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Laws of Selling
There are certain sales behaviours that can actually damage the chances of success. Assertiveness is often interpreted by prospective purchasers as unwanted aggression. Persistence can translate into being annoying. Positive questions from the seller are usually received as rhetorical and manipulative. Focusing on features often triggers concerns with price or confirms that the seller is just not listening. The stark reality of selling is that pushing creates resistance, and assertiveness creates defensiveness. We all prefer to buy rather than being ‘sold’.
Although most sales people intellectually accept these truths, defects nevertheless pervade the behaviours and habits of most. Beliefs do not always equate to the right attitude, and knowledge does not always manifest in positive behaviour. Here are the seven pitfalls of selling that should be avoided. Aspire to embody the antithesis of these seven sins.
First Sin: ‘Selling is the transference of information’. No. Selling is actually building trust and transferring belief. Information can easily be sourced by customers without the assistance of a sales person who should actually serve to filter and distil the mass of available data down to what is relevant and benefits the client. Facts merely serve to support an emotional decision to buy from someone they like and trust. Emotion creates more influence than information.
Second Sin: ‘Talking is the best way to influence’. Only if your goal is to bore people into submission or negatively push them to your competitor. Words account for only 7% of received communication. People think at approximately 500 words per minute and you can only talk effectively at 125 per minute. You must engage the other person visually with positive and congruent body language or they will tune-out. Effective communication means asking insightful questions and actively listening to clarify your understanding and get to the deeper meaning. Listening rather than talking is actually the best way to influence.
Third Sin: ‘Features are benefits’. Not necessarily. Benefits must specifically solve acknowledged problems relating ultimately to time, money, comfort or risk. Prattling on with spurious features early in the sales process creates distracting noise and potential price concerns, preventing the buyer from focusing on the real value you offer in meeting their business needs.
Fourth Sin: ‘Objections are opportunities’. Not so. Objections actually reveal that the sales person has sought to close prematurely or that they do not fully understand the needs of the buyer. Objections are not buying signals nor are they opportunities to close. Yes, objections need to be overcome when raised but they are usually generated by amateurs. It is always better to avoid objections by first having them expressed by the client as problems before any attempt to close. Only seek commitment once you have complete understanding and the buyer’s readiness to purchase has been confirmed.
Fifth Sin: ‘The product is the product’. Not really. Selling the product, service or solution is the third and final sale in any engagement. The prospective client first needs to be sold on your worthiness (credibility) for investing their time and effort. The next thing they need to establish is trust in you and your organisation. Can they actually trust you with the information you are requesting and can they trust you to competently and ethically make recommendations in their best interests? If the first two sales are made, then selling the product, service or solution becomes very achievable once you align with their buying criteria and procurement process. The product is therefore problem resolution through the sales person. The buyer will engage effectively only once both credibility and trust have been established.
Sixth Sin: Skill and knowledge define value and success. Although these are important prerequisites, the real differentiator in the workplace and market is positive attitude and ability to influence. Knowledge and qualifications can easily create alienating arrogance and pride. People don’t care about what you know; they care about what you can do for them. This is why having a positive attitude and proven ability to deliver is crucial.
Seventh Sin: ‘Success is just a numbers game’. Work ethic is important and understanding the required activity levels for building and maintaining a sales funnel is essential. Yet the mediocre focus on being efficient in the least important activities. Be effective and avoid the busy fool syndrome. This means doing the right things, with the right people, at the right time. Yes, understand and honour the required activity levels for a healthy pipeline but progressing a prospect to becoming a customer is not about numbers; it is all about people, process and strategy.
Definition - Transactional Relationship Selling: Building relationships of genuine rapport and trust for the purpose of gaining information and support for a buying decision that is in the best interests of all concerned. The sale is achieved through the transference of belief with positive emotion and supported logically with facts and evidence.
The following ten laws must be observed.
1. People buy from those they like and trust. Corporations do not buy but individuals do so from those they like and trust. Trust is built through shared values and genuine understanding. Do your homework and be a domain expert by truly understanding their industry and your market. Applying unwanted pressure and closing prematurely is a mistake. Anything that damages trust and understanding is to be avoided.
2. People buy with their emotions and justify decisions with logic and facts. Selling is the transference of emotion and belief supported by logic and evidence. Factual information supports rather than drives the decision to buy.
3. Listening is the most powerful form of influence. You learn nothing while talking. Listen and ask insightful questions. Talk no more than one-third of the time. People are best convinced by reasons they themselves discover.
4. You cannot sell to someone who is unable to buy. Unless someone has a problem and the necessary money and the authority to commit; they are not a prospective customer. Your time is a precious finite resource; do not waste it.
5. People always act in their own best interests. Regardless of what a person tells you, trust only what is in their best interests. Thoughtfully validate and test commitments made to you or your company. Ensure that you understand what's in it for them personally.
6. Features are not benefits. Product or service features will never win the deal but can eliminate you, often without you even knowing. Features are only benefits if they solve the customer’s specific acknowledged problems. Over-emphasis of features can create unnecessary objections and concerns with price or the complexity and risk of implementation and ownership. Avoid PPS — Premature Presentation Syndrome.
7. The product is not the product. The product is the outcome that is achieved when buying the product, service or solution. In addition to this; the sales person, their team, methodologies and ability to deliver are essential elements of any solution.
8. Problem solving comes before solution selling. The size of the problem determines the size of the opportunity, and price is only relevant if they want what you are offering. Focus on creating value through delivering the best outcomes with the lowest risk. Never discuss price before agreeing value. Price should be no more than one-third of the equation in the buyer’s mind rather than the predominant determining factor.
