Developing a professional sales organization culture

Sales 101Jeremiah Fellows | Director, Sales and Marketing

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A History of SalesFrom bad to better then back to bad

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Traditional SalesSales behaviors are based on information scarcity

Sales are made by selectively releasing and withholding information to create

misconceptions and dependencies.

As information becomes ubiquitous it is easier for the buyer to compete.

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Solution SellingAs customers have increasing access to information sales is becoming better at listening.

Sales are made by listening for “pain points” and crafting a solution to address those pain points.

There is little differentiation between sales people and the products and services they sell.

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The PresentCustomers can identify their own pain points and solve complex problems on their own.

Sophisticated buyers make salespeople quote generators competing on price.

Salespeople respond by reverting to hoarding and manipulating information.

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The Future of salesIt’s about the right skills and the right customer

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There is no sales.Sales is dead.

Sales is being replaced by collaborative discovery. Sales people are looking more like

film producers.

Collaborative sales is defined by transparency, candor and mutual exploration.

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The SkillsThis is no longer an issue of introverted versus extroverted.

Collaborative salespeople have emotional intelligence. They are smart, not clever. They

have an intense curiosity.

The future is salesperson is defined by creativity and improvisation.

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TargetingFind the customers willing to mutually explore the issues and collaborate on a solution.

This is more work than issuing an RFP and treating vendors as commodities.

These customers are harder find. These customers are not average. These customers

exist in the fringes.

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QualifyingThe solution and the customer issues must be in alignment.

Understand the issues. Know the impact of solving the problem or capitalizing on the

opportunity. Define success.

You are not the star. Learn to coach.

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IssuesA request for a solution does not define the problem.

Dig deep. Use the Five Why’s. Understand the issue ecosystem. Understand the

priorities.

Be willing to walk away.

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ImpactQuantify the result of solving the problem or capitalizing on an opportunity.

Understand the measure of success. Define it in dollars where possible.

Not every problem is worth solving.

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DecisionUnderstand who, when and why of the decision process. There may be many processes.

Why will they say yes? Why will they say no? Who should be in the discussion? How do they

measure success?

Don’t guess. Ask.

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CoachYou developed the solution together. Let them be the hero.

They might have the right access. They might pitch it better. Coach others to make your case for you.

Coaching happens with people. Sales happens to people.

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Case StudiesWhat I have done right (and wrong).

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Case Study: ImpactA client asked us to develop an online form with an integration to a back end system. This project was to reduce the time employees spent doing data entry.

As part of developing a proposal and estimate we dug into the clients process. We determined they spend an average of 40 hours a year doing the data entry.

We estimated it would cost around $150K to develop the software necessary to automate the data entry.

We could have gone for the win and taken the opportunity at face value. Because we asked a lot of “Why’s” we escaped proposing a project that would take 150 years to realize ROI.

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ResourcesBrilliant people and what they have to say.

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Links & Books•The End of Solution Sales

•Provoking your customers

•Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship

•To Sell is Human

•This is Service Design Thinking• This book has great information about Personas and customer journeys told from

the perspective of a service designer. Sales is a service. This information especially relevant.

Jeremiah Fellows

Director, Sales and Marketing

Aspenware

J.Fellows@aspenware.com

LinkedIn

@JwFellows