Strategic Selling

Robert B Miller and Stephen E Heiman v0.1 October 11, 1999

What you will learn from the book

How to position yourself with the real decision makers and avoid those without approval power. How to spot the two key customer attitudes that can make a sale, and the two that usually break it. How to get not only the order but a satisfied customer, repeat sales and enthusiastic referrals. How to increase sales penetration in your current accounts. How to free up the stuck order. When to treat an old account like a new prospect. How to avoid selling business you dont want. How to identify and deal with the four different Buying Influences present in every sale. How to prevent sales from being sabotaged by an internal antisponsor. How to recognize fail-safe signals that indicate when a sale is in jeopardy. How to track account progress and forecast future sales how to avoid dry months by allocating time wisely to three critical selling tasks. When the adage, look before you leap, is the key to selling in present times and why he who hesitates is lost is inappropriate advice.

Lucky Salespersons
concentrate instead on providing solutions, solving problems, creating opportunities, and in general making their customers feel good about the sale, no matter how much effort that takes.

Complex Sale
Is one in which several people must give their approval before the sale can take place.

Three Premises
Whatever got you where you are today is no longer sufficient to keep you there. In the complex sale, a good tactical plan is only as good as the strategy that led up to it. You can only succeed in sales today if you know what youre doing and why.

Profile
They have developed a conscious, planned system of selling steps that are visible, logical and repeatable. They are never satisfied.

Why you need Strategy first

Both strategy and tactics are derived from ancient Greek. To the Greeks Taktikos meant fit for arranging or maneuvering, and it referred to the art of moving forces in battle. Strategos was the work for general. Originally therefore, strategy was the art of the general, or the art of setting up force3s before the battle began. In military terms these definitions still apply; with them in mind, you can easily see why strategy must precede tactics in a military setting.

Short Term and Long Term Objectives

In the short term you want to close as many individual deals as you possibly can, as quickly as possible. In the long term you want ot maintain healthy relations with the customers signing for these deals, so that they will be willing to make further purchases from you in the months and years to come. The successful sales strategist will keep both short-term and long-term objectives in mind when managing the Complex Sale.

Use a logical, repeatable sequence

Analyze your current position with regard to your account and with regard to your specific sales objectives. Think through possible Alternate positions. Determine which Alternate Position would best secure your objective and devise an Action Plan to achieve it. Implement you Action Plan. The whole key to strategy is position. It tells you where you are now, and where you might have to move to increase your chances of sales success.

Position
On the battlefield, being in the wrong place at the wrong time can be a fatal error, because no matter how brilliantly an army may perform in a face to face encounter it will never get a fair change to do so if its leaders dont know where they are, or if they are marching in the wrong direction.

Position - Steps
Identify relevant changes
What are the changes that you feel are influencing the way you do business?

Rate these changes + or Of the above, which are the opportunities and which are the threats?

Define your current sales objective

It must be specific and measurable (who is being what, when) It must focus on the outcome what am I trying to make happen in this account that isnt happening right now? It is single rather than multiple.

Test your current position

How do you feel about <account> with regard to <objective>? Euphoria / panic continuum - dangerous to be at either end.

Euphoria

great

secure

comfortable

OK

concern

discomfort

worry

fear

Panic

Predictable
Do I need to change anything to assure success?

Unpredictable
What must I change to reduce anxiety?

The Six Key Elements of Strategic Selling

Buying influences Red flags / Leverage from Strength Response Modes Win-Results The Sales Funnel The Ideal Customer Profile.

Buying Influences
Economic buying influence
Will give final approval. Can say yes when everyone else has said no.

User buying influence

Sale will affect their job performance. Their personal success tied to the decision. May be more than one.

Technical buying influence

To screen out possible suppliers Focus on product or service itself Cant give a final yes, but can give a No. May be more than one.

Coach
to guide you and give you information you need to position yourself May be in the organization, or in your own organization, or outside. Focus is on your success

Economic Buyer
The ultimate reason for the purchase is the bottomline impact you can make on the organization. It is critical to find out who gives the final yes.
Economic Buying Influence
Role: To give final approval to buy. Only one per sale. (Note: May be one set of people such as a board or committee.) Direct access to $ Release $ Discretionary use of funds Veto power Focus: Bottom line and impact on organization. Asks: What kind of return will we get on this investment?