9. A sale is only a sale when you have irreversible commitment. Verbal commitments can easily evaporate and letters of intent are not binding. Signed contracts and purchase orders are good but it is only when you have a client’s money in your bank account that a sale has been truly achieved. They are only a valid customer when they have realised the business benefits of your product, solution or service.
10. Attitude is everything. The selling profession is amongst the most difficult of careers. This is because it is highly demanding emotionally and intellectually. Success requires the solid foundation of positive attitude, self-belief, and adaptability; all combined with competence in execution and disciplined work ethic. Lasting success is always limited to the worthiness of the sales person as defined by their skill, values, habits and attitudes. Value for employer and customer is defined by your ability to positively influence and deliver results. Embrace challenges and difficulties because they create a barrier of entry to your sales competition, internally and externally. Scarcity creates value and there are very few masterful sales professionals. If success in your environment was easy, it would not be as rewarding or lucrative.
Although these ten laws relate to tactical and relationship selling, they all nevertheless also apply to strategic enterprise selling. There are however additional considerations as the complexity of the sale increases. The techniques and behaviours that work in simple relationship selling can actually damage the chances of success in large complex sales environments. Very senior relationships and dealing with complexity is what largely defines the need to be strategic. In large complex enterprise selling, having no strategy equates to having little chance of winning. Review the additional Laws of Strategic Selling.
Definition - Strategic Enterprise Selling: The process of engaging early at the most senior level, aligning with political and economic power, in addressing the most serious problems or opportunities. Then architecting solutions with unique compelling value while setting an agenda that disadvantages or eliminates competitors.
The following ten laws must be observed.
1. Gather all necessary intelligence before formulating strategy. Never act without thinking and assessing all of the available accurate information. A strategy is only as good as the information that leads to it. Being an excellent climber is of no benefit if your ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
2. Be first and set the agenda. Being strategic is best achieved by being there first and setting the agenda with the senior stakeholder. Truly understand the organisational dynamics and winning agendas aligned to the biggest problems or opportunities. Being there first enables you to influence the requirements toward your own unique value and disadvantage the competition.
3. Start high in the account and be a domain expert business person. You will always be delegated to people you sound like. Be a business person rather than a sales person by discussing their industry and business challenges and opportunities. Be equipped to discuss how your organisation has helped others to overcome similar challenges or realise significant opportunities. Have proof of your claims. Avoid discussing features and functions of products, services or solutions.
4. Find and influence the ‘puppet master’. This will be a senior person in the background who seeks to avoid meeting with sales people. They will only engage if they believe you have something of value to them personally. Initial influence or establishing credibility can often be achieved indirectly through third-parties.
5. Understand the informal power-base and politics. The organizational chart can be misleading and it is essential to understand the power-base and influence-dynamics that transcend the visible structure. Align your value with serious problems, important outcomes and winning agendas. Solutions must be embedded in the customer’s business processes.
6. Align to serious problems, significant opportunities and winning agendas. The only person who can call it a solution is the customer. Problem solving must occur before solution selling, and the size of the customer’s purchase order is directly linked to the size of the problem being solved or the opportunity being addressed. Understand the business case and real value of investing in your product, service or solution. The buyer is the only person who can really quantify the value.
7. Think before acting and be patient and strategic. Tactical mistakes can usually be recovered but strategic errors are often fatal. Never be afraid of waiting and always be willing to invest in gathering additional information. Do not confuse laziness, inaction or procrastination, with being strategically patient. Be humble and seek advice while thinking through the potential consequences of actions. Only birds are good at ‘winging it’.
8. Identify and manage risk. Bad news early is good news. Risk resides in what you cannot control and especially from ignorance. In the software industry, 90% of risk is in demonstrations and the other 90% of risk is in reference sites (not a typo; think about it). Across all industries, risk also resides in people and competitors. Anyone on your team afflicted by arrogance or an inability to listen and be briefed represents enormous risk. Beware therefore of your own executives who seek to interact with your prospect because they can easily say something damaging or introduce unwanted information. Existing customers are the greatest potential sales resource if they act as positive references but they can easily be a liability in highlighting your deficiencies and this is often the case the lower you interact in an organization.
9. Anticipate competitor moves and set traps. Know your competition and their methods of operation so that you can constantly change the rules. Do not allow them to use your weaknesses against you. Instead set traps for them and ensure you have set an agenda focused on your unique value. Ensure the customer publicises your winning selection early and widely therefore making it difficult for competitors to interfere once they deduce they’ve lost.
10. Confidence is the paradise of fools. Confidence is usually the feeling you have before you understand the situation. Avoid arrogance and complacency. Be positively paranoid (competitively aware) yet not defensive or cynical. Take nothing for granted and validate any assumptions. Respect the customer and their power of choice at all times. Never underestimate the competition or the way in which circumstances can alter through changes in personnel, market conditions, acquisitions, and myriad other factors.
Trust must be the first transaction in every sale.
Individual people make purchasing decisions and they buy from those they like and trust. Trust must therefore be the first transaction in every sale. Trust goes beyond mere rapport and is built on genuine understanding and common values. The sales person must invest time and energy in gaining and then demonstrating understanding of the customer’s environment and needs. Failing to do the necessary homework before a meeting is a guaranteed way to damage trust and rapport. Recognised capability and positive reputation are also essential in earning the right to ask insightful questions which is the most powerful form of influence.
TRUST = (UNDERSTANDING + SHARED VALUES) x (CAPABILITY + REPUTATION)
Leading sales professionals focus on gaining understanding and insight rather than pushing features and benefits. They frame what they have to say as thoughtful open questions. They are committed to working the sales process in the best interests of all concerned and avoid trust-destroying rhetorical questions which are usually perceived as manipulate or redundant. Importantly, we learn nothing while talking and a sales person’s verbosity actually damages the process of gaining understanding and building trust. Strive to talk no more than one-third of the time when engaging with a senior executive.