Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on March 16, 2011 at 5:33pm

Written by a Charles H Green,kind of interesting

Why Does The “Sales Process” View Dominate?

Because professionals like it that way. It’s a “like” rooted in fear.

“Sell” is a four-letter word in professional services firms (PSFs). “Business development” is preferred—in the passive voice, since “developing business” sounds too aggressive.

The legal profession still constrains advertising. Some consulting firms (Accenture, KPMG, McKinsey) use sponsorships or image advertising, but often say “we don’t sell.” Most professionals see “selling” as antithetical to professionalism.

Business schools have adopted a research-driven, hard-science-paradigm approach to business education drenched in academic data, statistics, and a strong bias for behavioral descriptions of human relations.

In the “real world,” you hear “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” (patently false on the face of it, but that’s another article). There is a bias for measurement, data, behavior, plans and results, gaps and needs assessments, variances, and alignment of quantitative results and rewards. Hardly any top MBA program teaches personal selling—because it isn’t “academic” enough.

Finally, people who become consultants, accountants, actuaries, or lawyers are (relatively) more comfortable with abstractions, numbers, and data than with interpersonal interactions.

The result: a desire to keep the world one step removed, reinforced by business schools and business dogma alike. Professionals want to believe that selling can be managed like their content: by data analysis, done comfortably in the office, with occasional forays to client sites—though only after careful planning to minimize surprise interactions. Viewing sales as a process is a comfort zone issue: we fear the reverse.

Hence the popularity of colored sheets, classification of buyer power centers, elaborate sales funnel forecasting systems, and—the mother of all data lodes—CRM systems. Unfortunately, just because we like to sell this way doesn’t mean clients buy this way.

Why Buyers Behave Non-Rationally

Buyers are not stupid. What they do makes perfect sense. They first use linear processes and statistical data to screen; they then make selection decisions emotionally. Clients decide with the heart, and rationalize their decision with the brain.

Buyers don’t just want a solution: they want to feel good about it. They want to sleep well at night, to believe that surprises will be resolved satisfactorily, and that the salesperson has the buyer’s interests at heart.

A service provider’s trustworthiness is immensely valuable to a client. Clients will pay for that value—if only they can find it. Clients hate buying from the lowest-cost provider. They’d far rather buy what they have to buy anyway from someone they trust.

Trust, Processes, And Psychology

Many professionals believe trust is created through brands, credentials, brains, and great work.

Sadly, it’s not.

Trust is a psychological relationship between individuals. People trust people, not institutions. Credibility and reliability are just two trust drivers: a sense of intimacy is another. Most important is the buyer’s belief that the seller has her best interests at heart.

Trust isn’t created back at the office, but in real-time personal interactions, primarily face to face. And, it’s created—or not—during the sale.

All buying situations contain both business process and personal psychology. Most professionals emphasize the former. Selling economics and buyer behavior suggest otherwise. Firms should recognize the rich emotional content of the client’s buying process, and address it more in the ways they approach business development.

This article appears on http://www.raintoday.com

 

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on March 16, 2011 at 5:44pm

As the quote from the book "One Minute Salesperson" says "People don't buy our products,services or ideas,they buy how they imagine using them will make them FEEL"

So I would then guess any "21st century sales methodologies" would need to focus more on how the client feels,and the psychology of why they feel that way?

Permalink Reply by Abe Hopper on March 16, 2011 at 5:52pm

My Dealer Group acquired a Chevrolet Dealership established in the 20's ... I found the following opening in a 1928 GM training manual ... The statement has stood the test of time:

Our business is so simple that we look at it and say, “well, it can’t be that simple – it has to be more complicated,” and we proceed to make it more and more complicated because …

… we think it can’t be so simple.   So the end result is often failure because we ignore the simplicity of success.

... Success is simple; it does not have to be very complicated …

Take care of people, give them a good product, good price, good service, treat them as you would a friend by keeping in touch and they will come back and buy cars again and again and tell their friends too.   It’s so simple.

21st Century Sales Approach ... written in 1928

Permalink Reply by Bobby Compton on March 17, 2011 at 11:31am

Great share Ron!

I'm big on knowing how to think inside the box before one would attempt to think outside the box. There are some very solid fundamental steps that were established long ago that hold as much ground today as when they were created. I was taught early on that if there's no reason to reinvent the wheel - then don't. 

 

That brings us to your question of are there any 21st century sales methodologies, and without question - YES. 

 

I've found that it's not necessarily a closing line that makes deals, it's a line of action. Here's a simple tip that I've found to lower the defenses of a customer when a trade appraisal is involved. 

 

#1 Offer to take the customer on appraisal - standard practice. 

#2 When the trade appraisal is completed, immediately hand the trade keys back to the customer and let them know that you're different than other dealers and don't hold the keys on them.  

 

This should NEVER happen, how many times has a customer approached a sales manager to request their keys with a bad attitude? The key is to be pro active in lines of action and not closing lines! 

