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Solution Selling
What Are Your Sales Goals?
“To create a customer” - Peter Drucker “To bring our audience and advertisers
together” - KOMC/KRZK, Branson, MO “To help people sell more Fords,” -- Lowry
Mays, former CEO of Clear Channel Communications
Objectives What are your sales objectives?
1 To get results for customers2 To develop new business3 To retain and increase current business
– Presell– Upsell
4 To increase customer loyalty
Strategies What are your sales strategies?
To sell solutions to advertising and marketing problems
Complete customer focus To reinforce the value of advertising and of
your medium
Strategies
To create value for your product To become the preferred supplier
To establish, maintain, and improve relationships at all levels of the client and agency (keep agency informed)
To provide the best research, information, and advice
To be customers’ marketing consultant by providing solutions
Strategies
To innovate New packages, new products, new
promotions New creative approaches New technology “The only functions of an enterprise:
marketing and innovation.” Peter Drucker
Key Functions What are a salesperson’s key functions?
1 To position your product to have a differential competitive advantage
2 To manage relationships and build trust To create rapport To empathize To persuade To cooperate To build consensus
Key Functions
3 To solve problems Creativity Get results
4 To create a sense of urgency5 To communicate effectively up, down,
and acrossKeep your management and coordinator
informedFrom the street, bring back market and
competitor knowledge
Old Paradigms Of Selling
AIDA– Attention– Interest– Desire– Action
Commitment Close
Each step used tricks
Old Paradigms *
Old tricks don’t work anymore.– Designed in 20s and 30s for one-call, low-cost,
unimportant decisions Old selling models don’t work in today’s
highly competitive, interactive, sophisticated business environment.
* Adapted from Sales Effectiveness Training by Carl Zeiss and Thomas Gordon, Dutton, 1993
Old Paradigms
Don’t work because:– Increased competition, increased need for
stronger customer loyalty and long-term relationships
– Increased cost of developing new business Solution selling requires partnering.
– Solution selling is all about establishing and maintaining relationships and building trust.
Old Paradigms
Don’t work because:– Today’s buyers are more sensitive to
traditional sales techniques, manipulation, and tricks.
– Today’s buyers have a multitude of complex alternatives they can buy.
They need help making decisions. They will let you help them only if they trust you and
our company.
Old Paradigms
Don’t work because:– More, stronger competitors provide buyers with
more choices – they don’t have to deal with anyone who doesn’t satisfy their needs or they don’t like or they don’t trust.
Old Paradigms
Don’t work because:– Today’s sellers are unhappy with the pressure
and grind of one-shot sales (Hunters), they prefer long-term relationships (Farmers).
– Today’s sellers want to get results for clients – more satisfying.
– Today’s sellers want to be trusted, respected, and not seen as manipulators (old-fashioned sales image).
The New Paradigm
The customer is not the opponent – not someone to be overcome or beaten.
The customer is a partner who needs:– A trusting relationship– Problems solved– Needs and wants met– Concerns addressed– A win-win, fair agreement– To get started before a competitor does
Solution Selling Is Need-Satisfaction Selling
“Do unto others as they would have others do unto them.”
Uncover and define problems and needs.– Business problems (rational, often ill-defined)– Personal needs (emotional, unconscious)
Need-satisfaction selling is difficult.– Requires emotional intelligence, interpersonal
skills.
The Needs-Recognition Process
UNOBSERVABLE OBSERVABLE
(Unconscious, Semi-conscious)(Conscious)
NEEDS and MOTIVATION BEHAVIOR
Needs Recognition Process
Behavior is observable.– Behavior is conscious, purposeful -- people
behave for a reason. Motivation is unobservable.
– Motivation is semi-conscious -- people are usually not fully aware of their motivation that drives behavior.
Needs are unobservable.– Needs are unconscious, deep seated, changing to
get satisfaction -- people are unaware of their needs that drive motivation.
Solution Selling
Relationship rule: People like and trust people exactly like themselves.
Trust depends on source credibility:– Trustworthiness– Competence– Objectivity– Expertise– Physically Attractiveness– Dynamism– Similarity
Features, Advantages, Benefits Features: What you’ve got.
– Channels, splash-screens, impressions Advantages: Why what you’ve got is
better. Benefits: How what you’ve got solves a
problem.– Always remember WIIFM
The client is asking himself silently to every feature you describe, “What’s In It For Me?”
