This is the final part of a distillation of a presentation made by Liam Venter to the New Zealand RSN network of sales professionals. In part 3 we take a very quick look at 5 different selling methodologies and how to convert a strategy into a selling pocess.

The 5 main selling methodologies

1. Feature Selling
2. Relationship Selling
3. Winging it (freestyle approach)
4. Process Selling
5. Consultative Sales Process

I'm a process sales specialist so that is what we are talking about today. I will give you a 60 second overview of each of the five main selling methodologies as I see them.

A lot of sales training being delivered in the B2B space has been adapted from older retail sales programs that employ sales techniques that are actually counter productive in B2B sales environment.

Feature Selling works when:

• You have very short sales cycles – e.g. selling a skill saw.
• Selling to single decision maker.
• The solution directly benefits the decision maker.
• Retail sales of inexpensive products/services.
• Products that address a single compelling issue that is common to all of the target clients.
• Selling simple products with a very limited range of features.
• Selling products of low value where neither the purchaser nor seller can justify spending much time on the evaluation of the solution.
• Advantage - very easy to teach.

Relationship Selling works when:

• You are selling commodity products.
• The solution directly and personally benefits the decision maker.
• Useful when there are repeat orders for the same solution over long periods of time.
• Where you are looking to extend your sales through your existing client base to their friends and family. e.g. Real Estate agents.
• Relationships are one to one, not one to many.
• The interesting thing is that, counter-intuitively, relationship maintenance can be assisted with automated permission marketing techniques and tools.
• Relationship sellers often utilise CRM systems and campaign management software tools with great success.
• It's very hard to teach relationship selling – a good start would be to read Dale Carnagie’s book ‘How to win friends and influence people.’

Winging it (free-style approach)

The free style approach is pretty much just that. Salespeople rely on a wide
range of skills and techniques that they have been taught or learnt in a sporadic fashion and use their intuition to work out what to do and when. Sales people who work like this either quit in frustration or doggedly persist until they get enough experience that they can actually get reasonable results from this approach.

Does this sound like you?

Typically you get the most dramatic improvements from the free-style operatives when they get shown how to structure their excellent skills into an effective process.

Traditional Process Selling works when…

• There is a wide range of possible compelling issues and purchasing motives.
• You are selling into organisations where several people in the organisation will have different purchasing motives.
• There are longer sales cycles where the client has number of prescribed purchasing steps/requirements.
• The solution does not directly and personally benefit the decision maker.

Traditional Process Selling is focused on Business to Business sales environments and strategies.

The Consultative Sales Process 

• Is just an overlay to traditional process selling. It incorporates advantages of process selling plus...
• Focused on a consultative approach that discovers and develops sound, detailed and compelling R.O.I strategies for purchasers.
• Acknowledges a successful sale is the result of several value exchange steps. CSP creates and builds purchasing motivation with continual value exchange at each step to enable you to take the next step with the client.
• You build and sell your value as much as the products value – client can go to competitors for the products value only.
• Does not focus on controlling/manipulating the buyer’s psychology/emotions.
• Understands that the sales process commences earlier than your prospecting call or first meeting with the client.
• Includes built in metricing at each step of the process.
• Without a doubt though, the greatest advantage of Process Selling methodologies is that they break a sales process into small simple steps that are easy to teach and, most importantly, easy to implement and do.

Remember it is action, not thinking or knowledge, that changes results.

You need to develop and define a unique sales strategy that will suit your unique product, client base, competitive issues, etc.

...your product or services USP's are the key.

Marketing personnel develop their strategies by working back from what results their customer will pay to achieve …and then determining what USPs (Unique Sales Propositions) they need to provide their customers to give them these desired results.

Sales people. As sales people we don’t have this luxury. We often don't design the products we sell. We develop our sales strategies by working forward from our services or products USPs by determining what results our product can supply and then helping our customers determine if they need these results and how much these results are worth to them.

