey. It was a good survey, thorough, offering me opportunities to provide direct feedback beyond the multiple choice questions. I was frank, direct, outlining where I felt the shortcomings were and what led to my frustration. I wanted them to feel my thoughts, several times I pointed out that I thought their product sucked, that I was sorry I bought it, and want my money back. I didn’t expect my money back, just being complete in my response.

To be fair, unlike some surveys, at the end they asked if I was open to someone from the company contacting me directly to discuss my issues. Joy, finally I will have a chance to resolve the problem. Confirmed my e-mail, provided my mobile number, didn’t want to risk missing this call. It turned out there was no such risk, as the call never came! I guess they don’t care. Or they spent my money, and thought I really wanted it back.

Sage is not alone, just the latest to survey hoping for good feedback, and ignoring the bad. I have heard from others dealing with other companies who have had the same experience, they take the time to be specific and direct, and they hear nothing from the company in response. To be fair, I have also heard where the negative feedback was acknowledged and addressed.

Shame, the ignoring type companies are missing a real opportunity to leverage technology to not only make a difference for a buyer, but more for themselves; to be proactive in responding to customers’ input, wouldn’t it be better to have a testimonial about how well they addressed a customer’s problem. Someone at Sage, and all the companies who use surveys to look cool, but non-reactive, should ask themselves what the nature of this post would have been had they actually followed through as they pretended they would, addressed the issue, and gotten me back as a user. Instead, here we are, sharing a negative rather than a positive. And in light of what I do for a living, you think we need to survey what my response is when I am asked about this product?

What’s in Your Pipeline?
Tibor Shanto

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What's In Your Pipeline?

A Reactive and Bad Way to Deal with Objections (#video)1

An Empty Wagon – Sales eXchange 1943

Sell What You Have – Sales eXchange 1931

Dude, You’re Gonna Need More Than 15 Minutes3

The Super Bowl: How Advertising is Changing0

3 Ways To Trump Status Quo (video)34

Yes, and…37

Who You Gonna Call? – Sales eXchange 17765

Customer Survey Says…81

A Failure To ACT!