Solution Selling
Position features, advantages, and benefits as problem solutions.
Position features, advantages, and benefits according to needs (“We’re a safe buy,” e.g.)
– Business needs– Personal needs
See List of Human Needs in the workbook.
Benefits Matrix
Use a Benefits Matrix to position features, advantages, and benefits according to business and personal needs and as problem solutions.
– See Benefits Matrix in workbook.
Solutions Selling
Relationship rule: People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
– The best way to let people know how much you care is to listen.
Effective Listening
The single most important skill in personal relationships, selling, negotiating, and managing is listening.
You can’t have a successful relationship unless you are firmly committed to listening a majority of the time.
Effective Listening
Listening– 60% in most relationships -The minimum– 80% in some relationships - The maximum
If your partner won’t listen at least 20% of the time, it is not a two-way relationship it’s a one-way relationship like in theater, movies, print, broadcasting, or cable -- you are the audience.
Effective Listening
Listening is an essential component of communication.
The Communication Process
Source Message Channel Receiver
Listening
UnderstandingFeedback
Effective Communication
Effective communication requires understanding the elements of the communication process and using them to enhance your communication effectiveness and to power a relationship forward.
– More effective communication = stronger relationships
– The goal, destination of a relationship is agreement.
– Relationships, like car engines, are very complicated.
The Elements of the Communication Process
Communication -The fuel that powers a relationship forward.
Trust - The grease and oil that keeps it running smoothly.
Listening - The foundation, the road on which the process of communication travels toward agreement.
Fuel Engine Destination
Communication
Under-standing
Respect
Caring Fairness
Agreement
TrustListening
Effective Communication Depends On:
Source credibility Message strength Channel effectiveness Receiver characteristics Listening effectiveness Responsive feedback
Effective Communication
Elements that enhance Source Credibility:– Trustworthiness– Competence– Objectivity– Expertise– Physical Attractiveness– Dynamism– Similarity
“People like and trust people exactly like themselves.”
Effective Communication
Elements that enhance Message Strength:– Two-sided argument– Ordering effects
Primacy and recency– KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)
USP (Unique Selling Proposition)– Focus on benefits to partner
Effective Communication
Channel Effectiveness– Face-to-face most effective
Full, two-way verbal and non-verbal communication with instant feedback
– Video (film, TV, e.g.) next most effective.– Audio (radio, e.g.) next.
Video and audio can convey emotion and control emphasis, even though they are one-way.
– Print least effective unless the message is complex.
Can’t convey emotion, one-way.
Effective Communication
Receiver Characteristics that affect communication:
– Intelligence The receiver can understand and evaluate messages.
– Self-confidence The receiver trusts self to evaluate communication
and make an assured decision.
Effective Communication
Effective Listening is the foundation on which effective communication rests.
You can improve not only your listening effectiveness but also the listening effectiveness of your partner on the road to agreement.
The beginning of knowledge, learning, relationships, communication, and conversation is a question – an open-ended question.
Effective Listening Ask an open-ended question. Adopt the proper attitude.
– Optimistic, open, confident, trusting, respecting, non-defensive, and non-judgmental
Shut up and listen. Listen actively: nod, use gestures, smile
(Responsive Feedback). Concentrate on the speaker.
Effective Listening Do not step on sentences. Do not respond to negatives, objections,
concerns too quickly.– If you do, you appear to be defensive.
Do not think of a rebuttal.– If you continually rebut arguments, you’ll stop getting
them and won’t learn anything.– If you think of a rebuttal while trying to listen, you can’t
receive 100% of the information you hear.
Effective Listening
Respect the other side’s statements.– Respect and learn about their view of the
world. Listen for themes.
– Risk averse, conservative, entrepreneurial, needs recognition, affiliation needs, goal oriented, etc.
Be very sensitive to emotional cues. Listen in synchronization – don’t mimic.
Effective Listening
Concentrate on the speaker (open body language).
Acknowledge, don’t always agree.– “Oh,” “Uh-Uh,” “I see,” e.g.– Don’t say “Good,” or “You’re right,” -- judgmental.
Do not react emotionally.– Control your emotions.
Listen with authenticity.– Be yourself, others can tell when you’re not sincere.
Non-Verbal Communication Non-verbal communication conveys 65%
of a message’s meaning. Look for individual body language.
– No universal body language.