You need tools and processes that assist with this strategy – your sales training partners should provide these tools and help you embed them into you sales methodology. Typically these would be templates, milestone forecasting, litmus tests, and sales forensics tools.

Markets change and you need to evolve and change your USPs so that they remain relevant and compelling. Your in-house marketing and sales programmes need to periodically revisit and reassess these factors and automatically adjust for market changes.

Sometimes you don't notice the market changes until it's too late. I drove an old van every day and little by little the brake pedal travel got a little longer without me noticing it. It wasn't until I drove a friends identical van that I realised how long my brake travel had become.

Outside perspectives can be invaluable – it’s great to have a mentor you can use as a sounding board. It is crucially valuable to encourage client feedback.

Be wary - trying something exciting and new can be very seductive. Sometimes you might think the market has changed and all that has changed is you have got complacent and have stopped doing what got you to where you are.

Converting your Strategy into CSP processes

OK, if your strategy dictates that a flavour of Process Selling is best for
you....then you need to break your strategy into custom process steps.

When you break a sale down into a step by step process the sales person only needs to remember a few of the 1001 great things to do at each step.

When you break a sale strategy into a step by step process it enables simple templates for milestone forecasting, litmus tests and sales forensics.

A template is a bit like an examiners marking sheet overlay. Using the templates you can immediately spot where you are, what you haven’t done, what's wrong and what's not working.

CSP training provides a generic step x step sales process with pre-prepared:

Weighted milestone forecasting methodology
Sample litmus tests for each critical step

The processes and support structures to endorse a process  selling methodology for your sales people needs to be accepted and implemented throughout the company and embedded into your marketing, sales, operating processes and support mechanisms.

Create the support collateral for key steps

Embedding your steps into your operations makes it easy to perform milestone forecasting sales forensics and metricing

Your CRM or ERP system may be a crucial component in your marketing and lead generation strategy as well as supporting your sales processes.

Of course you have probably already discovered that if you want your staff to use your ERP or CRM system, using it must save them time and reduce their workload, automate their milestone forecasting and deliver them results.

If you want to know more about the Consultative Sales Process we recommend reading our sales training manual, ‘SalesFish’. You can obtain a copy of SalesFish as an ebook here.

This recession demands significant improvements in results from our sales teams

Most well run companies are only able to shave about 10% off their costs before they begin to severely limit their future viability.

Your recession strategy must deliver on the following:

• Platform and structure for sales growth
• Better FFM, sales forensics forecasting and metrics
• To survive this recession you might need to acquire new customers at a higher rate than ever before,  better lead generation, sales conversion, prospecting
• Significant % conversion rate gains
• More than 10% gain in sale
• A process for ongoing in-house development and assessment of staff
• Your sales training programme must absolutely and imperatively deliver results

Small changes can yield big results when you hit that sweet spot and the results become greater than the sum of the parts.

by Liam Venter:  Author of the popular sales training manual
'The Consultative Sales Professional'
You can obtain a copy here

This posting is a part 2 of a distillation of a presentation made by Liam Venter to the New Zealand RSN network of sales professionals. In part 2  we will cover how to profile the perfect customer and when in the buying cycle it's most efficient to engage with them.

This recession offers perhaps the best opportunity in the lifecycle of your business to grow your market share. As I said in part 1 of 'Smarter things to do, not say in a recession'. "More new millionaires will be created in this recession than any other time in history".

You need a detailed silhouette of your ideal customer. One of the problems facing businesses now is that many salespeople haven't had to prospect much for business in the recent boom - now that they having to they are like the 1980’s computer game –“Leisure Suit Larry goes looking for love in all the wrong places” – or as it more often turned out in Leisure Suit Larry, with the inappropriate style of partner.

In part 1 of this article I suggested that in this recession  "On average, each of your clients might be buying less". If this is the case for you then to survive this recession you might need to acquire new customers at a higher rate than ever before, and your plan will need to take this into account.

