What your salespeople must ‘have’ to be successful at uncovering value.

From a sales strategy and process perspective, positioning value not only requires a great VALUE PROPOSITION but also supporting Will to Sell, Sales DNA, and Sales Competencies.

Using data from just one of our dozens of community bank clients, this is what we found out about top 25% of the team vs the bottom 25% of the team.     

First and foremost, longevity may have some impact, but consider that the average years of service for the top 10 was 25.22 years the bottom 10% still had significant years of service of an average of 18.44 years.  Do you really expect someone with 18 years experience to be outperformed by an average of 4 to 1?

The top 10% outperform, are better at, and are more likely to execute than the bottom 10% in the following areas.

• 69% more committed to succeed in selling – willing to do everything possible to succeed assuming legal, ethical and moral standards
• 41% more comfortable discussing money issues
• 46% better at qualifying prospects
• 50% better at asking questions
• 100% better at getting introductions to new prospects.
• 75% better at getting a real budget
• 44% better at positioning the companies value proposition
• 80% better at protecting margins (selling value)

In addition to these findings, our own personal experience in talking to, role playing, and during pre- and post-call debriefing sessions during 1 on 1 coaching sessions, we find the following to also be true:

Top sales people understand the value of telling stories, using analogies and proof of concept examples.

• They pre-call plan and prepare
• They post-call debrief to make sure they covered all the steps in their sales approach
• They ask the right questions, the right way at the right time AND if they find that they missed a question they do NOT hesitate to re-engage with the prospect to get closure on open items.

Year in and year out, continue to scratch their head trying to figure out why:

• Sales growth is such a struggle
• The sales team pushes back when ‘new goals’ are established
• How to protect margins and pricing strategies
• How to flatten the performance bell curve so the success of hitting the sales goal doesn’t continue to fall on the backs of the few 

Some of the answers to those questions can be answered by understanding the make up of your sales team. Additionally, companies that we work with have bought into the idea that spending money on sales training without investing in a solid approach to a ‘Sales Managed Environment’ is a waste of money, time and resources.

The sales leadership and sales management team must be capable of positioning, teaching, and coaching sales people the concept of selling value instead of just telling them to sell value.  The recruiting effort and the development effort of the company must address items that you see in the chart below.

Let me close part II of this three part series with this:

There hasn’t been a single company that we’ve worked with for 30 years that has a strategy to be the low cost provider, beat the competitors price to win deals, and compete with a commodity mindset or go-to market strategy. No one’s strategy is:

• We are the most expensive solution you can find
• Our people aren’t very good at what they do
• Our service model is terrible.
• We hope you buy from us

No, not a single client or prospect we’ve talked to approaches the market with those bullet points. EVERYONE is talking about

• We value our customers
• We are competitively priced
• Our people go out of their way to make sure you are 100% satisfied
• Our people are well trained and ready to serve
• Our product offerings are top shelf, best in class and guaranteed

So if everyone in your market is pitching the same pitch how do you differentiate yourself.  Be ready for part III. But be really ready because it WILL require a changing in thinking and doing which will require a change in coaching, training, behaviors and skills.

Free STAT finder to help me understand if my people, my team has what it takes to execute our outbound sales strategy

Can’t wait for part III? Need to talk to someone now? Call or text me (513) 226-3913

Selling value as a strategy for selling is not effective. So, what should you do instead?  Watch part 1 of our my new 3-part series, Selling Value Without Selling to find out.                                   

Transcript: 

For the longest time now, about five years, I've been wondering about this whole idea of selling value. I've come to the conclusion that selling value as a strategy for selling, is wrong. There, I've said it, let the criticism begin. But here's my reasoning. Selling value puts salespeople in all industries, services, and products in the same position of the old approach of selling features and benefits. What I mean by that, is the sales professional is still trying to sell something. Instead of trying to find out what would possibly motivate a buyer to buy, what would possibly motivate a buyer to make a change? Add a new relationship.

Here's an example of selling value in terms of dialogue. A prospect says something like "Why should I do business with your bank?" The lender says, well, because we bring a value-added approach to our relationships. We do more than just get you great rates on your loans and deposits. We approach your business from a trusted advisor approach. We work hard to understand what your overall objectives are and then search to find solutions to help you achieve those objectives. Our staff focuses specifically on your business segment. We have a combined 135 years of experience. Our bank has the biggest market share in the area, and our branches are conveniently located throughout your footprint. We have extended hours of operation, and our online banking deliverable is second to none. If you're looking to work with a bank that can do those things, has that kind of focus. But I'd like to show you or tell you more about how we can help you and your business grow and prosper at a role play.

I don't care what you call it. Consultative selling, value based selling, relationship selling, ect. It doesn't matter. All of that you just heard, it's still a sales pitch. What I'm suggesting is to keep the word value to teach your sales team how to uncover what the prospect values. The only way to do that is to change the dialogue in the very beginning of the relationship and make sure the focus is entirely on what the client needs and wants and requires to meet their objectives. To accomplish this, your sales organization must understand the following principle: the quality of the phone call will determine the quality of the appointment.

To have a high quality appointment, your salespeople must have accomplished five things before meeting a prospect. Number one, they must determine the prospect's role in any decision making. Two, they must have uncovered some level of motivation to make a purchase, make a change, change the current relationship, or add a new relationship. Number three, they must have asked if the problem with the opportunity is a must-fix or want-to-fix, they will kick the can down the road for want-to-fix problems. Number four, they must have gotten invited to meet. To discuss the item further. In other words, get invited versus begging their way into the appointment. Can I come by and see you need week? Number Five. They have to have an agreement on the outcome of that meeting when it's over. In other words, it's quite simple. When we finish, we're both going to know if we should keep talking, or stop talking. Failure to do those five things on the phone leads to failure at uncovering what our prospect values and forces a salesperson into selling mode.

Stay tuned for part two, where I will discuss with you what your salespeople have to be made of in order to be extraordinary at positioning value. Thank you.

These last few weeks, I've shared 4 key things that have helped us grow and serve others in the last 30 years, hoping they will be helpful to others on their journey. Today I share the final key takeaway, #1: Faith.

Recently, I shared 5 key things that have helped us grow and serve others in the last 30 years, hoping they will be helpful to others on their journey. Now, I'm taking a deeper dive into the 5 key takeaways with a more detailed on each. Here's #2: Planning.

Recently, I shared 5 key things that have helped us grow and serve others in the last 30 years, hoping they will be helpful to others on their journey. Now, I'm taking a deeper dive into the 5 key takeaways with a more detailed on each. Here's #3: Curveballs.