Permalink Reply by Ron Terry on March 17, 2011 at 12:07pm

Craig...Thanks very much. This is very good information. Would you be open to telling me how one would implement any of these concepts in the sales process?

 

Thanks much...Ron

 

Craig Lockerd said:

Written by a Charles H Green,kind of interesting

Why Does The “Sales Process” View Dominate?

Because professionals like it that way. It’s a “like” rooted in fear.

“Sell” is a four-letter word in professional services firms (PSFs). “Business development” is preferred—in the passive voice, since “developing business” sounds too aggressive.

The legal profession still constrains advertising. Some consulting firms (Accenture, KPMG, McKinsey) use sponsorships or image advertising, but often say “we don’t sell.” Most professionals see “selling” as antithetical to professionalism.

Business schools have adopted a research-driven, hard-science-paradigm approach to business education drenched in academic data, statistics, and a strong bias for behavioral descriptions of human relations.

In the “real world,” you hear “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” (patently false on the face of it, but that’s another article). There is a bias for measurement, data, behavior, plans and results, gaps and needs assessments, variances, and alignment of quantitative results and rewards. Hardly any top MBA program teaches personal selling—because it isn’t “academic” enough.

Finally, people who become consultants, accountants, actuaries, or lawyers are (relatively) more comfortable with abstractions, numbers, and data than with interpersonal interactions.

The result: a desire to keep the world one step removed, reinforced by business schools and business dogma alike. Professionals want to believe that selling can be managed like their content: by data analysis, done comfortably in the office, with occasional forays to client sites—though only after careful planning to minimize surprise interactions. Viewing sales as a process is a comfort zone issue: we fear the reverse.

Hence the popularity of colored sheets, classification of buyer power centers, elaborate sales funnel forecasting systems, and—the mother of all data lodes—CRM systems. Unfortunately, just because we like to sell this way doesn’t mean clients buy this way.

Why Buyers Behave Non-Rationally

Buyers are not stupid. What they do makes perfect sense. They first use linear processes and statistical data to screen; they then make selection decisions emotionally. Clients decide with the heart, and rationalize their decision with the brain.

Buyers don’t just want a solution: they want to feel good about it. They want to sleep well at night, to believe that surprises will be resolved satisfactorily, and that the salesperson has the buyer’s interests at heart.

A service provider’s trustworthiness is immensely valuable to a client. Clients will pay for that value—if only they can find it. Clients hate buying from the lowest-cost provider. They’d far rather buy what they have to buy anyway from someone they trust.

Trust, Processes, And Psychology

Many professionals believe trust is created through brands, credentials, brains, and great work.

Sadly, it’s not.

Trust is a psychological relationship between individuals. People trust people, not institutions. Credibility and reliability are just two trust drivers: a sense of intimacy is another. Most important is the buyer’s belief that the seller has her best interests at heart.

Trust isn’t created back at the office, but in real-time personal interactions, primarily face to face. And, it’s created—or not—during the sale.

All buying situations contain both business process and personal psychology. Most professionals emphasize the former. Selling economics and buyer behavior suggest otherwise. Firms should recognize the rich emotional content of the client’s buying process, and address it more in the ways they approach business development.

This article appears on http://www.raintoday.com

 

Permalink Reply by Ron Terry on March 17, 2011 at 12:10pm

Abe...

 

Thanks for reminding me of the basics. Would you open to giving me specific actions to be taken in the sales process that are different form what is currently being done?

 

Thanks...Ron

 

Abe Hopper said:

My Dealer Group acquired a Chevrolet Dealership established in the 20's ... I found the following opening in a 1928 GM training manual ... The statement has stood the test of time:

Our business is so simple that we look at it and say, “well, it can’t be that simple – it has to be more complicated,” and we proceed to make it more and more complicated because …

… we think it can’t be so simple.   So the end result is often failure because we ignore the simplicity of success.

... Success is simple; it does not have to be very complicated …

Take care of people, give them a good product, good price, good service, treat them as you would a friend by keeping in touch and they will come back and buy cars again and again and tell their friends too.   It’s so simple.

21st Century Sales Approach ... written in 1928

Permalink Reply by Abe Hopper on March 17, 2011 at 1:29pm

Yes, it sounds too simple.  "Take care of people ... treat them as you would a friend by keeping in touch" 

I train sales people to send a letter, followed by a phone call ... every six months ... start by reminding them to service their car ... ask for a referral.  So how many sales people do you think do this ?  It is the difference between making $40k per year and $100K per year as a sales professional.  

 

A CRM system will pump out the letter ... but a letter is pointless without the phone call.  Social Media is not a substitute for the time proven letter and phone call. Please ... don't get me started on Texting.

 

Top gross profits are generated by selling to people we know. Yes, social media is the new buzz, but if you are doing it correctly 80% should be devoted to friendship and social events. Which at it's root, social media is a tool to keep in touch with your best friends !