Recently at an onsite sales training session I saw the lights go on for a group of 20 transactional \u201cbox slinging\u201d salesmen as to how they would share a value proposition to a C-Level prospect. They\u2019ve had absolutely NO success in setting appointments with C-Level targets and had all but given up trying.<\/p>\n
The reason why someone would want to meet with you and allow you to share your company\u2019s value really comes down to creating an interest around increasing success to a level in their company that they themselves can\u2019t create. Additionally, they would want to meet with you because they hear the expertise in your words that assures them that you know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n
Boxes are sold mostly because of features, speed, color, pages per month, and of course price. I guess all of those features are important to someone. But in today\u2019s business environment, the higher priority is profitability and growth; in other words, success!<\/p>\n
Your company\u2019s reputation, service levels, response times, and feature set are all contributors to your ability to hit your sales objectives. The definition of success can be a hundred things to a hundred different people, but can only be defined by your prospect.<\/p>\n
In any training workshop, when I hear a sales rep ask me for a phone script which they can use to recite to a prospect, I immediately know that they do not have the skillset and understanding to be able to deliver a conversation that would earn them a first appointment with a new C-Level prospect.<\/p>\n
This is not simply about a predefined conversation. It\u2019s using your expertise and understanding of strategic business matters to assess their needs and create a better path of success for your prospect. One of the greatest challenges in our industry has been to transform our value proposition language from technology to business.<\/p>\n
I guess you could say that an MFP has been more of a tactical solution than a strategic solution and over the years that\u2019s how it\u2019s been positioned. But as services infiltrate your marketplace, it\u2019s not the tactical solution that wins the day. Helping an owner or executive team find their next best strategic idea is paramount. Our industry is moving from a tactical value set to a strategic value set.<\/p>\n
So how do you get there? I recently had lunch with a friend who owns an office equipment business and he asked the question, \u201cWhere do you find the great sales reps, Charles?\u201d He continued, \u201cI can\u2019t afford the mature, more tenured reps, they want too much, so I\u2019ve gone out and recruited younger reps who are affordable and won\u2019t cost me as much. We\u2019re training and nurturing them to be the reps we want them to be!\u201d I asked him about the success of his program. He looked down at the table and said, \u201cNot great.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are so many moving parts to this dilemma. How do you drive success in your sales organization so you can drive success in your client\u2019s organization and do it better, quicker and faster than your competition? I can\u2019t tell you how many times I have met with an owner and designed a plan that complements every concern and issue they have on the sales side. But two months into the program, they\u2019ve dissolved back into the organization they had said they didn\u2019t want to be.<\/p>\n
IT\u2019S HARD TO CHANGE, but if you don\u2019t want to change, you should just call up a competitor and start giving them your accounts. That way, you\u2019ll save yourself so much anguish and pain in losing deal after deal in the near future. Great companies adapt, morph and transform themselves in a real-time basis. They make the necessary changes to be successful, so they can deliver success to their clients. When someone is successful, you like doing business with them! Don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s reality in your face, I see it every day. Folks in our industry sell technology and some services, BUT THEY THEMSELVES DO NOT USE THEM, as a rule. Sure the great ones do. But I can\u2019t tell you how many times I see tenured sales reps who have no idea, or interest for that matter, in learning the strategic side of business. The technology that they use in their company is embarrassing, like a 1990\u2019s laptop or there are no superior communication tools to support their efforts. Training is limited to the sales manager riding along with reps as they both fail to secure enough appointments to drive success.<\/p>\n
I have conversations every month where a dealer calls me to see if I could sprinkle a little pixie dust on an MPS deal they\u2019re losing and yet they waited until they were losing the deal before they called. Great leaders have always subscribed to the practice of having smart people around them, but you want them around you when you\u2019re planning the battle, not after you\u2019re in the battle. The problem might be that you think the smartest person in the room is the person you see in the mirror every morning<\/em>.<\/p>\n Of course you\u2019re a very smart person or you wouldn\u2019t be running your own business in this competitive world. But failing to seek outside help to increase your company\u2019s success, for whatever reason, makes you vulnerable to a prospect\u2019s objections, when they choose not to do it either. You both have a similar mindset, and because you can relate to their reasons, you won\u2019t get beyond their objections.<\/p>\n Creating success takes all hands on deck, a proven plan and weekly correction to stay on course. Don\u2019t load yourself down with too many major tasks at one time. Change your business from within with small adjustments of redirect, while you transform your business\u2019 high-level direction in a great way. How many times have you heard a prospect ask you, \u201cWhy would I do business with your company?\u201d and you spew out the words they just heard your competitor say in the meeting before you, \u201cWe have great service, our response time is only 90 minutes and you\u2019ll have me to manage your account or I\u2019m not going anywhere!\u201d Really! What about a real success story where your success is their success and your answer sounds something like this:<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Jones, that\u2019s a great question and I\u2019m glad you asked me. At Gee Wiz Technology we decided years ago that the only way forward for us was to research, develop and deliver technology that drives success inside our client\u2019s company.<\/p>\n We saw that helping our clients realize real cost savings, visibility and control from within the technology segment of their business drove real value for them. Thus, everything we do must have those performance characteristics before we would recommend them to anyone. You might say we\u2019re more of a success partner than a technology provider and because of that, 85% of the owners we engage realize those same results.