by Cindy Barnes
The overall style is very directive, uncovering needs and then matching these needs to the features and benefits of whatever is being sold. Typically, this style of selling does not foster close, long-term relationships. The overriding thought behind this type of sales is: ‘I only have this (these) product(s) to sell, so I’ll find a way to convince you that you have a reason to buy it.’ There is no attempt to disguise the fact that this individual is a salesperson and any prospect will immediately recognize the meeting as a sales situation.
If well-trained, these salespeople can be very cost-effective at selling commodity items and some solutions in appropriate circumstances.
Expert service sales
At the other end of the spectrum, ‘expert service’ salespeople are generally selling their own expertise. Initially the qualifying conversation with a prospective customer starts by getting the prospect to elaborate on a current issue so that the ‘expert’ can demonstrate how his/her expertise can help. This sales style is typically used by consultants to sell themselves and is often used by anyone trying to sell a specialist service or team.
The overall style is for the expert to talk about what he/she knows in order to demonstrate expertise. In essence, the expert expounds on a topic, hoping that the prospective customer will latch on to a bit of the discourse and say, ‘Yes, that’s exactly my problem. Can you help me too?’ The approach is less selling and more ‘being bought from’, with the expert setting out his/her stall during the discussion. Because many consultants use this style, many people confuse the approach with consultative selling, which is a different approach entirely. Do not mix the two styles. In expert service sales, the ‘salesperson’ cedes control of the process to the prospect, while in consultative selling the salesperson drives the selling process.
Solution sales
This style is closest to the transactional style with, perhaps, a bit more of a long-term relationship in mind. The salesperson uses the directed questioning technique in order to encourage a customer to elaborate on business issues so as to uncover and shape an opportunity around which a solution can be proposed. A ‘solution’ or ‘offering’ is not as rigid as the commodities offered by a transactional salesperson and, typically, the solution salesperson has more options and flexibility in shaping a deal. In these situations, the directed questioning is less focused on immediate qualification of the opportunity and more on leading the prospect towards elaborating on business issues.
The overall style is one of enquiry and problem solving but the roles are clearly prospect/customer and sales representative. The customer understands exactly what the company has to sell and might see the solution sales rep as their link into the selling company. These salespeople tend to foster longer-term relationships and stick with customers, selling them additional solutions, products and/or services.
Consultative sales
This style is most appropriate for selling on the top half of the Value Pyramid™. While it is clear to everyone involved which company is selling and which is buying, the relationship between the prospective customer and the consultative salesperson is closer to ‘peer-to-peer’ rather than buyer to salesperson. Why? Because when done well, the salesperson is very knowledgeable about the issues and opportunities in the business segment being addressed. He/she commands the entire resources of the selling company in putting together the optimum solution for the prospect. This individual should command respect and project gravitas.
Although the consultative salesperson also asks a lot of questions, particularly when taking the customer into the ‘dip’ in the sales story, this individual also speaks knowledgeably about the marketplace and how other businesses have dealt with some of the issues. So questions tend to combine both features, inserting a referencing statement into the interrogation. An example of such a question is: ‘In my experience I have found that…; what about you? Is this true in your business?’ A consultative salesperson tells the sales story and uses it to drive a solution sale to a successful close.
So, there are four very different styles that should be applied in four very different situations. Sometimes, when using teams of people to drive a sale, some or all of these styles may be deployed at different stages of the process or when dealing with different people in the ‘buyer map’.
Therefore, for large, complex deals it is critical to understand which styles are needed where and when. These individuals will then be mapped off against different people within the prospective customer’s organization. In order for all of them to drive forward the sales process to a successful conclusion there should be a clearly articulated set of sales activities with one person (a salesperson with overall accountability for winning the business) in charge and orchestrating the activities. Without such a plan, the result can be disastrous.
What can happen when a company mixes sales styles when pursuing an opportunity?
Imagine a qualifying sales meeting in which a solutions or consultative salesperson brings along an expert salesperson from the same company. Typically, the first two types would drive the meeting by asking questions – usually questions for which they already have some idea of the answer, but the whole point of the process is to get the prospective customer to speak the answer. Then you have the expert salesperson who needs to show what he/she knows. When this person hears a question, he/she answers it – almost without thinking – to illustrate expertise.
Now imagine the frustration and confusion in a sales meeting when the consultative salesperson asks a question and his/her own companion chirps up and answers it before the customer can speak. This meeting would continue with ‘question’ and ‘answer’ followed by more ‘question’ and ‘answer’ with the prospective customer unable to say anything. Why? Because these two salespeople are following different playbooks.
