This process of managing a sales campaign is so effective, and delivers such benefit in terms of managing your own time and resources, that it’s worth using even if your customer has no interest in it. For years I have used this kind of a plan for every complex sales opportunity I’ve pursued. I start piecing it together from the very first interaction I have with the client.
One of the techniques that I have found very effective is to print out the plan and take it with me starting with the very first meeting. Now, in that first meeting-where all I know are the few names and facts I was able to pick up during a preliminary phone call-the plan will be skeletal at best. But as the meeting progresses, I make my notes about other people who the customer happens to mention on my ‘plan sheet.’ If they mention certain dates, or an upcoming event, or anything that binds the process in time, I make notes of that on the sheet as well. I construct the plan on a preprinted sheet right in front of them. After a couple of meetings, in which I have very obviously used the plan as a mechanism for capturing and organizing what I have learned, clients will often ask, ‘What is that you are writing on there?’
Sometimes the best way to sell something is not to sell it at all, but to create curiosity about it. Sure, you can present it to your client for their consideration whenever you feel the time is right. But before that, just use it for your own benefit, in plain sight. They might surprise you by asking about it before you even bring it up. I’ve seen this happen many times.
Regardless of how you approach it, your customers will only be as interested and as excited about it as you are. I believe if you use this idea the way it has been presented, and you share your plan with a few customers, you will be amazed at how well it will be received.
If you were the customer, it would be pretty hard not to be impressed if a vendor took the time to understand your internal policies, your business processes, and your organizational structure, and rolled all of that into a step-by-step plan of how to help you reach your business goals. I encourage you to . . .
Sell your process, and let your process sell your product.
According to the customers I have worked with over the years, this method of selling is quite different from what they are used to seeing. Oh, I didn’t win every deal, and neither will you. But you will win more than your share if you’re willing to do the work. It’s one of the best ways I know to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Try this approach for yourself, and you’ll soon be wondering why you weren’t selling this way all along.