The Path to Elite Sales Performance: Recent Episodes
DJ Sebastian
Proven techniques and strategies to help Business to Business (B2B) sales professionals and entrepreneurs sell more so they can achieve greater success.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 12
The prior flash briefings described how an AI tool, ChatGPT provided details on the key strategies to become an Elite B2B sales professional.
ChatGPT provided a list of ten key strategies, and when asked, ChatGPT also provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
You might wonder: What are ChatGPT’s sources of information?”.
To answer this question, ChatGPT stated the following:
“As an AI language model developed by OpenAI, I do not have personal experiences or sources. The information provided is based on a general consensus from various reputable sources in the field of sales and B2B sales in particular. The strategies mentioned are commonly accepted as best practices and have been supported by industry experts, academic research, and successful sales professionals.”
Think about how you can use an AI tool like this to develop new selling skills, learn more about your industry, research your customers and your competitors. It could be well worth checking it out in the time it saves you with researching these topics.
I’m DJ Sebastian, for more info on what it takes to become an Elite Seller, visit my website at thetechseller.com
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 11
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
#10 Continuously seek feedback and strive for personal and professional growth: Regularly seeking feedback from your manager, colleagues, and customers will help you identify areas for improvement and continue to grow as a sales professional. Additionally, continuously setting and working towards personal and professional development goals will help you stay motivated and reach your full potential.
Insight From TheTechSeller:
Never stop learning. Knowledge is your secret weapon.
Sales organizations place a lot of importance on training sales professionals on the overall capabilities of the products and the solutions they sell. It is often believed that when sales professionals are armed with product knowledge, sales revenue will be generated easily and flow freely.
Sure, good sales professionals must understand their product capabilities, but the learning doesn’t stop there. Product knowledge is only part of what a sales professional must learn and retain in order to be successful.
When it comes to continuous learning, Elite sales professionals will always:
- Learn to master all aspects of their craft: their markets, best practice selling techniques, and effective selling processes.
- Learn to master the powerful tools of their trade: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, email marketing tools, and proposal generation tools.
- Apply their knowledge and understanding of their products, the customer’s business, the market, and potential competitors to their selling experiences on a daily basis.
- Become the subject-matter expert for selling, the “go-to” person with expertise customers depend on and value.
There are no simple tricks in the selling game… only dedication to continuously learn the selling trade that makes a sales champion.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 10
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
#9 Network and collaborate with colleagues, partners, and industry professionals: Building and maintaining a strong network can provide valuable insights, referrals, and support as you grow your sales career.
Insight From TheTechSeller:
- Nurture your professional network. Connect and develop meaningful business relationships with customers, business partners, and even competitors. Cultivating relationships with influential people in your market, industry, and region will pay dividends throughout your career.
2) Get introduced to people in your network or in your company who already have the industry expertise you are seeking. Gain the level of knowledge you can quickly use in your customer conversations.
3) Build strong relationships with customers and nurture advocates who will help you sell. Actively seek referrals from satisfied customers.
4) Business Partners – service providers who work directly with your customers can often be plugged in more closely than you are. They often hear about new initiatives being considered. Stay connected.
5) Competitors – yes, that’s right… competitors. Salespeople do change companies and might migrate from a friendly relationship to a competitor. Stay on top of what is going on in your territory and with your customers.
6) Market Influencers – can help you understand the dynamics of specific markets and are often plugged into top executives. Positioning your solutions favorably to them can generate new leads.
Every couple of months, I receive a call from a former colleague, an elite seller himself… He didn’t need an urgent reason to call… he just wanted to stay in touch. Every conversation was productive and we both always learned something new.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 9
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
#8 Stay organized and prioritize effectively to manage your sales pipeline: Maintaining a well-organized and prioritized sales pipeline is key to ensuring you are effectively managing your time and resources and staying on track to meet your goals.
Insight From TheTechSeller:
Activity does not equal productivity… Just being busy doesn’t mean you are getting closer to achieving your goals.
You achieve your quota based on productive use of your time, effort, and resources. Here are some of the top time-wasters that could detail your success.
- To start, minimize the time you spend mindlessly scrolling through social media.
2.Responding to Requests for Proposal (RFP) or the shorter Requests for Information (RFI) can be a necessary evil required for you to win business with the customer. But they can also be huge time-wasters for sales teams.
If you cannot engage with the customer team to review RFP details, discuss your proposed approach, or if the customer limits direct contact, you should think seriously about withdrawing because you might be wasting your time.
3.If your customer does not appear to be serious about solving real business problems, qualify them heavily so you can ensure that you are not just wasting your time.
4.When salespeople struggle to meet their quotas, it is often because they are working too many opportunities that end up resulting in the dreaded “No Decision.” Don’t waste time on bad deals that continually stretch out with little or no progress towards a decision.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 8
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
“#7 Develop strong negotiation skills and the ability to handle objections effectively: Being able to effectively negotiate and handle objections is a critical component of successful B2B sales. This includes being able to identify and address the root cause of objections, and finding mutually beneficial solutions.”
Insight From TheTechSeller:
Here are two simple rules to consider about negotiations:
- You give some. They give some. It’s a win-win. This is negotiating in its simplest form.
