MXL Partners
SalesNote )
July 2010
In this issue
  • Sales Rule #27
  • Grad's Multiple Job Offers
  • Understanding Customers
  • French Sales Wisdom

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    Effective Executive Conversations
    Selling professional products and services involves discussions with senior management of your prospects and customers. Executives have issues, challenges and problems on their mind and seek solutions. They do not suffer fools or naïve salespeople who push products, features and benefits.

    Executives (actually, most professional managers and buyers) don't have the time or patience to listen to mundane product sales pitches by salespeople who are not sensitive to the pressures and motivations of their world.

    What's a salesperson to do? There's actually a proven conversation process which can be taught, practiced and effectively learned. It is powerful and nuanced blend of art and science involving 5 steps in a sales conversation that can last 10 to 20 minutes:

    1. Intro - position purpose and role (1-2 min.)
    2. Now - establish and confirm current environment (2-3 min.)
    3. Explore - posit, probe and discover challenges and issues, use Executive WhiteboardTool (3-8 min.)
    4. Why - uncover reasons, impact and effect of issues discovered (3-5 min.)
    5. Summary - review/close-out discussion and set next steps (2-3 min.)
    I challenge sales teams to think and "interview" customers like a NEWS reporter. You'll notice this conversation is not about product. It's all about the customer and their problems. Key to this conversation is a powerful tactic called the "Executive Whiteboard." This flexible tool can be developed and practiced for delivery in face-to-face meetings or even on the telephone. This is pre-developed framework for stimulating and facilitating a professional discussion about issues that are on the mind of your professional executive contacts, prospects and customers.

    The marketplace demands best-practices for survival. Can your team consistently conduct a consultative executive conversation?

    		Sales Rule #27
    42 Rules

    Rule #27 - Live to Sell Another Day
    (excerpts from 42 Rules to Increase Sales Effectiveness, by Michael Griego)

    ...In all cases you should be positive and tactful. After all, not everyone buys. There are lots of other fish out there, and perhaps the situation may change someday for your non-interested prospect. As I always say: "Live to sell another day."

    ...Manage yourself. Be crisp, clear and respectful. Ask natural exploratory questions and respond as your natural inclinations take you. Your confidence will shine through. There will be no pressure or angst on either end of the phone. You have a product to sell; you are simply giving people a fair chance to respond to it and letting the chips fall as they may...

    Are you effectively managing the conversation?

    		Grad's Multiple Job Offers
    Jason

    Multiple Sales Job Offers for Young College Grad
    By graduation day from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Orfalea College of Business, my 20-year-old son, Jason Griego, had his choice of excellent sales job opportunities with multiple well-known companies (ADP, AT&T, Cisco, EMC, Frost & Sullivan, HP, Sage, ServiceSource). He selected Cisco System's highly regarded Sales Associates Program.

    He hustled up all opportunities on his own except two. I only coached him on sales interviewing, personal messaging, executive whiteboarding and sales professionalism. (I made him read my book too!) I was very impressed with the interviewing processes of these firms, particularly Cisco and EMC.

    After his graduation in June, Jason married his high school sweetheart on July 10, and will start with Cisco in Raleigh, NC on August 1.

    Fast start to a young sales career.

    		Understanding Customers
    Smart Selling Tools

    2 Rules for Understanding Your Customers
    In a new article published by SmartSellingTools.com, Mike Griego of MXL Partners focuses on 2 rules which are critical for all salespeople or anyone touching the prospect, client or customer. These rules are crucial for understanding your customer:

    • Rule #7 - Know How Your Customer Buys
    • Rule #8 - Know How Your Customer Makes Decisions
    Check out the 2-minute video and then read the article.

    		French Sales Wisdom
    Francois Fenelon

    Keep it Pithy
    "The more you say, the less people remember." - François Fénelon

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