Next Level Selling

by Tom Fedro

  The worst possible scenario for all involved is to overpromise and underdeliver; the salesperson should never do that, but sometimes it happens. When it does, the tech support engineer must step in and have an honest discussion after the meeting directly with the salesperson. Misrepresenting your solution hurts everybody, and the salesperson is ultimately responsible for the success of that business relationship. They have to keep it real and honest.

  The role of the customer support team

  Depending on the cycle of your company — startup, mature, big or small — your customer support’s influence will vary. For a more established company with many customers calling the support line, your support team can get a wealth of information from these customer calls. You can learn what’s working and what’s not, what needs to change in your solution, where it is now and where it should be. The customer support team is an excellent conduit to deliver industry information on the efficacy of different solutions.

  I suggest that your customer support team asks callers if they have looked at other solutions. Customer support is in an ideal position with the customer to learn if different approaches are being taken to solving particular problems. A salesperson probably cannot ask and may not receive truthful answers to those kinds of questions as the customer may not be comfortable discussing challenges with a sales rep. A customer support representative is, however, viewed differently from a salesperson and may be able to dig deeper into any problems a client is facing.

  When a client or prospect interacts with a salesperson, they might focus first on giving money to your company, and then later will recognize the value received. Whereas when dealing with customer support, the customer’s primary focus is on receiving value through satisfaction, having their needs and concerns addressed.

  Customer support is in a prime seat to gather lots of valuable detail about the pain and how your product is working or not. Ideally, you have a process in place to mine the customer support division for their treasure trove of data information. Their interactions with your customer can result in valuable, real-time nuggets of information.

  Case study: Sprint Corporation

  The Sand Box

  This American telecommunications company is also an Internet service provider. It is the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States with a customer base of 54 million. When they were launching their wireless operation, a key component they required for their service was a fraud detection or a fraud assurance solution to be installed. It had to be installed immediately. Without it, they would be losing money out the back door to people using illegal phones on their network. Their pain was clear to all.

  The authority was their vice-president of revenue of assurance and security. Sprint had a group of security team members ready to test the system rigorously. They were the real authority on the deal. The money was confirmed since this had to happen before the launch. In this case, they put out an RFQ, and since several other major wireless operators had purchased our product, we were able to expertly leverage those references right from the beginning for this opportunity.

  They didn’t, however, care about the reference calls or visits until they saw that we were able to get the system installed in their environment. We showed them what it could do and how it could handle their huge anticipated call detail record volumes. They anticipated growing very rapidly. The system that we developed and delivered to them was highly scalable and was able to handle whatever they threw at it. The decision came down to our team spending a great deal of time with their evaluators, while at the same time being in front of their executive committee with our very professional RFQ response.

  The evaluators went through the day-to-day testing on how our product would work. As this was happening, we were exceptionally responsive to their every question, every request and every reasonable desire to modify the user interface for their unique circumstances. We were able to respond much faster than our larger competitors. With our responsiveness, we showed them that our team was going to be with them for the long haul.

  The key to winning this client was having our engineering team on site with theirs to make sure that the product worked flawlessly in their environment. The prospect saw that when they needed anything at all, their request was dealt with immediately.

  Lessons learned

  We learned to keep our team in front of their evaluation team as much as possible. In this case, they wanted to have a secondary system that they could use as a sandbox, adding an additional license to the contract. Winning this project was a great deal for everyone involved, delivering several million dollars of recurring revenue to our company and a great commission check for the Maverick sales rep. Not only was this a big win for our team, but landing this whale knocked down another key domino in the telecom space.

  The role of tech support

  They can articulate the solutions, features and value of your offering.

  The role of customer support

  Customer support is in a prime seat to gather large amounts of valuable detail about the pain and how your product is working or not.

  CHAPTER 7

  MAJOR OBSTACLES

  Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way. – Les Brown

  Let’s dive into the major obstacles you’re inevitably going to handle as a salesperson in substantial deals. We want to characterize each one, define how it relates to PAM, then talk about how a company can overcome these obstacles.

  Seven significant barriers a company could easily face

  fear;

  inertia;

  timing;

  disaster;

  not having PAM in the building;

  no-decisionitis;

  lack of urgency.

  Fear as an obstacle

  Begin by always expecting good things to happen. – Tom Hopkins

  In big deals, fear will often raise its head on both sides of the table. On the prospect side, there’s the fear of failure, the prospect becoming afraid during the PAM process. They may have had dealings with other sales professionals that didn’t work out in the past, such as crossing paths with an unethical salesperson. They may have had a negative buying experience that causes them to feel suspicious or skeptical of your promises. Perhaps they worry that they could be making a horrible and potentially embarrassing mistake.

