Truth #1 — If you can’t get in you can’t sell

It’s obvious. If you cant’ get in front of a decision maker, there’s little chance of winning a sales opportunity other than luck. Yet many sales people never get close.  Too many sales opportunities are artificially limited by sales staff taking their lead from recommenders and influencers, as opposed to decision makers. The difference is huge.

The problem is it’s easier to get in front of those who recommend and influence as opposed to make decisions. So, many sales reps. take a meeting with people near, but not directly involved in the decision to purchase. This is a leading cause of poor revenue forecasts. The sign are sales opportunities forecast week-after-week at high probabilities to close, then quickly disappearing as the end the month, quarter or year expires — explanations given include things such as They went with someone else…The budget wasn’t approved…A friend of the CEO was given the deal…etc.

You have to be in direct contact with decision makers to consistently win and exceed quota.

To get in front of decision makers you have to offer something more valuable than the products and services you offer.  You have to address business problems and opportunities — becoming more a business person than salesperson. Business people rarely have time to deal with sales people, but they always have time to meet a business person to discuss important business matters.  That’s the rub: to access decision makers you need to be versed in the bushiness interest the decision maker values and then map the products and services you offer to that worldview.

The things you do are more important than the things you offer.

Truth #2 — There’s never a good time to meet and no one really wants to meet with you anyway

Getting in is about taking initiative. You can’t wait for the right time or an invitation. Yes, in the world of permission marketing and social media, being invited is important — it’s just not realistic for a salesperson working under a quota.

People are busy. And decision makers are especially busy. That’s no excuse to not getting in – you can. It merely means your products and services aren’t enough.  Calling to introduce yourself to talk about the things you have to sell is rarely going to work — you can’t build a business that way.

So, it’s back to the need to attract interest from someone who doesn’t have the time to talk to you. The secret to winning that attraction is something we’ll hammer away at throughout this program: you have to solve a business problem or create a business opportunity the decision maker cares about.  When you do that, the busy decision maker will make time to meet you.

Truth #3 — Budgets rarely matter

Certainly, there are some markets more budget sensitive than others — government comes to mind. But for most enterprise sales, budgets are flexible. Decision makers can always find money.

A truth of budgets is they’re easy to use as an excuse to get rid of a salesperson. Tell a salesperson you don’t have money this year, but may set aside money in next year’s budget and the salesperson happily goes away.

My recommendation about budgets is to never ask about them — it’s an amateur question of a salesperson who isn’t engaged with the decision maker. Decision makers know what things cost. And they aren’t interested in wasting your time or theirs. If you encounter a situation whereby an option in the opportunity significantly raises the price, just say so. Decision makers are businesspeople, become their peer and have a business discussion about price and cost.

There’s always money available to spend on things that matter.  And what matters is fixing a problem or creating an opportunity that’s valued by the person making the decision to purchase.

Truth #4 — No one wants your MARCOM

We all know this as salespeople: The majority of times we’re asked to send a prospect marketing materials — brochure, white paper, case study, etc. — it is a polite way to get rid of us. But here’s something many salespeople don’t recognize: decision makers rarely ask for marketing materials before the discussion — the reason is MARCOM is overwhelmingly about the products and services we offer, not about the business issues the decision maker values. The discussion the decision maker wants to have doesn’t require MACOM.

Salespeople deal in the world of brochures and white papers, business people don’t. Yes, there’s a time for MARCOM during the vetting process, but that happens later in the opportunity, mostly when dealing with recommenders and influencers.

So, what do you do when asked to send literature? Two things: 1) realize you’re likely not engaged with a decision maker 2) send it anyway and re-group within the account. Keep looking for the decision maker and hone your ability to talk about the business issues the decision maker values.

Truth #5 — The greatest truth of them all

Getting in is about you. You have to take initiative to get in.  You have to offer something more than the products and services you wish to sell.

You can’t fight the truths above — you don’t need to. Just accept them as truths and learn how to work in the environment they create.

Don’t worry about people being busy. Don’t worry about Gatekeepers who are charged with keeping you away.  Don’t worry about not being asked to meet.  And don’t worry about the sales tools you do and don’t have — none of it matters when working to get in.

What say you?

A worldview is the way you or someone else views the world. It’s the environment we work in, the things we care about, the rules and regulations that form parameters around our work-life, our influences and biases, etc.

Why worldviews are important

Worldviews are important because it’s the lens each of us use to evaluate a problem, solution, and opportunity.  It’s the reference point we have that forms our interest and concern.  Things that fall within our worldview have a greater opportunity to catch our attention and compel us to learn more.

Worldviews are important because they form the basis for the things we give time to and spend money on.

Why your worldview needs to change

Your worldview likely needs to change because it’s too product and service focused. In other words, your worldview is likely yours, not your prospective customer’s. Sadly, most company sales training continues to be product-oriented: how our product’s spec sheet is better than others, how our product functions, how our product is configured, etc.