Finding the Economic Buyer

Dollar amount
The greater the amount the higher you must look

Business conditions
In hard times decisions are pushed upwards

Experience with you and your company

It takes time to build trust, and the higher the perceived the risk the higher the decision is made

Experience with your product or service

The decision to try a new product or service could raise the decision point.

Potential operational impact

Buying decisions that affect the long-term stability and growth will be made high.

User Buyer
They make a judgment about the impact of the product or service on the job to be done. Personal perspective - how will your product or service work for me?
User Buying Influence
Role: To make judgements about impact on job performance. Often several or many.

People using / supervising use of your product of service Personal, since user will have to live with your proposal Direct link between users success - success of your product/service
Focus: The job to be done. Asks: How will it work for me?

Technical Buyer
Could be categorized as people who cant say yes, only no - and often do. Make judgements about the measurable and quantifiable aspects of your product or service based on how well it meets a variety of product specifications - which may or may not be technological. May be a legal reason not to proceed or on price, delivery time, failure to meet specifications, logistics, conditions of sale, credit terms, even references.
Technical Buying Influence
Role: To screen out. Often several or many. Judges measurable, quantifiable aspects of your proposal. Gatekeeper Makes recommendations Cant say yes (ie , in final approval) Can say no - and often does Focus: Produce per se Asks: Does it meet specifications?

Coach
The first three categories already exist. They are waiting to be identified. The Coach must not only be found, but must be developed. Coach
Role: To act as guide for the sale. Develop at least one. Can be found: In buying organization In your own organization Outside both Provides and interprets information about: Situation Buying influences How each wins Focus: Your success with this proposal. Asks: And how can we pull this off?

Criteria for a good Coach

You have credibility with that person.
Possibly has won in a sale with you in the past. Knows that you can be trusted.

The Coach has credibility with the buying organization.

The information that the Coach provides must be reliable.

The Coach wants you to succeed.

The Coach sees that it is in their self interest for the buying organization to accept your solution. Dont ask the Coach to do your selling for you. Seek information and direction, rather than referrals. What you want the Coach to hear is I will take accountability for the sale, but I could use your expertise. I will do the selling if you will explain how a couple of things work.

Identify the buyers

To locate your single Economic buyer ask, Who has final authority to release the money for this sale? To find your User buyers ask, Who will personally use or supervise the use of my product or service on the job? To find the Technical buyers ask, Who will make judgements about the technicalities of my product or service as a way of screening our vendors? To find the people you can most efficiently develop into Coaches ask, Who can guide me in this sale? Prepare the chart

The Buying Influence Chart

Economic - releases $
Dan Farley

User - Judges Impact on Job

Doris Green Harry Barnes

Technical - Screens Out Gary Steinberg Will Johnson Harry Barnes

Coach - guides me on this sale Doris Green Andy Kelly

Red Flags - for danger or opportunity

Red flags are used to highlight areas of strategy that need further attention. Missing Information
Missing information signals that the sale may be in danger.

Uncertainty about information

What has been assumed? What is not understood in the context of the sale?

Any uncontacted buying influence

Cover each base with the person best qualified to

Second Key Element of Strategy

Leverage from strength, which involves: Locating areas of weakness (red flags) Locating areas of Strengths Using those Strengths to remove the Red Flags

Response Modes
There are four possible reactions to change that a Buyer can have in a given selling situation. They are determined by: The Buyers perception of the immediate business situation. The Buyers perception of how your proposal is likely to change that situation. The buyers perception of whether or not that change will close a gap, or discrepancy, between what is seen as the current reality and the results needed. No matter how good a match there is between your proposal and those objective needs, no Buyer will be receptive to change unless this discrepancy is apparent first.

The Four Response Modes

Growth. The Buyer does perceive the essential discrepancy between the way things are right now and the way they should be. A Buyer in growth mode will be receptive to you provided you can show that your proposal makes it possible to do more or do better. Trouble. A Buyer in Trouble Mode sees a reality-results discrepancy, but it is something in the business environment that has caused a deviation from the planned course. The Buyer will be receptive if you show that your solution can quickly eliminate that discrepancy. Even Keel. The Buyer is happy as he does not perceive a discrepancy. The probability of selling is low. Overconfident. The Buyer perceives reality as far better than expected. The likelihood of making a sale is nil.

Additional Traps
Sales representatives who are inattentive to Buyer receptivity frequently fall into one of three fatal traps: They take their own perceptions of reality as the key to the sale. They assume their perceptions of reality are the same as those of their Buyers. They recognize that the Buyers perceptions of reality are different from their own, but conclude that they are wrong or irrelevant.