2. You should care, but not that much. When you are too invested in pushing for a completion to the negotiations, you risk showing weakness. Being too anxious puts you in a stressful situation where you might be willing to give in to every demand. You must avoid this mindset.
The best objection is one you never get. The best method for handling sales objections is to prevent them from being raised in the first place. Objection prevention is more powerful than any response to an objection you can make.
How do you avoid having customer objections jeopardize your sales efforts?
- Minimize the number of objections you will receive by asking great questions, building great customer relationships, and by presenting a solution that addresses your customer’s problem.
- Proactively address the potential objections before the customer raises them, then providing a solid response that positions your company and your solution favorably to diminish the potential objection.
This requires advance preparation to understand what possible objections will likely be raised, and then to craft your best response to address each objection.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 7
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
#6 Use data and analytics to inform your sales approach and measure success: Utilize data and analytics to better understand your target market, track your progress, and refine your sales approach over time.
Insight From TheTechSeller:
Using Data Analytics can help sales teams improve decision-making.
Data Analytics examines large amounts of data from multiple disparate sources to uncover hidden patterns, find correlations, reveal trends, and detect insights that were previously unknown or not readily apparent due to the inability to access large volumes of information.
Data Analytics also includes a mechanism for displaying analytics results—in the form of either reports or visual dashboards—that are used to monitor performance of key metrics and progress toward achieving goals.
Here are a few relevant examples:
1) Sales management views a performance dashboard to visually monitor overall sales. They view performance above (or below) quota in total, or drill down to view performance by region, by product, and by individual sales rep.
2) Sales management generates a new sales forecast detailing each deal amount for each customer opportunity. This includes a “win rate confidence level” based on several factors, including deal complexity, customer business value, sales process steps completed, and salesperson profile.
3) Salespeople access reports on the most effective lead development programs by region.
4) Salespeople determine the best target customers to include in a new marketing program to optimize the revenue results of the campaign.
5) Sales operations predicts the percentage of leads that will convert into sales for each customer buying segment. This is determined by several factors, including lead source, customer loyalty level, and age of the lead.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 6
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
“#5 Continuously improve your product knowledge and industry expertise: Staying up-to-date on industry trends and advancements in your product/service offerings will help you have informed and productive conversations with your customers.”
Insight From TheTechSeller:
Never stop learning. Knowledge is your secret weapon.
Sales organizations place a lot of importance on training sales professionals on the overall capabilities of the products and the solutions they sell. Some believe that when sales professionals are armed with product knowledge, sales revenue will be generated easily and their numbers will skyrocket.
Sure, good sales professionals must understand their product capabilities, but the learning doesn’t stop there. Product knowledge is only part of what a sales professional must learn and retain in order to be successful.
When it comes to continuous learning, Elite sales professionals will always:
- Learn to master all aspects of their craft: their markets, best practice selling techniques, and effective selling processes.
-
Learn to master the powerful tools of their trade: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, email marketing tools, and proposal generation tools.
-
Apply their knowledge and understanding of their products, the customer’s business, the market, and potential competitors to their selling experiences on a daily basis.
-
Become the subject-matter expert for selling, the “go-to” person with expertise customers depend on and value.
There are no simple tricks or “hacks” in the selling game… only dedication to continuously learn the selling trade that makes a sales champion.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 5
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
“#4 Adopt a solution-selling approach: Rather than simply selling a product, focus on solving the customer’s problems and providing solutions that meet their specific needs. This approach helps build trust and establish you as a valuable partner to your customers.”
Insight From TheTechSeller:
What are you selling?
During a sales training session with a client, one sales leader advised his team to “Sell your solution to their problem, not your product”. Wise words indeed, that changed their approach.
This simple advice shifted their mindset. Rather than touting product features and functionality, their new mindset became:
- Positioning their sales team as consultants and advisors who were engaged to help their customer
- Understanding their customer’s needs before pushing their products.
- Determining the business value the customer will realize after implementation.
- Proving the business justification based on the value
- Connecting solution benefits to their unique solution capabilities.
Selling your solution to their problem makes you different and better than most transactional salespeople.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 4
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
“#3 Communicate the unique value proposition of your products/services: Clearly communicating the unique benefits and value of your products/services is critical to differentiating yourself from competitors and closing deals.”
Insight From TheTechSeller:
Focus on Your Unique Value: Connect the value amount and approach to your solution’s competitive differentiators. It does you no good if you lay out a value proposition that your competition can just “steal” by claiming the same capabilities. Highlight how your solution is unique to avoid handing your value proposition to your competition on a silver platter.
“When you don’t differentiate your solution,
you could be selling for your competition”
You might get your customer excited about a solution similar to yours, but because you didn’t differentiate, your customer could perceive that all solutions are equal and then select your competitor.
When your customer says “I can’t tell the difference… you all look the same…” they are likely to go with the lowest price, or the local provider, or the sales team they like best.
To avoid your customer’s “you all look the same” reasoning…
1) First, Show how your message is different from your competitors.
Are you all saying the same thing?
2) Then, look at What is unique about you, your company, and your solution.
Identify how you can effectively articulate your unique advantages.
3) Finally, back it up.. determine how you can prove those capabilities.