Use gestures, space, openness, and your body language to:
– Give the message you care about and like the other person.
– Match their style and pace.
Non-Judgmental Listening
People have a deep need for someone to listen to them and understand them.
Non-judgmental listening responds to this need.
– Interpreting and understanding their entire message without imposing your preconceived ideas or opinions on it.
Non-judgmental listening is non-defensive listening.
Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
Non-Judgmental Listening
Listen, understand and accept other people’s perception of the world.
– Spend time in their shoes. Develop a non-threatening, non-
confrontational attitude so people feel secure in opening up, revealing personal information.
– Offer personal information first and then trade it.
– Find something you have in common with the other person.
Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
Non-Judgmental Listening
Vary your responses, otherwise listening becomes a monotonous technique.
Show genuine concern and caring.– “I don’t care how much you know until I know
how much you care.” Never ask “Why?”
No challenges No obvious, manipulating techniques or
leading questions: “Have you stopped beating your wife?” e.g.
Non-Judgmental Listening
Objectives:1 To understand the other person’s needs
Often, the other person just needs to talk.2 To understand another person’s unique
perception of their world.
Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
Listening Roadblocks
Denying, minimizing, Cheering up, reassuring, encouraging Sympathy, indignation, me-tooing, story-
telling Advising, teaching
– Become condescending
Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
Listening Roadblocks
Taking over, rescuing Analyzing, probing, playing detective Criticizing, moralizing, warning Arguing, defending, counterattacking
– All of these responses are judgmental.– So the point is to shut up and listen and
acknowledge unemotionally … like a therapist does.
Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
Effective Communication
Aggressive behavior - “Getting What I Want.”
– Don’t be aggressive.
Assertive behavior - “This Is How I Feel.”– Be assertive.– Know who you are, what you want, and what you feel
and communicate it.
Use “I” messages.
Effective Listening: The Four Steps
1 Listen carefully, actively to other people.2 Repeat/rephrase their position/objection.
– “Let me make sure I understand your position…you feel our CPMs are too high?”
3 Get their agreement that you understand.– “Is that correct?”
4 Respond with a form of an “I understand” statement (vary your responses)
– “I understand…,”– “Feel, felt, found.”
“Feel, Felt, Found”
Respond:– “I understand how you feel …”
Acknowledges their feelings and honors them.– “Many advertisers have felt the same way …”
Reinforces and legitimizes their opinions so they know they aren’t way out, unusual, or silly.
– “But we have found that higher CPMs are based on three things: highly targeted inventory, high demand, and high renewal rates.”
Effective Listening Exercise
Find a partner– One is the salesperson, the other the client
Client states an objection, salesperson goes through the four steps of Effective Listening.
– Practice repeating the phrases. “Let me make sure I understand what you are
saying.” “Is that correct?” “I understand how you feel, others have felt the
same way, but we have found …” Switch roles after three attempts.
Solutions Selling
Position features, advantages, and benefits positively as solutions to advertising and marketing problems.
Don’t knock the competition.– You can’t sell what they don’t have.– You can only sell the features, advantages, and
benefits you have.
Don’t Knock the Competition
When you knock, you:– Waste time.– Lose credibility (not objective).– Lower your image (stay above it).– Open up areas you can’t control.
Client/buyer may like competitive salesperson.– Build competitors’ image.
Bring them up to your level. Rolex doesn’t advertise that’s it’s “better than a
Timex.”
Ways of Dealing with the Competition
Don’t mention the competition if you don’t have to -- ignore them.
If you have to mention them or are asked a question about them:
– Compliment the competition.– Talk first about your strengths (don’t answer
the question directly--like politicians do).– Expose generic weaknesses.
“Yahoo has very high-traffic and is the best of the portals, but portals aren’t very sticky.”
The Six Steps of Selling Prospecting Identifying Problems (discovery) Generating Solutions (research and
strategy) Presenting Negotiating and Closing Servicing
Set Objectives for Each Step Criteria for MADCUD objectives:
– Measurable– Attainable (accepted)– Consistent with company goals– Under the control of the person– Deadlined
MADCUD goals must be flexible
Goals
Motivation
Goal DifficultyVery Easy Very Hard
Peak Motivation
Goals and Objectives The purpose of goals (long term) and
objectives (short term) is to make people feel like winners.
Must be bottom-up, not top-down– Budgets and quotas are not motivational for all
people.
