Josh Lowry BLOG

Show, Do Not Tell in Sales

June 16, 2013 Leave a comment

Show, Do Not Tell in Sales
by Josh Lowry

Michael Bosworth, the author of Solution Selling, says, all salespeople are guilty by association of the sins that other sellers have previously committed on buyers. Consequently, most buyers initially distrust salespeople. When a lack of trust exists, any information communicated by the salesperson to the buyer will the challenged, minimized or shopped. A lack of trust then can cause both delayed and lost sales. The best salespeople understand the initial trust issue and do not take it personally. They instead work to proactively address it.

In general, people believe what they see, not what they hear. Thus, the best salespeople use written material to support their presentations and proposals. Written material includes case studies, use cases and other evidence-based information. The best salespeople also write down what they have offered, proposed or said to instill confidence and credibility with the buyer. Informed, trusting buyers make decisions; uninformed, non-trusting buyers do not. Provide buyers the written information that they need to make informed, trust-based decisions. Show, do not tell.

Filed under Sales Tagged with Trust

What Business Are You In?

June 16, 2013 Leave a comment

What Business Are You In?
by Josh Lowry

If you answered anything other than the people business, you failed. Companies do not buy products, people do. Salespeople regularly make the mistake of leading with their product before they understand the customer’s business issue. Salespeople often think that if they know their products inside and out, they can persuade customers to buy them. However, this is often not the case. Why? Customers buy products for many reasons, including perceptions, relationships, etc. Salespeople must understand them. People first, product second.

For example, my wife and I recently visited a car dealership. We were approached by a salesperson while we were standing next to a particular vehicle. The salesperson immediately started listing all of the car’s features, functions and specifications without first understanding what we were looking for and why. That is, who would be the primary driver? What would we be using the car for? Do we have kids? If so, how many and what ages? Etc. How could the salesperson help us solve our problem unless he first understood it?

In contrast, last week, I had a meeting with a prospective partner. Instead of launching into how we could do business, the partner representative started the conversation by saying that he did not think we should do business together because I went to Gonzaga University and he went to Saint Mary’s, two basketball rivals. He said that we would never get along. While he was joking, I instantly liked him. The partner representative knew that he was in the people business. Before talking partnership, he found out something about me and figured out how to incorporate it.

Sales is about service. It is about helping customers solve problems and make the right decisions. You must understand the customer’s problems to help solve them. You must also understand their issues to help them make the right decisions. Great salespeople always make cusotmers more important than products. They take an interest in customers first before taking an interest in selling them something. Stay interested in customers before, during and after the sale. Stay interested in customers even if you do not get the sale. People first, product second.

Filed under Sales

The Gold in the Customer Sign-In Process

June 15, 2013 Leave a comment

The Gold in the Customer Sign-In Process
by Josh Lowry

If you are in field sales or regularly visit customers onsite, chances are you have had to sign-in at the front desk for security purposes. When you sign-in, you are asked to list your name and company. You are also asked to list the person you are there to see, as well as when you arrive and when you leave. Most salespeople treat the sign-in process as part of the job and routine. What most salespeople, including senior salespeople, do not regularly practice or do not know is that the sign-in process is a great source of information to be leveraged.

When you sign-in, always scan the log to see who has been there that day. What companies and people are calling on the customer and who are they meeting with there? Are they competitors? Are they partners? Do you know them? If not, look them up on LinkedIn when you get back to the office. If you see that one of your competitors met with your contact previously in the day, use that information to your advantage during your meeting with the customer. Magnify your strengths, as well as the competitor’s weaknesses where appropriate.

As an example, one of the strengths of Amazon Web Services (AWS) is elasticity; i.e., being able to scale-up and scale-down as needed based on demand. If AWS learned from the log that Rackspace met with the customer contact earlier in the day, they could use that information to their advantage; i.e., Rackspace is not elastic. If elasticity is important to the customer that is a key point of differentiation. Note that there is nothing devious about looking at the log when you sign-in; it is in public view. What is unacceptable is not using the log to your advantage.