In World War II they placed silhouettes of enemy planes in cockpits so pilots could readily recognise the target -  and this had the added benefit that it also reduced 'friendly fire' mishaps – 'friendly fire' - is that an oxymoron like 'military intelligence'?

Has your sales team developed a written silhouette of an ideal customer?
Does it take into account clients purchasing categories and modes? (I'll explain these in a moment.)

An obvious place to start is to evaluate the profile of the clients you are currently being successful with.

What is it about a client that makes them a good match for your USPs or superior features?

1. Is it the size of their organisation?
2. The number of branches and warehouses they have?
3. Is it a particular industry?
4. Is it their financial profile (being able to pay is good!) Some Government funded organisations are for example recession proof.

Purchasing Categories. Most sales training only breaks customers into two categories – customers who are actively seeking a solution and those who are not. I believe it is very profitable to further divide those customers who are not seeking a solution into two categories. The three purchasing categories CSP training addresses are Solution Seekers, Solution Ponderers and Solution Sleepers.

Solution Seekers. Solution Seekers typically make up a very small percentage of the market. At any given time in the market, a small percentage of customers are actively looking for a vendor to provide them with a solution for known compelling issues. These customers are likely to have already established and defined their solution requirements and have probably already spoken to your competitors, who may have assisted them in defining the solution requirements to particularly suit their solutions unique features and advantages.

While solution seekers are probably calling you, selling to this group can often mean that you will be faced with intense competition which will reduce your chance of success and often mean that to win the deal you will need to attract their business with lower pricing. Be aware that purchasers in the solution seekers group may have been shifted from the solution ponderers group by your competitors. In which case your competitors have probably attempted to set the clients requirements for a solution around the unique features and the results that their product can deliver. Breaking into this client group may entail you climbing over your competitor's barbed wire ring fence.

In selling to this group you will want to carefully qualify the customer and their requirements before investing too much time. If their requirements specifically suit the superior and/or unique features of your product, chasing this business can be a productive use of your time. Solution seekers are easy to identify and if your brand image is good they will often contact you.

Solution Ponderers. These are customers who are vaguely aware that they have some issues that they should address at some stage. It may be that they haven't addressed these issues because:

• They do not believe there is a solution.
• The customer has not evaluated and quantified the effect of the issue on their business. It may even be that the issues do not directly effect the key decision makers and the issue owners have not been able to sell their requirements effectively internally to their decision makers.
• They have not had the opportunity (resources or expertise) to evaluate solutions.
• They believe a solution is not cost justifiable.
• They do not have the resources at this time to implement the solution.
• There is no enthusiasm to find a solution.
• There are risks in attempting to implement a solution.

From experience, I have discovered that this is the most profitable group to engage with. The trick is to discover these customers one by one, flush them out en mass, or better still get them to raise their hands and identify themselves to you. This is the group that I believe that most of your advertising effort, budget and prospecting time should be focused on. Identifying solution ponderers can be easier than you might think.

When you shift solution ponderers to solution seekers you will ideally want to achieve it in a manner that enables you ring fence these clients with a desire for specific results that only your unique solution can deliver.


Solution Sleepers. These are customers who do not recognise they have an issue or genuinely do not have any issue that your solution can address. Investing the time to sort out which of this group have compelling issues, (and hence are potential clients) but don’t recognise them and which genuinely do not have compelling issues (and hence are not potential clients) is too time consuming. However, you want to cast your marketing net so that it also encompasses these customers, so that when they come across an issue that your solution can address you are the first person they think of contacting.

What's important here in deciding which group to focus on is:

• Do you have predatory pricing (can you target your competitors coached solution seekers?)
• Sales time cycles
• Competitive playing fields
• Competitive pricing
• How much will you have to educate the market
• Is there a risk of parasitic selling after you have spent money educating the market?

There are also three customer purchasing modes.

1. Start-up
2. Growth
3. Fighting for survival

In boom markets we are more likely to be dealing with companies that have already decided to purchase a solution and they have approached the seller and the seller is just using persuasive techniques to get the client to select them.