Goals Set time-spent goals for the five steps of
selling. For example:– Prospecting 10%– Identifying problems (discovery) 15%– Generating solutions
(research,strategy) 15%– Presenting 40 %– Closing 20%
– How much time spent on each varies according the the experience of the person, type of account list, etc.
Set Activity Goals Calls/Contacts Meetings
– Critical skills: Building rapport and trust Presenting Solving problems Overcoming objections Addressing concerns
Set Activity Goals As Well As Revenue Goals
Orders– Critical elements:
Creating value– Selling an idea– Selling the proposal
Selling the plan (inventory spread and pricing) Negotiating Closing
Set Activity Objectives As Well As Revenue Objectives
Set activity and revenue objectives– Revenue objectives don’t work for everyone.– Calls, appointments, and presentations lead to
sales, which lead to revenue--imperative to make the connection.
– By focusing on activities that lead to revenue, the control of the goal stays with the salesperson.
Salespeople can’t always control the size of the order they get.
But they can control how many calls they make and effective their sales presentation is.
Set Activity and Revenue Objectives
There must be a well-organized system for tracking and reporting on calls, meetings, presentations, opportunities, and orders.
– And details on why opportunities were won or lost.
Objective-setting exercise in workbook.
Prospecting: Creating Opportunities
Developing new business: finding prospects who have advertising and marketing problems.
– No one is completely satisfied with their advertising.
Make contacts:– Write out your telephone pitch in advance.– Use the prospect’s name, introduce yourself and
your organization.– Use a referral if possible. (“Jeff Bezos suggested I call
you.”)
Prospecting– State the purpose of the call is to set up an
appointment, not to sell anything.– Mention a motivating benefit (“special reason”
or “special idea”).– The word “idea” is magic, consultative.
Prospecting Pacing is the key on the telephone.
– Get to the point quickly.– Pause often.– Match prospect’s style and pace.
Put a mirror on your desk and stand up.– More animated, friendly, dynamic
Prospecting On the phone, be persistent (but not
obnoxious). If you get a “yes,” reconfirm the time and
day.– “Do you have your Blackberry handy?”– Generally, don’t reconfirm the day of the
appointment unless it’s out of town. In town, have your assistant call and say, “She’s on
her way for her 10:00a.m. appointment.”
Prospecting If you get the “don’t-come-see me”
stopper:– Ask “why”– Compliment their business.– “If one of your salespeople...”
Appointments are imperative.– Getting appointments is the most difficult part
of selling new business and requires creativity and, most of all, persistence.
Prospecting Prospecting success ratios:
– By telephone 66%– Cold calling 92%
Play the odds, use the telephone. Use voice mail effectively.
Prospecting On cold calls never say:
– “May I have a few minutes of your time?”– “I just happened to be in the neighborhood?”– “I’m sorry I interrupted you.”
On cold calls always state the purpose of the call and how long it will take.
Prospecting Methods By Current Advertisers in Other Media By Season By Category By Geographic Region By Inactive Advertisers By Current Advertisers By Business, Civic, and Other
Organizations
Persistence in Prospecting The key to prospecting, in fact, to all
selling is persistence.– Never, never, never, never, never give up.– Every client has at least one problem (perhaps
they are unaware of it) that is searching for a solution.
The Process of Preparation: Identifying Problems
Set objectives. Ask Discovery Questions:
– “What is the age, sex, and lifestyle of your best customers?
– “What problems do you expect interactive to solve for you?”
– “What advertising are you doing now?”– “What do like best, least about your current
advertising?”
Identifying Problems, Needs (Discovery)
The best questions are follow-up questions.
Discovery requires solid detective work.– Information is power.– The more information you get, the more
problems you uncover, the more objections and concerns you uncover, the more precise and helpful your solutions will be.
See workbook for Discovery Questions.
Generating Solutions (Research and Strategy)
The process of preparation– Research prospect’s category.
Advertising and marketing expenditures. Category growth profile
– Research prospect’s industry. Rank order of players and their market share. Media expenditures of players Creative campaigns and approaches of players Marketing strategy of players
Generating Solutions (Research and Strategy)
– Research prospect company’s marketing and advertising goals, strategies, and problems in achieving these goals.
Prioritize problems.– Research prospect company’s customers.– Research prospect’s strengths and weaknesses.– Research prospect’s major competitors’ strengths and
weaknesses.– Research prospect’s current creative approach.