The strategic sales representative understands that anytime you ask someone to buy something, you are asking that person to make a change.

First Response Mode - Growth

The buyers perceived discrepancy between the current situation and the goal or target is invariably a crucial factor in readiness to buy. Knowing when to approach a customer is often just as important, but usually not as predictable, a factor in making a presentation as knowing what the customer needs. Trigger words are more, better, faster, improved and signal the readiness for change. These must be used personally rather than as a description of their organization. Address the individual perception and not the perception of the company at large.

Second Response Mode - Trouble

Does your proposal remove the cause of the Trouble and the discrepancy that it causes. This is a reversal of the discrepancy perceived by a buyer in Growth response mode and means that the buyer is ready to buy, but not necessarily from you. The winning proposal will be the one that will most quickly remove the cause of the problem. Trouble always takes precedence over growth. Selling Growth to a Buyer in Trouble, is like selling a roof to a farmer whose barn is on fire!
I need to do more right now (Growth) I need to do more right now (Trouble)

Third Response Mode - Even Keel

In this mode the chances of making a sale are low because the buyer does not perceive the essential discrepancy between current reality and desired results. There is no receptivity to change. Your proposal may even be seen as a threat to a stable situation. Only three things will change this: The buyer sees growth or trouble coming. Use pressure from another buying influence.
The Economic Buyer normally spots trouble faster.

You demonstrate a discrepancy.

Show that reality is not as satisfactory as they believe and that they have settled far short of what they can achieve.

Fourth Response Mode Overconfident

The perceived discrepancy works against a sale. Things may be too good to be true:
They are misunderstanding the situation, out of ignorance or wishful thinking. Their goals are set so low that the poor performance is not obvious.

Overconfidence always cycles into trouble.

Messenger may get killed.

Wait for reality.

A Mixed Field of Buyers

It is possible to sell a proposal to a mixed field of Buyers, but only if you employ the basic principles of Response Modes The starting point for approaching each individual buyer is to learn that Buyers current perception of the business situation and his or her perceived discrepancy between reality and results. Each Buyer base must be covered by a person who accepts this as the starting point, and who is best qualified to approach that individual Buyer. Always use Leverage from Strength to bring about a match of modes from a mixed field of responses.

Actions
Identify each players Response Modes. Rate them on how you think they feel right now about the proposal, from Enthusiastic Advocate (+5), Strongly Supportive (+4), Supportive (+3), Interested (+2), Will Go Along (+1), Probably Will Not Resist (-1), Uninterested (-2), Mildly Negative (-3), Strong for Competition (-4), Antagonistic AntiSponsor (-5). Test these ratings

Updated table
Economic - releases $
Dan Farley G +2

User - Judges Impact on Job

Doris Green G +3 Harry Barnes EK -2

Technical - Screens Out Gary Steinberg T -4 Will Johnson OC -4 Harry Barnes EK -2

Coach - guides me on this sale Doris Green G +3 Andy Kelly T +4

The Importance of Winning

Mutual satisfaction is the foundation of long term success. The good sales representative wants:
the order satisfied customers long term relationships repeat business strong referrals

You cannot manage a sale so that any given buying company wins. You can, and must, manage each sales objective so that every one of the Buying Influences for that objective sees a personal win in the sale. The Sales Representative should strive to develop a joint venture in which their Buying Influences are seen not as threats, but as members of their own team.

Win-Results
The reason people really buy is only indirectly related to the product or service performance. You cant just meet their business needs. You have to serve their individual subjective needs as well. A RESULT is the impact your product or service can have on the Buyers business process. A Win is a personal gain that satisfies an individual Buyers perceived self interest. A Win-Result is a Result that gives one of your individuals a personal Win. A Result must take place before a Buyer will perceive a Win; its a precondition to a Win. Companies get Results; only people get Wins.

Results / Wins
Results Impact of a product on a business process
Improve a good process Fix something that has gone wrong Make sure that it is a desired result They are shared by various people in the buying organization

Wins Fulfillment of promise made to oneself

Win is always in context of specific cultural environment may change as environment changes

Tangible, measurable, quantifiable

Corporate

intangible, not measurable, not quantifiable

subjective, along lines of samples which follow Results may benefit many people, but not all in the same way. A win is personal.