The reason this is a problem is because no one wants to buy anything you or I have to offer. Our prospect’s worldview isn’t concerned about our product or service, except to the extent it can address a problem or opportunity they’re concerned with. NOTE: We’ll talk about this in detail in Module 3.

When our worldview doesn’t match the worldview of the person we’re talking to, they don’t listen. So, we need to change our worldview to match our prospective customers: talking about the things we do in terms they are attuned to — their worldview.

The worldview that matters most

Obviously, the prospective customer’s worldview matters most — far more than the salesperson’s view of the products and services they offer. The prospect is who we need to listen to and have listen to us.  We need the prospect’s attention, but to get it we can’t change their worldview — there are too many things that shape it that we can’t control. Instead, we need to match the prospect’s worldview to be accepted and welcomed to join in a conversation.

If we want the attention of a decision maker, we need to introduce ourselves in a manner that fits the way they see and experience the world. If we don’t, we’re merely interrupting them with things they aren’t concerned about and will commonly be met with requests for literature, excuses of inadequate budgets, and responses such as We don’t have a need right now, but we’ll call you when we do.

How do worldviews relate to getting in?

Think for a moment about interruptions. By definition an interruption is to hinder or stop the action or discourse of someone by breaking in on them. Interruptions are when one worldview intersects with another. It’s when I’m involved in one thing and you call me about something else — something important to you, but not to me.

When you operate from the worldview of your prospective customer, there’s less chance of interruption and greater chance you’ll be welcomed when you initially make contact.

How to change your worldview

To change your worldview, you need to put yourself in the position of your prospective customer — think about the world as they do. Then map the things you offer into that view — focusing on the things you do for your prospect as opposed to the things you do.

Your prospect’s view of the world comes from the following:

• their position
• their work history
• their customers
• their management
• their experience
• their peers
• their market
• their industry
• their organizational structure
• their responsibilities
• their duties
• their metrics
• their reporting

You need to look at the things above and ask yourself how the things you offer fit into that world. You need to talk about the things you offer in terms that fit that worldview — the things your prospective customers cares about most, the things they are concerned about; the things they watch, measure, and report each day.

An example of mismatched worldviews

In a past life I was VP of Worldwide Sales and Support for an IP telephony company — we manufactured, sold and supported soft-switches and media gateways. As VP of sales in a late-stage start-up I was continually focused on expanding our market, shortening sales cycles, generating repeat revenue, and exceeding revenue targets — that was my worldview.

And I was continually approached by salespeople hocking sales training.

In my first few months on the job, a number of sales training companies called me. I was targeted as an new sales VP at a growing company — likely ready to change things a bit and put my stamp on the organization. Sales training was rationalized as part of that change.

So, the phone calls and letters continued.

Each salesperson that contacted me touted their wares: pedigree of trainers, number of sales staff trained, uniqueness of training materials, follow-on support options, sales tools, etc. To me, each sounded about the same. Each person who contacted me was very proud and excited about their program.

The disconnect was my worldview didn’t include training. I didn’t view training as the issue with our sales performance — present or future. But I was focused on exceeding revenue targets and maximizing our sales presence.  My worldview was focused on close ratios, shortening sales cycles, increasing indirect sales performance, and attracting better qualified leads.

I wasn’t interested in training, but would have welcomed talking to someone with a program to shorten sales cycles, increase transaction values, reach more decision makers, increase the rate and volume of repeat buyers, increase close ratios, etc. the problem was no one contacted me talk about these concerns. No one related their sales training program to my worldview.

As a result, I ignored continued requests for my time to talk about sales training. I didn’t want to talk to anyone about their program. The missed opportunity for some companies was the inability to equate their sales training as a means to achieve something important to me.

Things to think about

Consider the prospects you target and think about ways their worldview differs from yours.  Do you map your products and services as a means to achieve something valuable to them?  What drives your conversations — their interest or yours? Talk to your prospects about the things you do for them as opposed to the things you do.  Your products are services are a means to achieve something they value.

What say you?

That simple question does two things:

• Qualifying: That question helps determine how likely the prospect is to complete the purchase. The greater the consequence, the greater the likelihood they will advance the purchase decision in a given time. If there’s little impact to not making a decision, a flag is raised I may be working with a window shopper.
• Buying Criteria: The question gets the prospect to describes the reason they want to make a purchase: achieve something, avoid something, improve something, etc.

Once the question is asked, I can conversationally explore their answer to get to the root of their interest and frame my proposal.

Try it the next time you meet with a prospective customer and see for yourself how powerful that simple question can be.

Drop any thoughts you have on the subject in the comments below.

When I talk about getting in, I’m referring to actions a salesperson takes to initiate a conversation with a target account. That conversation is what leads to qualifying activities and hopefully, a sales opportunity.