– It is your responsibility to make sure that your customer can tell the difference… Don’t assume they will just figure it out themselves…
Spell it out clearly… drive those points home throughout your communication.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 3
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
“#2 Establish and maintain strong relationships with key decision makers: Building strong relationships with decision makers is key to success in B2B sales. This includes regularly staying in touch, understanding their goals and challenges, and being able to provide value and build trust over time.”
Insight From TheTechSeller:
To effectively advance sales opportunities, it is important to gain access to your customer’s top executives. And to make the most of your time with executives, you must strive to attain Equal Business Stature.
What’s that? It’s about understanding your customer’s business, how you articulate the key areas where you can help your customer achieve greater results, and how you show a command of what you have to offer.
Proactively bring innovative ideas to the table where your customer will gain market share, expand regional presence, improve their competitive position, and increase their brand reputation. Maybe your solution does not have the broad reach to greatly impact every one of these areas, but even at a departmental or divisional level, you should be able to find a couple of areas where you and your solution can have a substantial positive impact on your customer’s business.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 2
When asked, the AI ChatGPT provided more details on each key strategy to become an Elite Seller.
“#1 Build a deep understanding of your target market and their needs: This includes researching the industry, the specific companies you are targeting, and the decision makers within those companies. Understanding the pain points and challenges faced by your target market will help you tailor your sales approach to better meet their needs.”
Insight From TheTechSeller:
Before engaging with a customer, you should understand their current performance, their profitability, their growth, and key initiatives. Then work to uncover their key business challenges and their key strategies to address those challenges.
When Your Target Company Is a Public Corporation, it is relatively easy to find information about their key challenges and strategic initiatives. The investor relations section of a company’s website contains a wealth of information you can leverage to learn about your target account’s performance and key initiatives. You can download the company’s quarterly and annual regulatory filings and the slides and audio portion from investor presentations.
With private companies you will not have ready access to detailed financial reports or investor presentations. Nonetheless, you can still get good information about the company’s status and initiatives from its social media feeds, online presence, and press releases. You can also get information about their industry, their competitors, and their major challenges.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue to discuss more details on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
AI on key Elite Seller strategies – Part 1
My experience includes positioning and selling solutions based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. So it was natural for me to investigate ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI.
I asked ChatGPT: “What are the key strategies to become an elite B2B sales professional?”
In about three seconds, ChatGPT chimed in with the following response:
“To become an elite B2B sales professional, consider the following strategies:
-
Build a deep understanding of your target market and their needs.
-
Establish and maintain strong relationships with key decision makers.
-
Communicate the unique value proposition of your products/services.
-
Adopt a solution-selling approach, focusing on solving the customer’s problems.
-
Continuously improve your product knowledge and industry expertise.
6.Use data and analytics to inform your sales approach and measure success.
-
Develop strong negotiation skills and the ability to handle objections effectively.
-
Stay organized and prioritize effectively to manage your sales pipeline.
-
Network and collaborate with colleagues, partners, and industry professionals.
- Continuously seek feedback and strive for personal and professional growth.”
This is spot on analysis. These key strategies are what we focus on to assist our clients in becoming elite sales performers.
What are your key strategies to accelerate your rise to become an elite sales performer?
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will get into more detail on these AI-generated elite sales strategies in the next briefing.
Actions to Build Your Customer Relationships
Building strong customer relationships is key to a successful sales career.
Here are four ways to cultivate customer relationships:
- Strive to be viewed as a partner with your customers. Not just a vendor trying to sell them something. Position yourself as a “proactive advisor” who will help your customer achieve greater results.
- Understand enough about your customer’s key business challenges to build a compelling value proposition. Position you and your company as the experts. Help your customers visualize the journey you will take together to realize substantial benefits.
- Connect the business value to your unique differentiators. Aim to make it a no-brainer for your customers to approve your project so they are motivated to partner strategically with your company moving forward.
- Cultivate internal champions within your customer organization. Make these champions supporters, then advocates, then heroes.
I’m DJ Sebastian, for more info on what it takes to become an Elite Seller, visit my website at thetechseller.com
The Impact of Great Communication Skills
Great communication skills are key to advancing your sales opportunities and winning more deals.
Great communication skills mean:
- Articulating your solution’s unique differentiators in your customer’s language… and doing this during every customer conversation.
- Reiterating the substantial value your solutions will deliver while gaining agreement on this value from your customer.
- Summarizing how you demonstrated proof that your solution will achieve the desired benefits.
- Clearly differentiating your company, your solution and you… so your customer understands why you are unique.
- Ensuring that you and your customer are completely aligned with the remaining actions, have agreed on timing, and who is responsible to execute each action.
In every case, spell it out with clarity and emotion. Don’t just assume your customer will understand… Spell. It. Out.
I’m DJ Sebastian… To SELL MORE, you need to become a Great Communicator. Find out how at my website thetechseller.com
Top Factors for Sales Success – Continuous Learning
I previously mentioned that I have a hand-written card on my office wall that lists the top three factors for sales success – Number three is becoming a CONTINUOUS LEARNER.
My message here is:
Never stop learning. Knowledge is your secret weapon.