Personal

Sample Wins
Remain in power Achieve control over others Get more leisure Remain in a given location Increase skill development Increase personal productivity Be an instrument of change Be looked upon as a problem solver Contribute to the organization Increase mental stimulation Gain recognition Increase growth potential Improve social status. Have more time with family Get more power Increase self-esteem Be more flexible Feel more secure or safe Put in a quality performance Be seen as a leader Offer uniqueness Pay a debt Increase responsibility and authority Pursue a lifestyle Get more freedom

Determining Your Buyers Wins

You can infer your individual Buyers Wins, wither from the Results they are likely to want or from what you know about their attitudes and lifestyles. You can ask them directly what is in the sale for them. You can get Coaching.

Results that produce Wins for Buyer Groups

Economic
low cost of ownership good budget fit ROI financial responsibility increased productivity profitability smooth out cash flow flexibility specs best and product meets them delivery timely best technical solution discounts / low bids / price reliability

User
reliability increased efficiency upgrade skills fulfill performance requirements best problem solution do job better / faster / easier versatility super-service easy to learn and use recognition visibility get strokes make contribution be seen as problem-solver

Technical

Coach

Infer from the environment

If the office is full of golf trophies and community plaques, there is a strong need for achievement and recognition If there are pictures of children on the wall, security or family approval might be the key. If appointments are always on time then efficiency may be the key. The better you know the Buyers lifestyles and attitudes, the better you will be able to infer their Wins.

Actions - 1
Identify Results for your business
use the examples as a start and list for all types of buyer.

Test the Result

Is it measurable, tangible, and quantifiable? Is it corporate - can it be shared by more than one Buying Influence? Is is business related - does it positively affect a business process of Buyer Results Wins the customer?

Identify Results for your current sales objective

Focus on one or two key results for each buyer listed in column 1.

Actions - 2
Test your individual Buyers results
What business process of the Buyer does this Result address? How does the Result improve or fix that process? How does the Result relate to the specific business concerns of the Buyers category of Buying Influence?

Identify your Buyers wins

How will this Buyer win if my product or service delivers this result?

Win-Results Chart

Win-Results Chart
Buyers
Dan Farley (EB)

Results
Productivity increase

Wins
Red flag

Dorris Green (UB)

Less overtime; performance

Maintain feeling of departmental control Security

Harry Barnes (UB, TB)

Continued reliability

Gary Steinberg (TB)

Move inventory faster

Red Flag

Will Johnson (TB)

Easy credit arrangements

Enhance reputation with management

Actions - 3
Determine your present Win-Win status
Have I delivered or can I deliver the Results that each Buyer needs to Win? Does every buyer have confidence that I can do this? In other words, do they all know I am playing Win-Win with them?

Revise your Alternate Positions list

Getting to the Economic Buyer

Frequent problems are: The economic buyer cannot be identified Others are blocking access to the economic buyer You are uncomfortable talking to the economic buyer

Identification
The dollar amount of the sale Business conditions Experience with you and your firm Experience with you and your product or service Potential Organizational Impact

the buyer is likely to be sale specific the buyer is often likely to be highly placed the buyer is generally paid for his ability to see into the future

When you are blocked

Show the blocker how to win
not just be letting you see the economic buyer, but by taking you there personally show that you have something of value to the Economic buyer the single most valuable contribution you can bring is knowledge show how you can increase his predictive capability

Getting around a block

Contacting the Economic Buyer

You have a valid reason for contacting an Economic Buyer when you can present knowledge that will make a contribution to the way he or she is doing business.
Knowledge that increases their ability to predict the future, and thus decreases their perceived risk and uncertainty, is held in the highest regard.

Actions

Who is the economic buyer? How well is the economic buyer covered? How receptive is he to my proposal? Am I playing win win? Do I have a valid business reason for seeing him.
What do I need to FIND OUT? What information do I need to get from the economic buyer to help me better address the required Results and personal Wins. What do I want the Economic Buyer to KNOW? What contribution can I make to his long range planning process? What do I want him to DO? How will that contribution provide results that will have a positive impact on both the buying business and mine? What do I want him to FEEL? How will the Results translate into a personal Win that he will attribute to me?

Your Coach - Actions

Do you have credibility with your Coach?
How has he won with me in the past? If he has not won with me, has he at least won with my company? Am I certain that he trusts me?

Does he have credibility with the buying organization? Does he want you to make the sale?
How is the coachs self interest served by my making this sale?

Assess your current position Revise your alternative positions list