Why you can’t get in

There’s a simple reason you can’t get in — the person you’re calling, writing, or mailing doesn’t value the conversation you’re offering. If they did, they’d welcome the contact. But they don’t and as such, they ignore you.

You can’t get in because the person you’re trying to connect with doesn’t value the connection. It’s mistaken to chalk that up to bad timing or being an interruption.

Here are the signs and results of struggling to get in

I believe Getting in is the greatest challenge in B2B sales. It’s expressed a number of different ways, but here’s what I hear all the time in my coaching and consulting work:

• Our prospective customers don’t get it
• We don’t get as many meeting as we should
• We call and email a lot of people, but we get very little response
• Our sales pipeline is weak and unpredictable
• We’re not sure what to say when we get someone on the phone
• We talk to a number of people, but the conversations don’t go anywhere
• We send lots of information to prospective customers and never hear from them again

All of the items above are symptoms of needing help getting in. The result is unpredictable sales forecasts, revenue hockey sticks, and underperforming sales organizations. Struggling to get in leads to companies earning less market share and revenue than they should.

The key to getting in is being relevant

If you want the person you’re contacting to respond, the key is being relevant. Relevant phone calls, email, voicemail, and letters are answered and responded to. That’s both the simple truth and the rub.

Being relevant is about framing your conversation in the worldview of the person you’re approaching. The other person’s interest, concern, opportunity, awareness, sensitivities, threats, and biases form a filter of sort for all information they encounter. Present a message and frame a conversation within that worldview and you’re relevant. Once you’re relevant, you’re in.

You have to be relevant to get in.

What say you?

A go-to-market strategy is a unified, multi-disciplinary approach to bringing products and services to the marketplace. While many companies have traditionally treated their marketing, sales, customer service, and product teams as autonomous functions with little interaction, those with a well-developed go-to-market strategy bring these functions together to help achieve profitable growth. This approach requires alignment across the company’s outward-facing functions with respect to whom they’re targeting, what their product messaging is, and how they’re representing the company.

Be sure to checkout OpenView Labs’ list and give each of the influencers a read — you may want to subscribe to their blogs. Each influencer noted is a good resource for ideas you can personalize in your business.

Enjoy!

There’s a problem with this problem.

1. If the call you receive is irrelevant and unwelcome, the problem is with the preparation before the call, not the call itself. The person making the call failed to do their homework before they picked-up the phone.

The fact you were interrupted and didn’t welcome the call is a sign of irrelevancy. The fact you receive more irrelevant than relevant calls is the opportunity.

2. All sales activities are at some level a numbers game. Anyone working on a quota knows their success is determined by the time remaining in the reporting period, their average sales cycle, close ratio, and ratio of suspects who convert to prospects. Regardless of methodology, a salesperson has to fill their pipeline to a given point to assure they can meet quota.

The fact you call X people to create Y meetings to advance Z sales opportunities to close a given amount of business is fine. There’s no evil in that equation.

The problem with the problem with cold calling is there is no problem. The real issue with cold calling is preparation and technique — the use itself is valid.

What say you?

Topic: Connecting with Decision Makers

For a person to give you time or money, they have to perceive a return that’s greater than what they give. For a person to do it twice, they have to realize it.

If you’re having a hard time getting people to accept your appointment or respond to your offer, look first at what you’re offering in return. Are you offering something of real value? If not, that’s your problem.

The key to gaining the attention of decision makers is to approach them from their worldview. Talk to them about the things they care about that you can help them with — eventually discussing the features and functionality of your products and services as demonstrable proof the benefit you offer is real.

Give a person a compelling reason they should engage with you (from their worldview) and they will.

Topic: Driving Mechanisms

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Driving Mechanisms are the things going on in a client account that drive the purchase decision in a given time-frame. This podcast explains the value of driving mechanisms and how sales staff and management alike can use them to qualify and advance a sales opportunity, as well as increase the accuracy of your sales forecast.

Be sure to drop questions into the comments below regarding anythign shared in the podcast that may need greater definition or explanation.

How do you use driving mechanisms in your sales activity?

The biggest change is moving Saleskick from the defining service to a service in an important chain of connected and related services to drive client sales and revenue growth. Saleskick’s Core Story offering is the driving force in that chain.

In the coming weeks, I’ll post more about the changes in our business — announcing services, sharing case studies, and talking about the interrelationships of Saleskick, Copykick, and Webkick as it relates to real-world opportunities for businesses to attract target audiences, nurture sales leads, and ultimately sell more — faster.

What’s missing from the discussion on interruption marketing is relevancy. The problem with interruption marketing isn’t the interruption — the problem is irrelevant messages and offers.

It takes energy, effort, and careful thought to be relevant. Maybe that’s the underlying problem many marketers have with all things not permission…you have to understand the worldview of the people you target, and talk to them about the things you can do for them, as opposed to the things you do.

I don’t know of anyone who minds in the least being interrupted by a message that’s relevant. Do you?