Sales organizations place a lot of importance on training sales professionals on the overall capabilities of the products and the solutions they sell. Some believe that when sales professionals are armed with product knowledge, sales revenue will be generated easily and their numbers will skyrocket.
Sure, good sales professionals must understand their product capabilities, but the learning doesn’t stop there. Product knowledge is only part of what a sales professional must learn and retain in order to be successful.
When it comes to continuous learning, Elite sales professionals will always:
- Learn to master all aspects of their craft: their markets, best practice selling techniques, and effective selling processes.
- Learn to master the powerful tools of their trade: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, email marketing tools, and proposal generation tools.
- Apply their knowledge and understanding of their products, the customer’s business, the market, and potential competitors to their selling experiences on a daily basis.
- Become the subject-matter expert for selling, the “go-to” person with expertise customers depend on and value.
There are no simple tricks or “hacks” in the selling game… only dedication to continuously learn the selling trade that makes a sales champion.
I’m DJ Sebastian, for more info on what it takes to become an Elite Seller, visit my website at thetechseller.com
Top Factors for Sales Success – Passion
I previously mentioned that I have a hand-written card on my office wall that lists the top three factors for sales success – Number two is PASSION.
It is impossible to reach an elite level in sales without passion. It is the drive that fuels the fire within your being. It gives you the energy to press on and hurdle the obstacles that stand in your way. Without passion, you won’t grow to love what you do and won’t have the conviction to put in the hard work it takes to excel and to win.
Here are just some of the ways you can fuel the fire of your passion to succeed:
1) Understand everything you can about how your solution benefits your customer and how you can effectively articulate those benefits. Look for key areas where your solution does it better than your competition and be able to articulate them.
2) Study your competitors. How do they sell? How do they compete against you and others in the market? Study how you can differentiate yourself and how you can beat them.
3) Show up prepared and outwork your competition. Hard work can overcome areas of inexperience and vulnerability.
4) Learn something new every day. Learn something new about your craft. It’s easy to get great information from successful sales leaders. Follow a few sales coaches and motivational speakers on social media and actively consume their information.
5) Develop a winning mindset. Constantly emphasize to yourself that you, your company, and your solution are the best. If being the best is not central to your core beliefs, it will be very difficult to maintain the level of passion you need to sustain continued success.
I’m DJ Sebastian, for more info on what it takes to become an Elite Seller, visit my website at thetechseller.com
Top Factors for Sales Success – Integrity
A hand-written card on my office wall lists the top three factors for sales success – Number one is INTEGRITY.
Professional selling is an admirable vocation. Sales professionals are at the center of helping customers find solutions to business problems and they can serve as valued advisors.
Unfortunately, too often, customers begin with a negative perception of salespeople. Changing this perception can only happen when the customers know, like, and trust salespeople.
And the underlying foundation of building trust is… Integrity.
Without integrity, you have nothing and will not be able to advance your sales career to higher levels.
Never be in a position where you need to apologize to a customer for selling something that did not work or was unnecessary. If you plan to build your brand in a certain industry or a certain technology over a long period, your reputation will follow you. Your actions (the good, the bad, and the ugly) will stick to you like glue. Always keep in mind that your customer will share their experiences with others—not only the positive but the negative too.
Integrity is not a once-in-a-while thing… It’s an everyday thing.
In every interaction with your customers, your management, and your teammates, acting with integrity is an absolute requirement.
You will encounter situations in your career when it may be convenient to ignore shady business dealings.
Integrity is easy to choose when it is convenient. It’s much more difficult to choose during challenging times. A tarnished reputation can follow you around forever. Choose now to do what’s right… by always choosing integrity.
I’m DJ Sebastian, for more info on what it takes to become an Elite Seller, visit my website at thetechseller.com
Top Factors for Sales Success
When sales professionals ask me what I believe are the top factors in achieving success in sales, I refer to a worn-out hand-written card on my office wall where I scratched out the top three factors. I compiled this short list over the years, as I have asked many Elite sales professionals what they believe are the top factors in their success in sales. It usually comes down to these three factors:
- INTEGRITY
- PASSION
- CONTINUOUS LEARNER
Integrity is important because without integrity, you have nothing and will not be able to advance your sales career to higher levels.
Passion is important because without passion, you won’t grow to love what you do and won’t have the conviction to put in the hard work it takes to excel and to win.
Being a Continuous Learner is important because you must never stop learning. Knowledge is your secret weapon that can make you a sales champion.
I’m DJ Sebastian, for more info on what it takes to become an Elite Seller, visit my website at thetechseller.com
Creativity in Showing Gratitude – CR6
Showing gratitude to your customer is a great way to build a strong relationship.
After winning a deal, it is obvious that you should take time to thank the customer for their business.
I made it a habit to send hand-written notes to thank customers for their business or when they helped my business by providing a glowing reference. It’s kind of “old-school”, but these were always appreciated… and occasionally I saw my note affixed to their office wall. Since, now, many employees are working in remote locations, a hand-written note might not be feasible. Instead, send an electronic “greeting” card to show appreciation. This card can include photos of your choice and contain custom fonts that look similar to a hand-written note. This will have a greater impact than just sending a standard email.
But don’t only send these notes AFTER you’ve completed the sale.
There are also ways you can “get creative” in showing gratitude to your customer throughout your sales cycle.
