As the year comes to an end, I’ve found our business shifting to accommodate the changes in the business and economic landscapes. I’m doing a lot more coaching and advising at an executive level. This combined with my own experience of running a business has brought to light some of the fundamental changes that I’m seeing in selling these days. Namely, decisions are being made differently. Decisions are made more slowly, they are made with far more scrutiny, and they require an almost absolute guarantee of a successful outcome (typically short term ROI) before being signed off. It is harder to sell big complex products and services right now than it has been over the past 15 years. Here are three “selling” imperatives I’ve found to be important for the companies with whom I’m working:
Call higher
Decisions that were made by the divisional manager now get made by the national manager… national now by the worldwide… worldwide by the COO/President… with the scrutiny over decisions and spending right now everything has been pushed up to higher and higher levels for decision making than it was a few years ago. If you are still calling on the same people (and at the same organizational levels) as you were in the past, you are likely to experience stalls and a lack of visibility to what is going on… because you are no longer calling on the decision making layer.
Align with the #1 Problem
All of the prospects I’ve been talking to in the past year have got problems they are looking to fix. Big problems. Big enough so that if their boss thinks they are working on something else, their job might be in jeopardy. The idea that you can introduce them to a new problem and make it a greater priority to them than their current problem is highly unlikely. You will engage deals only where you are aligned very well with the #1 problem of the top decision maker. Period. Sometimes the #2 problem will get some attention. Consider how a decision maker will look if they are off fixing problems which aren’t the agreed #1 or #2 problems… what will their boss say? They do not want to appear as if the priorities have strayed from where they were supposed to be…
Be flexible in how you deliver value
My buddy Townsend and I were laughing about this the other day… it is a case of “you say TO-MAY-TO and I say TO-MAH-TO”. Decision makers are so hyper focused on their issues that it is very likely they have created a rigid vision of how they expect to go about solving them. So much so, that it is very difficult for them to notice that the solution you are offering may be exactly what they are asking for. It is often a simple but important issue of vernacular. If they don’t see your offering as a solution, it isn’t a solution. Keep your conversations focused upon their problem – make sure you are aligned in your description/articulation of their problem. Qualify what they envision as a solution (using THEIR language). Ask them if they want help with it (this opens their mind up to listening – if for only a minute). Ask them what they want help to look like. Then align your solution to their vision of help, again using their language. You may think they need a product, they may think they need consulting… what really matters is whether you can get them to understand that you can help them with their issue!! This seems to be much harder than you would imagine.
Please share your observations and thoughts in the comments below!
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