Don't spill your candy in the lobby!
The reasons why so many smart people fail at sales...
Many years ago, I was introduced to the Sandler Sales methodology. While I don’t think any sales system works in all cases, and none work in a vacuum, I have found that there are good aspects in all of them. Sandler is known for its fun idioms that teach a core concept. For instance, “you can’t teach someone to ride a bike at a seminar” meaning to really get a sale accomplished, you have to work 1:1 with the buyer. The other one that I love is “don’t spill your candy in the lobby” which is the topic of this issue of I’m Bossey.
As a founder, or as the seller-doers that often are the primary growth executives in the knowledge services businesses we work with, selling is not your primary skill-set. You sell because you have to. It is a means to an end. Therefore, developing those selling muscles is not a priority. Sales are achieved through demonstrating capabilities to serve, being highly responsive, a deep understanding of the client’s environment, and a track record of success with similar clients. This approach is often highly dependent on “good work leading to more work.” Unfortunately the efficacy of that sales philosophy is waning for a few reasons:
There is extreme budget pressure being put on buyers.
Corporate turnover is accelerating. Long-time buyers are leaving their roles and these roles often aren’t backfilled.
Buying is being done more and more by committees so, much of the buying process happens behind closed doors, often involving people who the seller has never interacted with.
Sourcing professionals are getting more involved, making the sales process more about comparisons among suppliers or to benchmarks.
Competition has increased as geography constraints really don’t exist anymore - even for professional services which have relied on having a strong local presence.
Competition is also coming from technology-based providers that haven’t really played in services as effectively.
The bottom line: good selling has become much more than building relationships and being “consultative”. Executives who are responsible for selling knowledge services need to elevate their game and embrace growing their skills.
As I work with our clients, transitioning them to the new world of selling, there is one hurdle that they seemingly all face and it relates to the title of this article. Finding themselves in this heightened competitive environment, they use extreme versions of what has traditionally worked for them - demonstrating that they are smart. The way they do this is by talking, A LOT.
In the old world, value was shown through volume. Lots of interactions over time. Lots of opportunities to create insightful findings, to solve problems, to be highly responsive. Now, the seller has to create value in a compressed time frame. It’s like writing a haiku, trying to show value in, sometimes, a single call. What’s more, that single call might only be 30 minutes of distracted attention.
So what do most seller-doers actually do? They talk faster. They use every last second of the call. They are almost breathless in their approach. Essentially, they spill their candy before they even get a chance to see what the buyer wants. The result? Poor. Where many of these executives used to be at least a bit consultative, now they are selling…hard. They are forcing their message down the throats of potential buyers and since they don’t ask questions or even pause to see if someone is still there, they have no idea if they are making an impact. They come to the end of the call, take a deep breath and usually say “any questions?”
So, what to do? The first thing to do, no matter if you are in a first call, third call, or any call for that matter…is shut up. If you take only one insight from this article it is that you should be speaking no more than 30% of the time when you are on a call with a client or prospect. Forget for a second that you are trying to sell something. Even if you just want to be perceived as an interesting person or a good conversationalist, focusing your language on questions rather than statements AND then listening to what people say is critical. Now, throw in to the equation the sales goal and questions become real important. The goal of any call with a client or prospect is to learn more about them, their goals, their problem, their needs. This is the raw material used to build your sales plan. Here are a few tricks:
When you come to the end of a sentence, pause. Even count to three in your head. This not only will slow you down from creating an endless narrative, it provides the other party the opportunity to comment.
When the other party does comment or asks a question, do not go into answer mode. Dig deeper into their comment. Ask why they asked what they asked. Ask what they mean by what they said. Ask them what they think the answer is. Remember, this time is for you to get information, not solve problems (solving problems before you have a project is what “spilling your candy” refers to).
When you ask a question, pause and don’t speak again until the other party gets a chance to speak. DO NOT answer your own questions. Don’t ask questions that are merely a set up for yourself to show that you know the answer. This is not time for rhetorical questions.
Taking this one step further, preparing yourself for the new world of selling and buying will take a defined approach. You will need to rethink how you do things. What is necessary is creating a sales framework that allows you to move your buyers from potential to actual clients. The first step is…the first step. Make your first call with a prospective buyer effective and purposeful. How do you do that?
The answer is threefold:
Have a very strong and concise value proposition that you can deliver in 10 minutes or less.
Build a set of provocative insights that can destabilize the potential buyer (forcing them to rethink their world view) and a set of questions that uncover the rational and emotional impacts that will create changes in their behavior.
Rethink the purpose of your interactions, understanding that you cannot go from 0 to sale in one call. Understand that each interaction is meaningful in itself and must lead to the next logical action in your sales process (important here is that you actually have a sales process, and follow it).
The three items above will start you on a path to creating a true sales process that can be effective in this new world of buying and selling. It is a first step. From here, you’ll want to build out a fuller approach that identifies roles and responsibilities for your entire growth team (marketing, sales, consulting, customer success, etc.) that is aligned with your buyer’s journey. You’ll want to build metrics that can diagnose problems and measure success. You most likely will want to identify a selling methodology that is a good cultural fit for you and your team. This will create a common vocabulary, tools, and processes to get everyone on the same page. (Look to our blog for some examples of sales methodologies that work will in knowledge services).
Yes, what is outlined here will take some work. It will take getting a bit uncomfortable at times, but success is rarely easy. Growth is a choice. Will you choose to set yourself and your team up for growth?