For example, after an important meeting where your sponsor orchestrated the meeting, or helped your team better understand their requirements, consider sending a thank you note. Or think about sending a note to your sponsor’s direct manager as a compliment about their professionalism.
Find out if your customer’s organization permits their employees to accept small gifts. If so, express your gratitude and delight your customer by surprising them with a gift (if you can deliver them to a physical office) or send gift cards if you can’t.
If an executive assistant helped you gain access to a key executive, send them a gift of gratitude.
Don’t just send any gift, make it personal and something you know the recipient will like, and will make them feel special.
I’m DJ Sebastian, for more info on what it takes to become an Elite Seller, visit my website at thetechseller.com
Creativity in Customer Pursuit – CR5
Creativity can be a tool to use when developing your winning value proposition. Here is an example of a winning pursuit for selling to a customer that did not appear to be a viable prospect.
BrokenDown Enterprises, an account in Jim’s territory, was a multi-billion-dollar company that had fallen into bankruptcy. Most sales professionals would quickly assume that a bankrupt company has no money to spend and would not spend any time pursuing them.
Not Jim. He relished the challenge, figuring that BrokenDown would have to do something dramatic if it wanted to survive. Jim used his creative talents and out-of-the-box thinking to explore ways that his solution could significantly benefit this bankrupt customer.
In doing some quick research, Jim quickly learned that BrokenDown needed to execute a major transformation to survive and effectively compete in its markets. Maintaining the status quo was not an option.
So Jim crafted a briefing document that identified three major areas where implementing his solution could facilitate the company’s transformation. He even produced an “estimated value release” and noted that the actual number would be validated after further discussions. Jim sent this document brief to the BrokenDown CEO and to several board members via an overnight delivery service.
The briefing document got the attention of BrokenDown’s executives. They actually returned his phone calls. Jim engaged with these executives to mutually agree on a solution evaluation plan. Jim led his team through a rigorous evaluation process that spanned several months.
These efforts paid off. Jim and his team won this deal, booking more than $10 million in prepaid revenue—all because Jim began with a creative approach to pursue a customer account and fulfill a need that few other sales professionals thought would be worthwhile.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue the discussion on creativity in sales in the next briefings.
Creativity in Solution Demos – CR4
James led a sales team who were preparing for an important meeting. The prospective customer was located on a sprawling campus in a very rainy climate where employees and their visitors often needed to walk between buildings. Umbrellas were provided at each door to keep their people dry.
James’ team determined that their solution had ten key differentiators they needed to highlight. To make their presentation more memorable, James tapped into his creative skills to highlight their differentiators.
As each customer attendee entered the meeting conference room, they were greeted with ten open umbrellas spread across the room. James was mum about these umbrellas and he received some strange looks from the attendees.
During the demonstration, each time James’ team summarized one of their key differentiators and how it would solve a specific business issue, James closed one of the umbrellas. He had previously labeled each umbrella with a keyword showing the associated differentiator.
After all ten umbrellas were closed, James ended the demonstration portion of the meeting with a powerful closing statement:
“You told us about ten key issues you needed to address to improve your business. The umbrellas represented those issues. Our team demonstrated how our solution addressed each issue. Now that the sun is shining, let’s discuss how we walk together from here.”
James used umbrellas as props in a very creative and unconventional way. The umbrellas served as visual reminders and concrete examples of the company’s business challenges and how they could be resolved. His example was relatable and showed that he listened when the customer relayed their business challenges.
The umbrella props were tremendously effective and made the demonstration very memorable. James’ team was rewarded as they won a significant, strategic deal.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue the discussion on creativity in sales in the next briefings.
Creativity in Discovery – CR3
Conducting Discovery sessions with a prospective customer helps you mutually determine requirements with the customer.
Here are tips on using creativity to conduct effective Discovery sessions.
Use a Problem-Solving mindset – Think of creative ways to frame your discussion around what it will take to solve the problem, not just what fits your solution.
Focus the Discovery on generating business value.
Listen intently to ensure that you have a good understanding.
Then go down three levels to deepen your understanding:
Level 1 – Questions and dialogue to understand the business issue and clarify the current situation
Level 2 – Questions to understand the business impact of not addressing this business issue
Level 3 – Questions and dialogue to explore the potential business value that a solution can deliver
Be creative in the way you ask questions to avoid repetition. Ask in a different way if not getting through or if they fail to open up.
Draw it up. Create some graphical representations to show your customer how they will benefit and when the benefits will be realized.
A discovery session could get down in the weeds and could get dry. Use your creative talents to inject stories and analogies to keep it interesting.
Act out a couple of scenarios with some dialogue to show the before and after:
– Like the sales team using shovels to dig up leads in the past, and with the new solution the powerful excavator and bulldozer dig them up and sort them out…
Tailor your Discovery based on the customer needs and the personality of the customer. This should not be a one-size-fits all exercise.
Being creative during the discovery process positions you as a valued consultant and an advisor, not just a vendor… and increases your chance of winning.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue the discussion on creativity in sales in the next briefings.