  Fear can easily grip the prospect, so it must be handled early and often in the process by the salesperson through conversation, demonstrations, reference selling and even, in some cases, through contractual guarantees that address particular areas of concern. Together these tactics can overcome the fear of failure on the prospect’s side as the fear is uncovered, clarified and handled by the salesperson.

  On the salesperson’s side, there’s the fear of rejection. It’s a standard part of the process that must be internally handled by the salesperson. A salesperson must consider his or her personality, and determine how to wrestle with the possibility of failure. Rejection sucks, and of course, nobody wants to be rejected. The fear of rejection can, however, grow into a real monster if it is allowed to fester too long during the sales process. Root it out of you early on so that you can press on and get the deal done. As a salesperson cultivates a relationship, there comes the point in the PAM process where the salesperson has to move the deal forward to closure by asking the tough questions that risk potential rejection, disapproval or criticism by the customer.

  By avoiding or delaying these conversations, timelines can be unnecessarily extended. I suggest in these situations that you first recognize why the discussion was started in the first place, which was to eliminate the prospect’s pain. The salesperson knows they can help the customer improve what they do, and can remind them so they can move the transaction to closure. The prospect’s going to be a hero, and the salesperson’s going to earn a well-earned commission. It’s a real win-wi
n all the way around.

  If the conversation is allowed to drag on due to the fear of rejection, the deal-making phase can end up being a waste of time for all involved. The salesperson has to eradicate any fear by straight-up asking for the business. In the worst case — if the answer comes back as a no — the salesperson can address why it’s a no which is an essential opportunity for the salesperson to expand their knowledge base.

  Some sample questions a salesperson can ask to move the deal forward

  Would you consider a new partner?

  How do you feel about our investment?

  How do you feel about our terms?

  Throw these questions out regularly to make sure you’re moving the process toward closing the deal.

  Case study: major action camera manufacturer

  Thanks, but no thanks — but wait! We do need it!

  The fear obstacle raised its head with a manufacturer whose main product line is action cameras for mobile apps and video-editing software. They had been dominant in the action camera space for some time, but then the company experienced a tremendous influx of competition in 2015-2016 that severely impacted their business. Their market share was dramatically eroded in the very market they had created as new competitors were coming in from China and other countries with competitive offerings at a lower price point. The company’s stock took a dive, and they developed a fear of making bold decisions.

  Our product was one of those caught in their fear maelstrom. The prospect could not decide to move forward until we were able to get in front of the product team and prove how our software — as a part of their camera — would make a much more compelling offer and therefore drive more revenue back in their direction. We were able to break through that barrier of fear to get the initial meeting, and they agreed to evaluate our software.

  We discovered their pain was that they needed to bring out new devices that could support the new Microsoft standard for Micro SSD cards. This format was called exFAT, and they needed to be able to use these new cards in their cameras which were based on Linux, which was incompatible with the Microsoft standard. They needed the right code and software so a consumer could plug in their card from Best Buy or Walmart and not have to worry about things like operating systems or file systems. The card had to work in the camera without exception.

  The authority came down to the people designing their new line of cameras, and that was the VP of product management and the technical team — along with their negotiation squad on business development. The director of business development was a crucial part of building this deal and putting it together. The authority split two ways with the former being the key, and the latter ultimately pushing it across the line. The money was confirmed because they had a firm launch date for their new camera line that required this technology. The cash was there.

  As their company had been going through some difficult times with their competitor’s offerings getting better and better, this new line would be integral not only to maintaining control over their existing market but also to winning new market share. Their latest offering absolutely had to be successful; failure was not an option.

  We spent years trying to get in to see them, and because of our demonstrated perseverance, we were finally allowed to present our solution for their product launch. Our software worked wonders in all their stress-testing environments, including freezing chambers and underwater immersion. There were no problems with our solution, and we were able to build tight relationships with their product management and development teams. These relationships were key; leveraging them helped us close the deal. We are proud to say that the company is now shipping cameras integrated with our software solution.

  Lessons learned

  The critical lesson here is never, never, never give up. Even when you’ve repeatedly been turned away, stick to your guns if you know that your solution will enable the prospect to flourish in new ways, and eliminate pain. This doesn’t mean you should waste time banging your head against a wall. Use your tools, industry knowledge and references to keep the pressure on to get the meeting at the right level. Work with all their groups and keep showing them a clear vision of their pain-free future. After two years, closing this major action camera manufacturer was a great win, getting them over the fear obstacle and signing a high-dollar deal that has opened new markets for their business.

