As salespeople, and especially as managers, we tend to ask the wrong question. We ask, ‘What do we need to do to close this deal?’ Unfortunately, that’s not the right question because we could do three dozen different things and still not get the deal done. What we should be asking is, ‘What does the [...]
Monthly Archive for November, 2008
Unfortunately, not all companies that do take the time to observe, document, and develop a unified sales process see the results they expect, or that they would like. There may be several reasons for this: Lack of support from sales management-who don’t promote and reinforce its use Resistance from the sales team-who perceive it as [...]
Anything that we do over and over again can be made more efficient and more effective by developing and utilizing a standard process. It doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be as simple as a series of steps and stages we usually work through to ensure that the outcome is as consistent, and as [...]
There is a cycle of human interaction that leads to trust and to strong resilient relationships. It’s a natural progression that happens whether we consciously attend to it or not, and it is constantly working for us or against us. It applies to every relationship in our lives and it illustrates how relationships evolve as [...]
Psychologists say that 93 percent of what we communicate to other people is nonverbal. So, start your meeting off by telling your customer a few things without uttering a word. First, leave your laptop in your car. In fact, the less you bring in the better. If you’ve got a big shoulder bag, your customer [...]
Communication is where all trust and relationships begin. Without it, literally nothing is possible. But with it, anything is possible. Skills such as effective letter writing, public speaking, and presentation skills are very important for all sales professionals, but I believe that . . . Communicating with your customer should be 80 percent listening and [...]
Whenever we meet somebody new, we instantly begin comparing all of the attributes and characteristics of that person with the things we already know and believe about people. It’s not a conscious cognitive process. We don’t have to remember to do it. It happens automatically whether we realize it or not. Our mind likes to [...]
Trust is a belief that one person has about another person, or about an organization. It is a perception. It’s a positive expectation that this other person or company can be relied upon, they will honor their commitments, they will treat us fairly, and ‘they care.’ We can have this belief about someone whether it [...]
The concept of business cause and effect and the Business Value Hierarchy model can be used in a wide variety of applications, too many to be adequately addressed in one chapter. One workshop attendee asked me, ‘Isn’t this BVH just a model for questioning?’ In one sense it is, but it is much more than [...]
As was mentioned earlier, each element of value has one or more causes, and one or more effects. Therefore, an increase or decrease in any particular element of value could have multiple different effects on one or more units or departments across a business enterprise. Because of the complex interrelationships between all of these elements, [...]
The purpose of all this discovery process is to determine how the functional capabilities of your products and services tie to and support the tactics and strategies your client will use, or is already using, to reach their goals and objectives. Once you understand that, you can position your offerings in terms of producing the [...]
We saw that our fictitious customer was focused on four different strategies for controlling or reducing costs: Reducing materials costs Controlling direct labor costs Minimizing manufacturing overhead Decreasing selling, general, and administrative expenses (S, G, & A) Now, let’s drill down another level to discover the causes of each of these, by asking questions such [...]
By gleaning as much as you can from your reading and research, you can start to build a ‘skeleton’ of the value model for your case study account. We fill in the gaps as we meet and interview the various people within the company. We can learn about the strategies that our customer is using, [...]
There are three major ways that a company can increase profits or earnings: (1) increase revenues (sell more), (2) reduce costs (spend less), and(3) better utilize company assets (do more with less). Everything else they do, and every other financial measure they track relates back to these three objectives, to the profits these three contribute [...]
From an economic or financial standpoint, the purpose of every forprofit business is to produce a profit and a return on investment for its owners or shareholders. That’s why they call it ‘for profit.’ Not every business is started for the sole purpose of profit, nor does any company endure long if their only objective [...]