Creativity in Prospecting – CR2
Prospecting is important to a sales professional’s ability to succeed. Some are unwilling to consistently prospect for business. Some are unable to gain access to the customer executives they need to engage with.Many salespeople often use a lazy approach to prospecting:– Sending generic email, with the same message over and over that is not personalized and has no value.– Cold calling or leaving a voice message by reading from an overused script that sounds like the last 20 messages received from other salespeople. No personalization, no value, and no valid business reason to return the call.– Sending the standard connection request message on LinkedIn, with no personalization; No value, why connect?No wonder these salespeople cannot get through to the executives they target.How do you break through this endless cycle? By being different.Use your creativity to come up with three ideas on how you can be different.For example,– Instead of relying on email, try sending your message in an overnight envelope. Guaranteed it will be opened and read.– Change your generic call script – Make it about them and how they will benefit. Reference how a similar customer achieved huge benefits using your solution.– Engage with a “gatekeeper”. That’s right – the receptionist, the executive assistant, or even a middle manager. These people can either shut you down or open the door for you.Different can help you rise up and stand out from the crowd. And can fill your funnel with new prospective customers.I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue the discussion on creativity in sales in the next briefings.
Creativity – an important sales skill – CR1
Creativity is an attribute that is not usually associated with the sales profession. Instead, sales professionals usually settle into a common routine where they perform similar tasks every day like a drumbeat.
Elite sales professionals don’t go about their day using the same tired approaches, or follow the same stale routines. No, not at all.
Elite sales professionals apply creativity as their secret weapon to generate customer interest, uncover hidden customer needs, outflank their competition, and show their unique value, so they can win more deals.
Some salespeople are naturally creative… others have to work hard to expand their creativity as a new or extended skill.
Here are four ways you can develop the creativity you need to achieve greater success.
1) Brainstorming – block some time out of your typical day to shift into “creative mode”. Think about how applying more creative techniques can help you solve a problem, or eliminate a roadblock, or advance an opportunity more quickly. Get your ideas flowing, write them down, and let your mind explore how you would implement these ideas.
2) Surround the problem – give it some serious thought – if you are stuck on a problem, how can you change your approach? Establish a goal for what you want to achieve and think about the best creative idea that will help you accomplish that goal.
3) Be Different, Be Better – Examine the steps you take DAILY as you interact with customers. Is it the same boring approach as everyone else? Try something different. Be unconventional. You will stand out and be noticed. Use being different to your advantage.
4) Experiment. Try new ideas and apply them in different ways throughout your sales cycle. Be open to an iterative creative process to help you achieve your goal.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue the discussion on creativity in sales in the next briefings.
Build Your Library of Stories – PART 5
You don’t have to create your own stories from scratch… you can beg, borrow, or steal good stories from your teammates.
Consider logging the following info for each story:
Your Audience – You will use different types of stories for different audiences and levels in your customer organization.
Key points – Your story must help you articulate a key point (or points) in your message. Don’t waste time telling a story that doesn’t contribute to helping your customer understand a key point.
Situation, When to Use – Not every story is appropriate for every situation, so define up front the scenarios when you plan to use each story.
Expected Impact – low medium high
You want to develop stories with different levels of impact. Some should lightly support a specific point (and maybe inject some humor into your meeting where appropriate). Some should be game-changing and have a huge impact. Mix them up so you have a “library” containing several options from which to choose.
Results – Log your results with usage of each story
– How well this story worked
– How you can improve the story
Summarize your story in bullet points
– Structure your story in a way that makes it easy to create and easy to deliver… all while ensuring that you communicate your key points for impact and make them memorable for your audience.
I’m DJ Sebastian. For more information about adding effective stories to your communications, check out my online course at thetechseller.com
Three Types of Stories – PART 4
Here are three types of stories you will want to create and use in your customer communication.
First, Your personal story
– describe why you made the career decision to join your company
– compare and contrast how your beliefs are supported versus other experiences
– explain how working with your company improves the markets you compete in and how your service provided by your company helps make a difference in the world.
Second, Your company story
– how your solution portfolio will help customers achieve even greater benefits
– how your company is dedicated to staying on top of new technologies and processes to be (or to emerge) as a leader for the long term.
– how your customers’ risk is reduced by engaging with your company.
Third, Customer success stories
– These are a great way to communicate how your solutions help your customers achieve even greater success.
Storytelling helps your prospective customer visualize a successful result. You want to get them thinking “Wow, we have the same issue” and “I gotta get some of that”. This helps you accelerate through your sales cycle. It can also reduce any perceived risk in doing business with your company.
Your customer success story only needs to be a couple of minutes long. Begin by setting the stage about how the customer had an important business issue to solve, what problems the issue caused, and how you came to the rescue to help them attain substantial benefits. Be specific about the value your customer gained because you served as a partner to help them achieve that value.
You will want to build several of these stories based on your audience and the key point you want to articulate.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue discussing the storytelling process in the next briefings.
Deliver Your Story – PART 3
Your customer buys on emotion and then justifies their decision with logic. So first you must establish an emotional connection with your customer… A good way to do that is through stories. They build your customer’s confidence in you and generate excitement in the potential personal rewards and business-related benefits.
Here are 6 best practices to consider when delivering your stories.
- Sprinkle in stories throughout your communications to strengthen a key point.
- Find the balance – Keep your story simple but provide enough details to make it compelling.