\u201d<\/p>\n Creating success in your company will create success for your prospects. If you do it before your competitors you\u2019ll enjoy that fun in business that very few people do. So tell that person in the mirror tomorrow morning that you need help, that you want to win and go find someone who can help you achieve greater success in your business, which will reflect very well to those prospects who want to drive greater success in theirs. Just like you, they\u2019ll love doing business with someone who is exceptionally successful. Now, go create your success!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently at an onsite sales training session I saw the lights go on for a group of 20 transactional \u201cbox slinging\u201d salesmen as to how they would share a value proposition to a C-Level prospect. They\u2019ve had absolutely NO success in setting appointments with C-Level targets and had all but given up trying. The reason why someone would want to meet with you and allow you to share your company\u2019s value really comes down to creating an interest around increasing success to a level in their company that they themselves can\u2019t create. Additionally, they would want to meet with you because they hear the expertise in your words that assures them that you know what you\u2019re doing. Boxes are sold mostly because of features, speed, color, pages per month, and of course price. I guess all of those features are important to someone. But in today\u2019s business environment, the higher priority is profitability and growth; in other words, success! Your company\u2019s reputation, service levels, response times, and feature set are all contributors to your ability to hit your sales objectives. The definition of success can be a hundred things to a hundred different people, but can only be defined by your prospect. In any training workshop, when I hear a sales rep ask me for a phone script which they can use to recite to a prospect, I immediately know that they do not have the skillset and understanding to be able to deliver a conversation that would earn them a first appointment with a new C-Level prospect. This is not simply about a predefined conversation. It\u2019s using your expertise and understanding of strategic business matters to assess their needs and create a better path of success for your prospect. One of the greatest challenges in our industry has been to transform our value proposition language from technology to business. I guess you could say that an MFP has been more of a tactical solution than a strategic solution and over the years that\u2019s how it\u2019s been positioned. But as services infiltrate your marketplace, it\u2019s not the tactical solution that wins the day. Helping an owner or executive team find their next best strategic idea is paramount. Our industry is moving from a tactical value set to a strategic value set. So how do you get there? I recently had lunch with a friend who owns an office equipment business and he asked the question, \u201cWhere do you find the great sales reps, Charles?\u201d He continued, \u201cI can\u2019t afford the mature, more tenured reps, they want too much, so I\u2019ve gone out and recruited younger reps who are affordable and won\u2019t cost me as much. We\u2019re training and nurturing them to be the reps we want them to be!\u201d I asked him about the success of his program. He looked down at the table and said, \u201cNot great.\u201d There are so many moving parts to this dilemma. How do you drive success in your sales organization so you can drive success in your client\u2019s organization and do it better, quicker and faster than your competition? I can\u2019t tell you how many times I have met with an owner and designed a plan that complements every concern and issue they have on the sales side. But two months into the program, they\u2019ve dissolved back into the organization they had said they didn\u2019t want to be. IT\u2019S HARD TO CHANGE, but if you don\u2019t want to change, you should just call up a competitor and start giving them your accounts. That way, you\u2019ll save yourself so much anguish and pain in losing deal after deal in the near future. Great companies adapt, morph and transform themselves in a real-time basis. They make the necessary changes to be successful, so they can deliver success to their clients. When someone is successful, you like doing business with them! Don\u2019t you? Here\u2019s reality in your face, I see it every day. Folks in our industry sell technology and some services, BUT THEY THEMSELVES DO NOT USE THEM, as a rule. Sure the great ones do. But I can\u2019t tell you how many times I see tenured sales reps who have no idea, or interest for that matter, in learning the strategic side of business. The technology that they use in their company is embarrassing, like a 1990\u2019s laptop or there are no superior communication tools to support their efforts. Training is limited to the sales manager riding along with reps as they both fail to secure enough appointments to drive success. I have conversations every month where a dealer calls me to see if I could sprinkle a little pixie dust on an MPS deal they\u2019re losing and yet they waited until they were losing the deal before they called. Great leaders have always subscribed to the practice of having smart people around them, but you want them around you when you\u2019re planning the battle, not after you\u2019re in the battle. The problem might be that you think the smartest person in the room is the person you see in the mirror every morning. Of course you\u2019re a very smart person or you wouldn\u2019t be running your own business in this competitive world. But failing to seek outside help to increase your company\u2019s success, for whatever reason, makes you vulnerable to a prospect\u2019s objections, when they choose not to do it either. You both have a similar mindset, and because you can relate to their reasons, you won\u2019t get beyond their objections. Creating success takes all hands on deck, a proven plan and weekly correction to stay on course. Don\u2019t load yourself down with too many major tasks at one time. Change your business from within with small adjustments of redirect, while you transform your business\u2019 high-level direction in a great way. How many times have you heard a prospect ask you, \u201cWhy would I do business with your company?\u201d and you spew out the words they just heard your competitor say in the meeting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1879],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19411"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19411"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19413,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19411\/revisions\/19413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}