How frequently does this situation really occur?
The answer is: very often. Especially in a technical sale when a salesperson feels he/she needs the backup of technical expertise. What’s missing in this situation is a clear process in which both salespeople understand the roles that each should play in the process. In this instance, during a qualifying meeting, the expert salesperson should remain quiet until and unless called upon to speak by the solution/consultative salesperson. There are instances when expert salespeople can sell ‘their expertise’ in a complex, solution sale, but it is typically at a later stage in the sales process.
Mixing a transactional sales style with any other is also a disaster. Remember, this salesperson is only interested in qualifying and closing. Any other discussions will be perceived as irrelevant and a waste of time. This salesperson will view the extended discourse of the expert or the storytelling of the consultative salesperson as too much talking. Too much talking by anyone but the prospective customer is counter to everything that a transactional salesperson has been taught. On the other hand, if the transactional salesperson starts the conversation, he/she will try to ‘close down’ the discussion to focus on ‘the deal’; the solutions salesperson will try to ‘open up’ the conversation to explore possible solutions. The expert salesperson will just be horrified. These specialists are ‘bought from’ because someone values their expertise, and often they don’t even consider themselves as salespeople. As a result, in any meeting with a transactional salesperson, the expert would be embarrassed and horrified at being associated with such strong and crass examples of selling.
And yes, this situation happens too – typically when competing parts of the business send someone from separate sales forces within the business to pursue an opportunity together. Because these siloed divisions are competing against each other rather than against external competitors, the customer ends up confused and annoyed. This situation will not occur in companies that are customer-centric, but it is all too common in large businesses whose view of the world is entirely inwardly focused.
Law 9 of Value Proposition Selling states that, ‘You can’t mix your selling styles in one meetin
g, eg consultative with transactional. For team selling scenarios, you must have a team selling process with clearly delineated roles and responsibilities.’
So, what are the attributes of a ‘good’ salesperson of any style?
Essentially, a good salesperson should be a storyteller. Like all storytellers, they should be a bit dramatic and instructive and, above all, engaging and entertaining. Although these may not be the traits listed in most selling manuals, the key attributes are:
entertaining;
creative;
engaging;
intelligent;
personable;
challenging.
Some of the skills necessary are similar to those of a teacher. The salesperson should be able to:
inform;
teach;
direct;
guide;
– and do so gently without insulting the intelligence of prospective customers.
Of course, in addition, all salespeople should be experts in the products, services, solutions and processes of the business they represent.
Team selling
Mentioned earlier in this chapter, large, complex deals often require a team of people to progress the sale. In the example of ‘storytelling’ and ABC Ltd, although the scoping study was paid for, it was, in fact, a team selling process that delivered a plan for the customer as well as a proposal for more work. In other instances, proposal preparation can require a team of experts and specialists and this team may include all sales styles. For team selling, a clearly articulated process is required and individuals should be mapped against specific customer roles as appropriate. Each individual should be assigned specific responsibilities and the overall leader of the process should be the consultative salesperson.
To provide a detailed explanation of the process would be the topic of a separate book. Needless to say, the whole process should be managed like a project, with project management disciplines, communications and documentation.
For team selling – in fact, for all solutions selling – what is critical is:
the right people (or team);
the right process;
a common understanding by the whole company of what they want to sell and how it will be delivered;
a Plan ‘B’ for the approach to the customer;
a clear understanding of the prospective customer, his/her business issues/opportunities and what the customer understands and values.
Sales approaches, team processes, sales processes, sales styles and stories – many successful companies employ all these things and do so successfully. But many more companies do not. Some businesses, particularly those that focus on product or expertise, fail to appreciate the skill and complexity involved in the go-to-market process and they ignore it to their detriment. The 10 Laws of Value Proposition Selling provide a good check list for any business wishing to develop an authentic market positioning and selling style and approach.
Self-test: how to improve your listening skills and empathy in sales
Here are a few exercises to practise in order to enhance your behavioural selling and storytelling skills by using empathy and listening:
1 Imagine yourself as your customer Easy to say, much harder to do. This requires that you practise a shift in perspective. Empathy requires that you feel what your customer is feeling. It is not imagining what they are feeling but rather actually feeling what they are feeling. This helps build connection and trust. Practise, practise, practise. When listening to your customer you should be able to feed back to them, in a way that they resonate with the following:
– Your customer’s perception of the points they were sharing with you.
– What was troubling them about what they told you?
