Myth header
Think about this -   
 
There are many myths and misperceptions about sales - let's call them Myth-Perceptions. This edition deals with Sales Myth #4, the concept of solution selling.
 
"The NANOSECOND Salesperson" is helping a lot of people rethink their sales processes. Yesterday a CEO told me that one idea in the book had caused him to rethink a major sales presentation he was making. Our job is to help others think better - that what "Teach Others" is all about.
 
Now, to this edition's myth -
 
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"I don't believe in Pegasus, Unicorns or commodities - I've never seen any of them."  - Chuck Reaves
Myth #4
Customers Want Solutions to Problems
 
Myth: Customers Want Solutions to Problems
think 
Truth: Most customers - and most of us - don't know what the problem is
 
What's the Problem?
 
A number of readers have asked for details on "Solution Selling". It is one of the most important elements of sales and yet one that is frequently mishandled. In fact, sales professionals who are genuinely interested in their customers are the ones who mishandle this one the most often!
 
The goal is to earn our sale by solving a customer's problem. That's simple enough, but here is where it begins to go off track:
 
  1. The customer has to acknowledge (believe) that the problem exists
  2. The customer MUST have a clear understanding of the actual cost of the problem
  3. The customer must believe that our solution will work
  4. The customer must believe that our solution is the best option
  5. The customer must believe in us
 
It's the last step that throws some of us off. We forget that we must constantly resell ourselves to the customer. We cannot take for granted that they will remember all we have done for them in the past. We must remember that our competitors have been talking to them and muddying the water. We should also keep in mind that in most cases, they are more important to us than we are to them unless we are consistently quantifying our value to them.
 
Salespeople who genuinely like their customers are often too quick to offer a solution. They see a customer need and they want to address it. They understand the customer's pain and they want to cure it. That's all well and good unless the salesperson has not included the customer in the thinking and analysis process.
 
You see a problem, you know a solution, you want to help. See the five steps above and make sure you're covering them all. Include your customer in the process.
 
Focus on the customer's problem. Talk it through, don't talk about it. 
 

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Who do you teach?
What do you teach them?
 
Here is the practical how-to...
 
That's Not A Problem!
 
After a couple of decades of value-added selling, after asking hundreds of clients what their most significant problems were, not one has ever given me a problem. Not one. Here are the most common responses:
 
  • "Our sales are down"
  • "Our margins are being squeezed"
  • "Our market/industry is down and we're shrinking along with it"
  • "We can't find good people"
  • "Off-shore competition is killing us"
  • "Our competitors are playing dirty"
 
None of those are problems. They are all symptoms.
 
During the needs analysis phase of my involvement with a client, we often cut through the symptoms and find the real problem, or at least we come closer. At that point, the client could say, "Well, thanks for finding the real problem; we will not need your training!" But they don't - why?
 
As with your sales, uncovering your customer's problem - identifying it and quantifying it - may be a huge step in solving it. But it still needs to be solved. Further, something needs to be done to prevent the problem from returning or from being replaced by yet another problem.
 
Last week I had breakfast with a cutting-edge CEO who knows more about leadership than most folks I know. He was looking for ways to take his company to the next level in Supply Chain Selling. He saw me as one of the resources for solution ideas. The conversation led to some good ideas - and one spectacular one. It was the conversation, the dialog, that was valuable.  
 
This morning I received an email from a salesperson in eastern Europe who has been using PLUSH for some time. He was looking for help with yet another problem.
 
When you are viewed as a problem solver, you become one of your customer's most valuable assets. They'll keep you around. 
 
 
 

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Teach Others!

Chuck Reaves, CSP, CPAE
SaleSSuiteS 
cas low res
Chuck Reaves, CSP, CPAE
 
 
1.800.MR. REAVES
(800.677.3283)
 
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It's Here!

   The
Nanosecond Salesperson
For us, a minute is just too long
Nano front
 
It's easy to read and it will bring you up to speed quickly on the changes that are happening in sales, including:
  • Real Sales Automation (RSA)
  • Kaizen for Sales
  • Chief Sales Officer (CSO)

In the genre of the "One Minute" books - only faster! - this allegorical account of the activities in a sales office will sound familiar to you. The outcomes of some of those encounters will not be so familiar.

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FREE! Online Training Resource

Go to the book's website
 and download a Leader's Guide and Sales Handouts. Use each chapter in the book as a training module - there are more than a dozen of them.
 
Pick up one for yourself and some for your customers - it will help you teach them how to sell more effectively.
 
Just click on the book...
 
Easy-to-carry paperback or get-it-now download
 
(Special edition copies are available for you to give to your customers with your logo on the front cover - ask me for details)