Filed under Sales

Your Customers Are On Speed

June 13, 2013 Leave a comment

Your Customers Are On Speed
by Josh Lowry

Kris Bliesner, the CEO of 2nd Watch, accurately describes the company as a “dog year company.” What he means is that one day at 2nd Watch is equivalent to seven days in the “real world” – that is, the world outside of a ventured-backed, technology startup. In the startup world, companies move at lightning speed to win customers, grow market share and generate revenue. Believe it or not, the speed of a technology startup is applicable to how you should be thinking about and serving your customers and partners each and every day.

We live in an instant gratification, right now world. The days of following up or responding to customers in two or three days are over. In today’s world, you must think in terms of dog years. One year equals seven years, so one day equals seven days. The longer you wait to follow up or respond, the more you exposure yourself to competitive and satisfaction issues. Should you rush and risk being incomplete or wrong? No. You should condition yourself to accurate and thorough, but to operate at a dog year pace. Your customers are on speed; you need to be faster.

See also Executing with Strategic Speed

Filed under Service Tagged with Customer Experience, Customer Satisfaction

Results, NOT Effort Pays the Bills

June 12, 2013 Leave a comment

Results, NOT Effort Pay the Bills
by Josh Lowry

Earlier this week, I heard the following from a senior salesperson within the technology industry. “If [the company] is not going to pay me for my efforts, I am going to leave.” Hearing this, my first question to them was, “How is your performance?” They responded, “I am tracking at 88% with three weeks to go … BUT I have a very tough territory.”

The bottom line is that no one cares that you think you have a tough territory. In fact, having a tough territory is actually an opportunity to demonstrate to your company the considerable skill and value that you bring to the table. If you can deliver your number in a tough territory, you will differentiate yourself as irreplaceable.

The truth is that you are paid and evaluated on your results, not your efforts. Commit to overcoming obstacles and pushing through resistance by increasing your activity level. NEVER lower your expectations or targets. ALWAYS take ultimate accountability for what you can control. You CAN control your level of activity.

Filed under Sales Tagged with Accountability

Do You Always Agree with the Customer?

June 11, 2013 Leave a comment

Do You Always Agree with the Customer?
by Josh Lowry

There is an old saying that “the customer is always right.” Are customers always right? No, but that does not mean you should disagree with them. When you disagree with them, you fight the selling and closing process. Whether they are right or wrong, always agree with the customer. If you want agreement, you must be agreeable. You cannot expect customers to agree with you if you disagree with them. People who agree move toward each other; e.g., “I like you because you agree with me.” People who disagree move away from each other.

Salespeople need agreement to move through the sales process and ultimately close the deal. To get agreement from the customer, they must first give agreement. It only takes one person to create agreement because once one person agrees, there is no longer disagreement between the two people. Note that agreeing with customers, even if you disagree with them, is not manipulation. You are agreeing with their reality without adding what you think it. Two powerful phrases to create agreement include, “You are right” and “I agree.”

EXAMPLE: The customer says, “$25,000 per month for your SaaS application is a lot of money, I need to think about it.” If you disagree with them, the seller will solidify the customer’s need to think about it. However, if you agree with them, they will move toward you. “You are right, $25,000 is a lot of money. Making the investment will enable you to realize $X in cost savings within five months and directly contribute to your company’s bottom-line objectives this year.” Always agree with the customer and then position a different way for them to think about the situation.

Filed under Sales

Is Your Pipeline Big Enough?

June 10, 2013 Leave a comment

Is Your Pipeline Big Enough?
by Josh Lowry

Experienced salespeople love to sell and close business, but in general, do not like to prospect. In fact, when they uncover an opportunity, they usually start working on it and stop prospecting altogether. They end up basing their sales success on a few deals closing versus having multiple qualified opportunities in the pipeline. What are the primary risks of this behavior? When appointments get cancelled, deals get stalled or prospects say “no,” they are stuck. They do not have enough other deals in the pipeline to fill the gap and take their place.

Unless you schedule time for prospecting, you will never have time to do it. There will always be something more pressing. Even if you have an inside sales team dedicated to prospecting, you should make time to prospect every day in both your existing and new accounts. You never want to be dependent on the success of one deal or a few deals. When you only have a few deals in the pipeline you can/will become desperate and easily shaken. Great sellers always have a full pipeline. How much pipeline do you need? You can never have enough. Do NOT stop filling it!

Filed under Sales Tagged with Pipeline

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