– What emotions are being expressed by your customer in this moment?
– What does your customer need from you at this moment? Just to listen and reflect back what they are saying? Or are they in discursive mode? Have they moved into a more rational, problem-solving mode?
2 Recognize your own emotions and then you will be able to recognize other people’s more easily Empathy is about the ability to share in another person’s emotional experience. You need to pay careful attention to their verbal cues and their body language. How do their words and body language tell you about what they are feeling?
– Ask a family member or friend to observe you as you tell them an emotive story.
– Ask them about the verbal and body language cues they can observe in you. What are they? How do they manifest?
When you understand your own behaviour and emotions better you will find it easier to identify this in others.
3 Listen and accept what is being told to you In sales we spend a lot of time and effort trying to change people’s minds. Too often we are in too much of a hurry to do this rather than taking the time to listen, understand and respect the customer’s views and opinions. Would you want someone to change your mind without first taking the time to understand what it is you believe and why you believe it?
Practise this with a family member again:
– Ask them to tell you an emotive story about something that happened to them.
– You need to suspend all your judgement and just listen.
– Occasionally paraphrase small parts of what they told you and repeat this back to them.
– Ask them at the end if they felt you were truly listening and were really trying to understand what they were telling you.
4 Use emotions to drive actions As we have seen in this chapter already, there is an emotional journey in telling a good sales story. Good salespeople use negative emotions to create a case for change and drive the customer to take action. They use positive emotions to build hope and a vision for a positive solution to the customer’s problems:
– Make a list of questions that uncover the implications for the customer if there is no change.
– Then make a list of questions that elicit a vision of the implications if the change is made.
– Describe what that change would look like.
– How would the customer know that the change had been made?
– What actions would have to be taken to get there?
NOTE The above list has been modified and reproduced with kind permission from Anthony Iannarino (2010).
References
Denning, Stephen (2007) The Secret Language of Leadership, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Fredrickson, Barbara and Kahneman, Daniel (1993) Duration neglect in retrospective evaluations of affective episodes, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1), pp 45–55
Iannarino, Anthony (2010) [accessed 13 January 2017] 5 Ways to Improve Your Empathy and EQ in Sales [Blog] [Online] https://thesalesblog.com/ 2010/02/28/5-ways-to-improve-your-empathy-and-eq-in-sales/
07
Winning business
The 10 Laws of Value Proposition Selling
Now this story is drawing to a close. As in a sales story, there is a decision to be taken, questions to be answered and next steps to plan. Answer the questions posed in this chapter and you have a choice either to do nothing or to move towards becoming a selling organization. If you take this step and follow the laws of value proposition selling, both your business and your customers will benefit. Before you make this decision, we will review the steps and the laws.
Your first consideration is to be authentic: to truly care about what your customers value in order to focus the whole business on maintaining and building this value. Some businesses have undertaken value proposition work with the objective of papering over the cracks or adding some marketing sparkle so as to appear to embrace what customers value. Customers are not fooled by this – eventually, they will see through the device.
Getting any benefit from value proposition work means transforming many things within the business, including processes, structure and behaviours. Unless a business approaches these efforts in earnest, value proposition work can be a waste o
f time and money. However, when conscientiously applied, it can create a treasure chest filled with items that customers value.
The techniques described in this book for turning a value proposition into a sales proposition are powerful. They should only be deployed when what is being sold benefits both the customer and the selling company. These techniques are not about marketing spin; they have been designed to help authentic businesses focus their efforts and sell effectively, not to manipulate customers into buying something they don’t need or want. Selecting the best sales approach and style, and crafting the sales story are very effective and proven approaches.
The sales story helps a business to integrate all its functions – often bringing together previously siloed departments within the company. In this way, the whole company understands what the business sells and how every employee can support the sales process. Whether an opportunity is driven by a lone salesperson or a sales team, in reality selling is a team sport, and an outcome to which everyone is working.
Law 1: the whole company plays a role in supporting the sales process
Enough about the selling company – the whole point of value proposition work is to extend the company psyche to include the customer inside a business’s ecosystem (most large businesses do not) and make the business more customer-centric. The customer must become an organ within the anatomy of the business body, and not be seen as ‘an other’ on the outside. No matter the business type, product or service, offering or solution, anything sold should be designed with a target customer type in mind. Who better to question in order to understand these needs than prospects and customers? Great companies take this process further to include suppliers and collaborators too. Appropriate insights from all of these individuals provide valuable information for a business to use in refining its offerings and amending its go-to-market approach.