- Inject humor into your stories and your other forms of communication– but be careful. Self-deprecating humor can work best, so you are not viewed as picking on anyone. Keep it classy. Stay away from topics that can be considered off-color or offensive.
- Experiment with varying story lengths – Short version (1 minute), Medium version (2 – 3 minutes). Follow the same sequence, just include or remove specific details to adjust the story length.
- When telling a story that is part of a presentation, do NOT use a PowerPoint slide to show your story. If you are using a slide deck and you know you’re going to tell a story, include a slide that is all black (you can also press the “B” key to turn the screen black when in presentation mode). Trust the power of storytelling to paint pictures in the imagination of your audience. You don’t need a slide to emphasize a point in a story. In fact, by doing so, you are interfering with the story by putting up a visual distraction.
- Don’t just wing it. Practice how you will tell your stories in customer meetings. Know your story but don’t memorize… tell it in your own words.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue discussing the storytelling process in the next briefings.
The Storytelling Process – PART 2
Storytelling is a form of time-transport and you, as the storyteller, need to take the audience back in time with you, so they can relive the story along with you.
Here are six steps to creating a good story:
1) Establish the context of the story
Introduce the subject (who is involved) and the context (where it is taking place and the timeframe)
2) Set the Scene – to bring the audience into the story
Take the audience back in time so they can become immersed in the story and relive it with you.
3) Define the Darkness – a challenge or business problem
The darkness can take many forms:
– What wasn’t working
– What obstacles are in the way
– What is the challenge, issue or business problem.
4) Illuminate the darkness with the Lightbulb moment
- Bring your story’s pivotal moment to life
- Build a “scene” around this moment
- Contrast the way it used to be before the Lightbulb moment
5) Use visual details and dialogue to highlight the key point
These details enhance your story and help your audience visualize by creating their own images while they follow along. Adding dialogue between two or more people is a natural way to create interest as long as it helps advance your key points.
6) A successful, happy ending
End the story with the positive result:
- How the new way is better
- How the problem or challenge was solved
- How the hero (the customer) triumphed and lived happily ever after.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will continue discussing the storytelling process in the next briefings.
Why Use Stories – PART 1
Today, we are bombarded with information from the 24/7 news cycle, social media, personal and business email, texts, and chats. Our brains become overwhelmed and our eyes can easily glaze over—this overflow of stimulus distracts our attention… and makes it too easy to gloss over important details.
So how can a salesperson grab the attention of their customer, get their message across, and engage in meaningful conversations?
Use stories. They access a completely different part of our brain and how we see the world. It might bring us back to when we were kids and we heard bedtime stories. A good story locks in our attention because people follow along and want to know how the story ends. People remember good stories and they tell them to their associates.
Some people are great storytellers and it seems to come naturally for them. I remember as a kid, during family get-togethers, sitting around the dining table or a picnic table or the front porch, and listening attentively, as my dad, my grandfather, and my uncles shared wonderful stories. They were not highly educated men, they were blue-collar workers who toiled in the steel mills.
Some stories were poignant, some taught a valuable lesson, some were very funny… they all made a key point.
The stories they shared included how they overcame the challenges they faced emigrating to America, how happy they were to live in freedom, the hard work and gritty experiences from working in factories, and even their exploits on the golf course.
But expertly telling stories did not come as easily to me as it did to my elders. I needed structure… I needed an approach I could follow.
You have likely heard that you should tell stories in your customer communications. But how?
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we will cover a proven approach to learn the art of storytelling in the next briefings.
Curiosity leads to Sales Success – Part 4
This briefing completes the discussion on the importance of curiosity.
Curiosity elevates your skills
Elite Sales Professionals are curious about everything, especially about what they can do to improve as sellers. They are continuously learning about new techniques and approaches that can help them communicate better, generate interest with customers, and win more deals.
We tend to learn more if we are already interested in a topic.
Curiosity fuels that desire to improve, to become better. It improves your memory and your capacity to learn.
Curiosity will help you achieve greater success
Learning the right way to sell isn’t enough for Elite Sales Professionals. Once they learn how to do something well, they set out to do it even better.
Elite Sales Professionals understand the need for continuous improvement and a commitment to life-long learning. They brush aside temporary setbacks and remain focused on their main goals. Curiosity gives them the power to push through uncertainty and handle tough situations.
Sometimes salespeople become complacent. They fall into the trap of becoming content with mediocrity, to maintain the status quo, and to generate only adequate results.
Sometimes salespeople become nervous and anxious and are opposed to change because they are afraid to take too many risks.
Elite Sales Professionals win more deals, and win more often, because they never stop looking for ways to improve. They use their curiosity as an integral component of their success.
I’m DJ Sebastian, for more info on what it takes to become an Elite Seller, visit my website at thetechseller.com
Curiosity leads to Sales Success – Part 3
This briefing continues the discussion on the importance of curiosity.
Curiosity makes it easier for you to build relationships with your customers.
Being curious helps you be proactive. Instead of being viewed as a manipulative salesperson, you position yourself and your team as advisors and valued problem-solvers.
Being curious implies that you care. If you really don’t care about something, you won’t have the curiosity to dig deeper to get a clearer understanding of the topic.