In a boom market it’s more of a numbers game. If you can't sell with a short sell cycle move on to the next customer.

In a boom market the focus may be on companies in growth or start-up purchasing modes.

In a recession market where clients are more likely to be fighting for survival they will change incumbent suppliers more readily to seek cost effectiveness and more output from the same resources. This is your chance to grow your market share. As I said in part 1 of 'Smarter things to do, not say in a recession'. My prediction is that “More new millionaires will be created during this recession than any other time in history”.

In the final part of  'Smarter things to do, not say in a recession' I cover how to take advantage of the once in a business lifecycle opportunity this recession offers to aggressively grow your market share. Read this now

by Liam Venter:  Author of the popular sales training manual
'The Consultative Sales Professional'
You can obtain a copy here

This posting is a distillation of a presentation made by Liam Venter to the New Zealand RSN network of sales professionals.

Warning: This post is a little longer than normal – to reduce the length of it I would need to leave out useful and valuable information and suggestions.

What changes has the recession brought?

Retail shopping therapy: People are satisfying themselves with little treats – and delaying and cancelling bigger purchases. Liquor stores are doing well  ... new car sales are not!

B2B investment therapy: Customers are re-assessing every business investment decision they make. They are looking for ways to reduce costs and achieve more with the same resources. They are seeking increased certainty that their envisioned results will be achieved. Relationship selling methodologies have overnight become ineffective. Clients are realising that relationships have little value to short term bottom line profit margins.

To succeed in helping clients make purchasing decisions you must move your style to a ROI focused methodology.

Cash flow – customers' payments are slipping out to 90 days.

On average, each of your clients is buying less – which means you need to acquire new customers at a faster rate than ever before. You need better lead generation, better prospecting and better conversion rates than ever before.

Surprise surprise! Last month Microsoft announced that its business partner awards for 2009 are going to business partners ... “that focus on selling solutions that improve business productivity.”

We used to say it's all about money the rest is just conversation. Now "it’s all about ROI the rest is just sales talk”.

Does the recession provide new opportunities ... hell yes!

• In recessions, companies innovate which provides fantastic opportunities for sales people.
• Some organisations are recession proof – e.g. Government funded organisations such as Universities, etc.
• New niche opportunities that didn't exist or work before boom – e.g. recycling and repair businesses are reporting business is up.
• In recession markets clients will change incumbent suppliers more readily.
• Some of you competitors will loose heart, or won't change to suit the new market conditions and loose market share.
• People who have flourished through recessions in the past know this is your opportunity to take this market share ownership.
• Here's my prediction. More new millionaires will be created during this recession than any other time in history.

What's it going to take to succeed? Quite simply you probably need increased revenue from same resources! A 10% revenue growth from same resource can equate to greater than 20% net profit increase.

From sport and business endeavours we know that there is a sweet spot. When we hit it, time can seem to slow down and the results greatly exceed expectations.  The sweet spot is where results become greater than the sum of the parts. It happens when the sales strategy matches the customer’s requirements and the sales tactics fully support the strategy.

In talking with a local sales programme director a couple of weeks ago from one of the world's largest software companies, it was valuable and reassuring to hear someone else confirm that the difference in sales results between their resellers who have adopted their 'Process Selling Methodology' and those who haven’t “is simply night and day”. (I'll cover generic and custom 'Process Selling Methodologies' in the follow up to this article).

Strategy, methodology or tactics? What's more important? The reality is that they are all probably equally important. However you will you need to develop and define your strategy first, because your strategy will determine your methodology which in turn will dictate the tactics you decide to employ.

So what’s your strategy status? If asked would everyone in your company would they all detail the same strategy? This doesn't need to be a rhetorical question! After reading this why not go and ask your colleagues today what your company's sales and marketing strategy is?