Generating Solutions (Research and Strategy)
– Create effective promotions (if appropriate) that will solve the prospect’s problems.
Targeted Maximize reach Receptive audience.
– Brainstorm to generate several solutions.– Order, anchor, and frame solutions effectively.
Generating Solutions (Research and Strategy)
– Anticipate your competitors’ attacks on you (what they say about you to prospect).
– Anticipate prospect’s objections and prepare appropriate answers.
– Keep your sales objectives in mind at all times.– Create an account-entry strategy.– Create an overall sales strategy – a detailed,
step-by-step plan of attack (who does what when).
– Create a killer presentation. See checklist in the workbook.
Presenting Confidence is everything! Confidence is an attitude, which you
control:– Optimism– Positive goals (winning, not avoiding a loss)– Visualization– Mental Rehearsal– Do the right thing (honesty)
Presenting: Call Structure
Greeting– Set tone of the meeting and build rapport
New information– Provide new, relevant information to enhance your
source credibility and expertise. Opening
– A well-planned statement to pique interest in your proposal and solution
Recap and purpose– Recap what challenges and problems you will be
addressing and state the purpose of the call.
Discussion– Move prospects from desire to conviction that
your solution is the best one.– Dealing with objections– Conditions– Discussion tactics
Summary and close– Summarize key points – no more than three –
and ask for the order. No ask; no order.
Dealing With Objections
No objection; no sale Figurative and literal objections
– Figurative are not real – they are negotiating tactics and can be ignored.
– Literal objections are real and must be addressed.
Probe to understand. Compliment, restate, and get agreement. Empathize, reassure, and support (“feel,
felt, found”).
Use trial closes Forestall objections Use “Yes, but…” and compare. Use case histories (case studies). Use “coming to that…” Pass on objections
Dealing With the Price Objection
Hope it comes up; otherwise you’ve underpriced your product.
Always talk quality. Break price into smallest possible units. Talk value, not price. Refer to investments, not costs.
– Advertising is an investment in future profits Use “you get what you pay for.”
Conditions– Can’t be overcome; they are legitimate
reasons for not buying.
Discussion Tactics
Vary your style.– Contrast– Movement– Novelty
Use equivalencies to dramatize numbers. Narrow down objections and reconfirm
understanding. Change the basis for evaluation if necessary. Reassure doubts. Continually evaluate reactions and adjust.
Summary and Close
Summarize three key points Close
– Ask for the order No ask; no order.
– Move the sale along.– Get a commitment for next steps
Presenting
You’re a marketing solutions provider, not a “seller.”
– Always keep in mind your #1 sales objective: To get results for customers.
– Don’t sell customers stuff that won’t work. Don’t sell them something they like just to get an
order. Sell them what works best -- you’re the expert.– Don’t sell them more than they need – no
gouging, they won’t renew.
Closing Help buyers make the right decision. Create a sense of urgency. Use a variety of closes:
– The Clincher Close– The Assumption Close– The SRO Close– The Minor-Point Close– The T-Account Close– The Pin-Down Close
Closing
Ask for a decision.– Non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI)– Commitment to send IO
48-hour hold– “What else is left?”– “If I can resolve these issues, do we have an
agreement?” Once you reach an agreement, scram!
– Don’t be around when buyer’s remorse sets in.
Closing
Be careful about trying to close too aggressively.
You can create a sense of urgency, but the timetable has to be theirs.
– Too much pressure can kill a prospective sale. High pressure raises suspicion. People want to buy, they don’t like being “sold” or
“closed.”
Servicing You are the unique competitive
advantage. Set servicing and business increase goals.
– “You never ‘close’ a sale, you open a long-term relationship.” Dennis Waitley
– Which order is the most important one -- first or second?
– Tangibilize Send notes (more personal than e-mails), cards,
small gifts, etc.
Servicing– Always say “thank you” memorably.– Don’t forget anyone (review your account list
regularly).– Always present new ideas – increases.– Pre-sell– Handle complaints immediately and honestly
(see them as an opportunity to prove how good you are at servicing).
Solutions Selling
Managing relationships Creating value Making proposals that will get results
for customers Tracking results and making
adjustments Getting enthusiastic renewals at larger
investments See Servicing Exercise in workbook.
Summary
What are three lessons you learned and will put into practice immediately?
Write them down in the workbook.