Can We Sell Anything in This Economy?<br>Getting Back to Basics and Reaching a New Mindset is the Key to Unlocking Opportunity
A Conversation with: Suzanne Bates, CEO, and Sarah Woods, Principal, Bates Communications, Inc.
Sarah:
There are few things on anyone's mind right now other than how to jumpstart sales. It's understandable if you wake up some mornings feeling helpless not only because you don't have as much in the pipeline, but also because you're competing for business like never before. Your prospects know they have choices and they can often name their own price for goods and services. Even existing clients are challenging your pricing, your terms, or how much they'll get in return - worse, they may even be shopping around.
Suzanne:
We are entering a new world. In all the years that I've worked with sales leaders and their teams, I don't think anyone has fully come to terms with how attitudes affect the sales process. No matter how strong your pipeline, no matter how great your reputation with existing clients and customers, the rules are being rewritten.
Ask a client about budget, and they may say they "have no idea." If they need it, they're still willing to forgo it, so "how low can you go?" Driving a value model back into the conversation about your goods and services - where people distinguish between the value of one offering versus another, is very difficult. I call this the "Priceline" mentality. Everything is up for bid and prospects are laser-focused on getting the best deal.
Sarah:
Meanwhile, if you lead a sales team, even before the downturn you may have been wondering why you weren't closing as much business. The sales presentations were flat, your reps weren't connecting with prospects, or you weren't winning some business you should have won. You can't be at every prospect meeting - you're only one person. Your sales team needs to be better than ever.
So I'm telling clients that right now is the time to assess that situation. You're working harder than ever to get meetings with prospects, and you cannot afford to waste a single opportunity. Some of your time should be working on your sales process, not just in it. You need to get back to basics and get real with clients to unlock opportunity.
Suzanne:
One of the most basic skills is the sales presentation, and furthermore, the mindset you bring to it. That's why I wanted Sarah to share an excerpt from her new booklet: Jumpstart Sales with Powerful Presentations. If you've ever asked the question - "why didn't we 'nail' that presentation?" then read on.
There are three primary reasons why many presentations fail.
Reason 1: The wrong mindset!
Sales people fail when they go into a prospect meeting to "sell" them something.
Think about it.
You've hired sales people who are supposed to wake up in the morning dreaming about making the sale. And yes, you want ambitious, hardworking people who love to sell. But if your sales team doesn't make this critical shift in perspective - understanding that the job is to help people BUY what they need to BUY - they won't succeed. In this climate, prospects are watching every expense and thinking about the cost of everything. They will not buy anything unless it is essential to their business.
The job for you and your sales team is to understand what people need to buy and make sure your solutions perfectly match the needs of the prospect, and appear to be essential to their business.
Sales people who continue to focus on how to move inventory, or close out the competition with a "better feature" or a steep discount, will fall deeper into the traps that will lose the sale...and the client.
If they do get to the table, and have the chance to sit face-to-face with your prospective client, this shift in perspective will make or break their chances of moving forward.
Reason 2: The myth of the presentation!
Sales teams often operate under the misguided belief that the sale is made DURING the presentation. The sales presentation is actually the culmination of days, weeks, sometimes months or years of work. Yes, it all has to be IN the presentation - and the presentation must be great. However, it doesn't happen magically because they walk into a room and dazzle people.
The MAKING of a great sales presentation begins long before the actual day it is delivered. It's not just how smooth, prepared, and focused you are when delivering the presentation that wins the client, it's how well you've answered their questions, understood the client, and customized your presentation for THAT particular client.
Just imagine standing on the shore of a rushing river…class 5 rapids swirling around and over boulders just under the surface. Now imagine grabbing a raft, jumping into the boat and launching into the rapids. You're working hard to keep the boat from flipping - but did you grab the right type of raft? Do you have the right paddles? Did you plan for class 5 rapids? Or are you just staying alive out there, hoping that your instincts will carry you safely downstream?
To deliver a great sales presentation, you and your team have to follow that river back upstream to its source - understanding how those rapids developed. You need to study the river to know where the boulders are, and how to best navigate through them. You need to know how to best equip yourself for the elements to be sure your trip is a success.
Now, you would never allow your sales team to jump into a raft on a raging river without significant planning and practice. Why allow them to stand in front of that key client under the same conditions? You'll need to shift this way of thinking - or your sales presentations will never hit the mark.
Reason 3: Sales people HATE preparing for sales presentations!
Whether you are the CEO, the VP of sales, or a member of the sales team - you know deep down that this is true. Sales people, by their very nature, are at ease on their feet. They enjoy relationships, and feel confident about their ability to connect with others using their personality. This is a powerful asset in securing early opportunities for the company, and "getting the meeting".
But once the sale has progressed to the point of the formal presentation, what got you to the table won't get you the deal.
An all too familiar response I've gotten when asking a top sales performer if they're "ready" for a big presentation is the over-confident comeback "I was born ready".
Translate that to mean "I've done this a thousand times, are you kidding me?"
Further translation will yield, "this client is just like the one I presented to last quarter - I'll just say what I said to them" or maybe..."I've been on the road for 2 weeks, and I'm pretty clear on what they want, so it'll come together fine."
The bravado you often hear is the result of the risk profile of many sales people - they love the excitement of sales, the successes are measured by the big events, not the small ones. And they're willing to skate a little closer to the edge than most…and then recover in an astonishing way once they stand up to present. It's all part of the game.
And while this agility can be impressive, it won't cut it in this market.
Sales teams hate to prepare. Preparation requires research and analysis…a formal due diligence on the client and the problems they need to solve…and that takes time.
To many in sales, this feels like inactivity when they are under pressure to demonstrate "activity". To make it worse, many who lead sales organizations prioritize new business activity over planning, research and strategy. We fall to the mindset that if our sales team spends time "planning", they aren't on the phones generating new business. So you can imagine how hard it is for sales people to put time on their calendars to plan, prepare and practice a client presentation. It just doesn't seem like a good use of their time!
Suzanne:
So that's a booklet excerpt --- real insights about why sales presentations often fail.
How can you avoid these traps?
First, you can email Sarah Woods at swoods@bates-communications.com if you would like a complimentary 15 minute consultation on issues that stand in the way of preparing your sales team to give great presentations in the current economic environment.
Second, you can go to http://www.bates-communications.com/books-and-products/ to order Sarah's booklet, Jumpstart Sales! With Powerful Presentations. This booklet is $39.99 and will help you identify proven strategies and steps that really work, to help you land the next deal.