  Inertia as an obstacle

  Motivation will almost always beat mere talent. – Norman Ralph Augustine

  Inertia is a tendency to do nothing and to remain unchanged, which is a common sticking point encountered in sales. People generally don’t like to change, and many will fight to retain the status quo. Don’t fix what’s not broken, as they say. Inertia can become a principal impediment to moving the sale forward to closure.

  The pain may not be enough to create sufficient urgency to propel the prospect to make a decision. An example is when you’re trying to replace a competitor in an account. Unless the pain is obvious, it’s typically going to be an uphill battle to win the deal because the change is a struggle for the customer if they’re doing okay with their current supplier.

  You don’t want to spend much time differentiating your product or service if you run into this issue. If they’re happy with their current provider, let them know that with little effort, you’re an easy, drop-in replacement, and that your offering will save them money and time, eliminate returns, or reduce support calls — whatever your solution is going to do to improve their bottom line. You may have a shot at the replacement as long as it’s not going to change their process substantially.

  Energetic buyers are driven by pain; they wanted to move yesterday, and they’re gunning for a change. Inertia prospects who say they’re satisfied are, however, a different breed — they live in Inertiaville and speak a different language. You have to show them how your product is similar to what they already have, is pain-free to implement, plus they’ll get a huge win they’re currently not experiencing. The win could be a lower price, free maintenance, free upgrades, whatever your particular solution brings to the table that they’re not going to get with the competitor and best of all, it’s a drop-in replacement. To overcome inertia, everything has to be easy, and have clear wins for the decision maker.

  Do you wonder when a company should decide to go after a competitor’s account? The answer is always. When you look at most lines of businesses, unless you’re representing something brand new, such as flying cars (actually, even in that field there are competitors!), you’re going to have competition. If you’re selling a payroll system or an accounting system or a backup product, most clients are already using something, so it’s a matter of positioning your solution to win their business. Some prospects may be upset with their current vendor for not meeting all of their needs, leaving them motivated, energetic and with unresolved pain.

  If you call on them, and they say, “We’ve been with our vendor for 12 years, and while there are a few things we don’t like, they get the job done. We’re okay and not looking to change.” That’s inertia. You’ve got to decide if you can illustrate enough pain for them to make the switch to your offering. Illustrating a company’s pain may require different sales tactics. For example, you might first approach the finance committee with your references to introduce your proposal, and then your introduction to the authority will come from the finance people.

  Case study: one of the world’s top printer manufacturers

  Three years isn’t that long… really.

  When chasing one of the largest printer manufacturers on the planet, we faced several years of inertia. It came in the form of bureaucracy, as a great many people were involved in the decision to include our solution in their printer offering. Once we got one product team excited, we had to move on to another product team and another and another and another. All the while we had to keep each team continually excited about our offering.

  This client is a vast multi-billion-dollar organization wit
h more than 50,000 employees and has a tremendous number of management layers. It was a constant grind to push through the inertia to get in front of every one of the product teams with decision-making authority in this particular engagement. It took a long time, but once we were able to penetrate the right levels, we obtained consensus and became the catalyst that brought those different product groups together to agree that our product was right for all their printer lines.

  Very well known, this customer ships tens of millions of printers every year from inkjet to laserjet printers and everything in between. As these printers have become increasingly sophisticated, a major pain was uncovered. These printers were going to require more storage and the functionality to support multiple formats and file systems. With this new feature, a user with a thumb drive or a little portable disk drive containing documents or pictures could connect their device to a printer, and print from it directly.

  The only way to do that is to have some sophisticated, low-level software on the printer that allowed for a storage device to be compatible with the printer, regardless of which file system or operating system was used to create the different documents. What they needed was a software called Rosetta Stone installed on the printer that ensures all the files move correctly and the consumer doesn’t have to worry about the different languages or technologies involved — it just works.

  The authority was their Senior VP of product management who was looking to take their product lines to the next level. Their evaluators — the people doing the testing — and the procurement team made up the group that would influence the ultimate authority with this customer.

  The money was confirmed once the decision to offer this new feature was cleared by the product management team, and included in their upcoming product line. Our engineering team worked closely with theirs on all the different scenarios where a consumer or business could use their printer. We looked at how they would attach the storage and what potential problems they might encounter, ensuring that our solutions would work through those issues. It simply had to plug in and work — ease of use was the whole idea regardless of platform. Our job was to prove that their ideal could be a reality with our software installed.