The items in black font in the chart above denote the plan

The items in red denote what you need to focus on enhance the deployment of your plan

Sales skills and techniques. In the past a lot of sales training focused on teaching skills and techniques. I figure you have already spent some effort and time here and the improvements available from further improving your skills will only provide incremental results. If you are feeling this recession you are probably looking for something more than an incremental improvement. Because bigger and more sustainable returns are typically available from addressing strategy and processes, lets focuses on this first.

Much of the traditional sales training also focused on teaching sales people: how to establish rapport, how to negotiate and closing techniques, etc. We don't teach closing techniques we believe that you should construct a strategy that ensures you arrive at the point where you and the customer agree to a purchase (or not). We believe rapport with real value is only created when you can demonstrate your specialist expertise and your integrity. This is not done by asking what your prospective customer did in the weekend.

Some tactical mechanisms are obviously transparent and condescending to the customer.

I think we need to be very careful of which skills we choose to teach and adopt. Many of them are unneccessary, counter-productive and demeaning.

OK, now I have got that off my chest let's get back to looking at your strategy.

Sales forensics and analysis. The first step in coming up with your unique strategy is to analyse your unique situation. When it comes to sales training everyone is an expert. Sales training is littered with 1001 wining ideas. How do you know which of the 1001 ideas you should implement?

There has been surprisingly little genuine research into which of the 1001 wining ideas work and when.

We encounter companies trying to adopt inappropriate retail sales practices in the B2B space with sub optimal results. Retail techniques are often counter productive in B2B sales.

New Zealanders probably resist being controlled more than customers in America, where many of the traditional sales training programmes were developed.

For these reasons I think it is apparent that you need to be doing some in-house metricing (Yes I know metricing is not a real word – but I like it and having written it here, I now have copyright on the term!)

What should you be metricing?

• Sales training effectiveness (train half your staff or a test sample and compare the monthly sales results).
• Compare the results of sales people in your team that are using different sales methodologies.
• What is the spread of sales revenue performance within your team? Do the top sales people sell 30% more or 50% more? A large variation is an indicator of so many useful things.
• Compare the cost effectiveness of different lead generation mechanisms:  Cold calling Vs Seminars Vs social and business networking tools Vs referral programmes, etc. ( I bet you are already doing this one.)
• Sales steps conversion rates:  If you convert your strategy into a sequence of simple steps that take place in a sale you can measure the conversion rates between each step. This gives you the opportunity to spot and address where your sales process breaks most often. If you decide that after 'discovering issues', 'establishing an ROI strategy for your client' is the next spart 2tep in your sales process - then you should have metrics that measure the conversion rates from issues to ROI.
• It is imperative to measure the conversion rates between the different steps in your sales process - not the volume or quantity of each activity. For example don't just measure the volume of prospecting calls, measure the number of meetings you get from your prospecting calls. If you bonus staff on each of your process steps make sure the bonus is paid on the number of conversions between the steps – e.g. don't bonus them on the number of prospecting calls they make. Instead bonus them on the number of meetings they get from their prospecting calls!
  Compare your current success rates from targeting new client business Vs existing client business to decide where to put more effort now.
• Analyse what's worked in the past and what hasn't.
• How many phone calls did you need to make to get one meeting? How many meetings do you need to get one sale? If it takes you 10 prospecting calls to get 1 meeting and it takes you 10 meetings to get one sale it's taking you 100 calls to get one sale. If you want to double your sales and change nothing else to improve your conversion rate then you are going to need to make 200 calls to get two sales.

Of course it makes it easy to do metricing if your selected sales methodology has built-in milestone recording.

If your metrics show something isn’t working ... either change it to make it work or stop doing it. For example If you can't measure a revenue gain, staff retention gain or other bottom line result from sales training – change your programme or stop wasting your money.

In the next part 2 of this article I cover how to profile the perfect customer and when in the buying cycle it's most efficient to engage with them. Most valuably in the follow up to this article I will cover the 5 main selling methodologies and how to select which methodology will get the best results for your chosen strategy. Read part two here

by Liam Venter:  Author of the popular sales training manual
'The Consultative Sales Professional'
You can obtain a copy here