Remember: Your customers don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.
Being curious helps you build trust. It helps position you to the customer as someone who can help them resolve business issues. When you build mutual trust, the customer will naturally become curious about what your company has to offer. This creates a collaborative situation of sharing that can facilitate the relationship with your customer.
Elite Sales Professionals are not just curious about their customer business… they see their customer as individuals, not deals.
They are genuinely curious about who they are.
They seek to understand their challenges on an emotional level…
And understand their goals, fears, and dreams.
Why is that important? Because it helps create a win-win situation where the customer solves business challenges, the people have a better experience in their company and have the opportunity to get rewarded for selecting your solution.
Elite Sales Professionals are not just content with an initial win. They are committed to their customer’s long-term success. They strive to forge a long-lasting, mutually beneficial customer relationships. And curiosity is a great tool to help them accomplish those goals.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we’ll continue this discussion on curiosity in the next briefing.
Curiosity leads to Sales Success – Part 2
This briefing continues the discussion on the importance of curiosity.
Patrick Valtin is THE expert in talent acquisition and retention in the small business world. He said this:
“The first quality in selling is curiosity, or your ability to ask the right questions – not your ability to talk”
Elite Sales Professionals seek to understand why certain business issues require resolution. They also want to know what the customer has done already to resolve those issues.
When you can engage your customer in a deeper level of discussion and they share details of their business issues, your role is transformed to that of a valued consultant, not just a transactional sales rep seeking a quick win.
When you engage your customer this way, you demonstrate that you are committed to your customer’s success.
You don’t offer a quick suggestion that says “I know what you need… here is the solution…” That would be premature. Instead, you dig deeper to get the full picture and understand the context of the customer’s needs.
When customers share their business issues, it’s too easy to quickly match those issues with your solutions. But that rarely tells the entire story. Elite Sales Professionals probe more deeply to understand the cause and effect of the issues before presenting a solution.
Elite Sales Professionals are curious about identifying advocates and the decision-makers. They aren’t afraid to ask questions. They understand that the more questions they ask, the more curious they become – and the more opportunities they will uncover.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and we’ll continue this discussion on curiosity in the next briefing.
Is a career in sales really that wonderful – Part 1
The career journey of a sales professional is often filled with hazard and risk. There are significant unknowns, and outcomes are never guaranteed. You can face several risks in a sales career that have the potential to wipe out many of the pluses outlined in prior flash briefings about the wonderful world of sales.
Here's an example.
Jeffrey joined a large solution provider as a territory sales professional. In his prior roles he had enjoyed success and delivered very good performance. He was confident that he was ready for this next step. When assigned his territory, Jeffrey quickly noticed that many of the customer accounts handed to him were previously covered by another salesperson who was recently terminated for poor performance. After completing a triage to determine the best accounts to target, Jeffrey concluded that most of these accounts were not handled well—there were few solid relationships and even fewer real sales opportunities.
Jeffrey knew that he was starting from scratch, but he did find one account that appeared viable, and he felt he could build it up into a strategic opportunity. Jeffrey then spent the entire year building relationships, establishing executive sponsors, and developing a strong value proposition. Before the year’s end, Jeffrey won an eight-figure deal that placed him at 400% of quota.
He was flying high. In addition to cashing several large commission checks, he won the award for top producer in his region.
The best part was that because the solution would be rolled out over time, Jeffrey would be able to identify additional revenue potential in this account that was nearly as large as the initial win. Jeffrey’s plan was to focus the next year on advancing these additional opportunities while he cashed more large commission checks.
I’m DJ Sebastian, and stay tuned for the next briefing where we will tell you the rest of Jeffrey’s story.
“When you don’t differentiate your solution, you could be selling for your competition”
That’s right. You might get your customer excited about a solution similar to yours, but because you didn’t differentiate, your customer could perceive that all solutions are equal and then select your competitor.
When your customer says “I can’t tell the difference… you all look the same…” they are likely to go with the lowest price, or the local provider, or the sales team they like best.
To avoid your customer’s “you all look the same” reasoning…
1) First, Show how your message is different from your competitors. Are you all saying the same thing?
2) Then, look at What is unique about you, your company, and your solution. Identify how you can effectively articulate your unique advantages.
3) Finally, back it up.. determine how you can prove those capabilities.
- It is your responsibility to make sure that your customer can tell the difference… Don’t assume they will just figure it out themselves… Spell it out clearly… drive those points home throughout your communication.
Brainstorm ideas on the best ways to Highlight Your Competitive Differentiators.
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Why would your customer buy from you, instead of from your competitors?
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What is unique that makes you the best choice?
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What can you prove to be unique, different and better?
Get creative. Competitive advantages are a lot more than just product superiority.
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Your Sales Team could be a competitive advantage… based on your responsiveness, your industry expertise, and how you guide your customer after the sale.
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Or, Your organization’s commitment to continued investment could be very important – so your solution will remain relevant and won’t become obsolete.
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Finally, articulate a strong vision for the future – this demonstrates that your organization is forward thinking and positions you as a long-term business partner that stays on top of emerging trends.
I’m DJ Sebastian… To SELL MORE, you need to become a Great Communicator. Find out how at my website thetechseller.com