Thoughts on prospecting

A good friend of mine, let's call him Sam, called me recently after a prospecting call. Frustrated, he said "I blew it". As Sam is one of the most talented B2B complex sales people I know, I was curious. "What happened?" I asked.He said that he had called a high level prospect that was referred to him. The prospect immediately tried to take control of the call and demanded of Sam "tell me about our business and what our challenges are". Sam explained that he would really like to get an understanding of what the client felt his pressing business issues were first (he did not suggest a menu of issues in the prospects industry) and then determine if Sam could bring expertise to the discussion.

"If you can't tell me what my business challenges are, then we have no need to talk about anything!" , retorted the prospect. Flustered, Sam gave up on the opportunity, and attributed the lack of success to the unprofessionalism of a hard-nosed, old-line executive.

What Happened?

If you have spent more than a month in sales, you've had an experience like this. But what really happened? I think there were three issues, and I'll discuss each.
1. There was a battle for control of the call, and Sam lost.
2. The call wasn't managed properly to a clear, pre- determined (by Sam) outcome.
3. Sam wasn't fully prepared for the call with insightful knowledge about the client. In the end, everyone lost.

Tough Nuts

First, Sam is right...this was a tough nut to crack. And you will encounter a lot of those. But prospects don't come with a personality guarantee. It's our job as sales professionals to be able to make lay-ups as well as buzzer beating three-pointers. This was simply a three-pointer, and Sam didn't even get the shot off.

From a personality perspective, this prospect wanted to be in control. Unfortunately, my friend Sam likes to be in control as well, so a clash was set-up before the call was even made. The solution? Give the prospect what he needs. Great sales pros know how to orchestrate the sales process. They don't need to be in control of every piece, nor do they need to be the center of attention. They think about the steps in the process, the milestones and the end game. In this situation, Sam, who is a great sales pro, might have been more successful by ceding control to the prospect until such time in the sales process when the prospect left his comfort zone (usually when trying to determine the solution). The point is to be prepared to lead when necessary and have the courage to let others lead when necessary. We all have emotional needs, and the prospect demonstrated his clearly. That's the cue for Sam, or you, to pick up on.

Know Where You Want to Go

What was the goal of this call? I think that Sam's goal was, using a CustomerCentric Selling® approach, to get an admission of a problem or even the sharing of a goal. And that's the right objective for this first call. Get the prospect to admit a need or share a goal (that you can help with!!). But how? Get a dialog established using a tool such as a Solution Development Prompter® (SDP). The SDP is a tool that the seller uses in advance to prepare for the call and to orchestrate the conversation. And Sam knows how to use it better than anyone. So why wasn't this call successful? Let's look at the final part of the equation.

Call Preparation

From the prospect's point of view, Sam's call was an intrusion, even if it was a scheduled call. Therefore, Sam had the responsibility to establish credibility and make the call valuable to the prospect. The best way to do that is to engage the prospect in a discussion about what's important to him. Sam was viewing the call as a "call of equals", as one of the things we discuss in CustomerCentric Selling® is to make yourself equal with the prospect. But in the mind of the prospect, you are not equal until you earn that right, even if you want to be.

When the prospect demanded that Sam tell him about his business, the prospect was asserting his power. And, at this stage, he does have the power. If the conversation would have proceeded, the power equation would have shifted over time as Sam brought the power of the solution, but not at this stage. Sam's best response at this stage would have been to state confidently (not arrogantly) and clearly what he believed the prospect's challenges were. After all, this was a referral, and Sam had access to others in the company. Moreover, Sam knew this industry well, and while each company has their own challenges, the pressures executives feel are highly common from one company to the next within an industry. So why didn't he? My guess is that he approached this call as a more of a lay-up and, when cornered, wasn't really prepared to discuss what the prospect's challenges really were.

In the end, Sam lost the opportunity for two reasons; he wasn't prepared to have the discussion that the prospect wanted to have, and he wasn't willing to give up (perceived) control of the call. He had the tools and he definitely has the talent. But even the best slip off the horse from time to time. Fortunately, Sam is already back in the saddle wiser and more motivated. And that's the other attribute of winner's. You can't keep them down!

(Extracted from the CustomerCentric Selling® Blog)

Steps to a sell/buy cycle!

Future discussions in this newsletter will focus on the following key skills of selling and marketing.

CustomerCentric Selling® Sales Process

• Successfully executing the Process Steps in a sell cycle
• Selling Skills - Which skills are needed when?
• Sales Ready Messaging® Tools and when they should be used!
• Sales Process Deliverables - How do I know the prospect and I are on the same page?
• Milestones & Probabilities of a sale - How do I know where the prospect is during the sell cycle and when are they ready to buy?

• Preparing messages for Solution Development conversations that help buyers conclude I may be their best solution!
• Establishing business value for your solutions with prospects early in a sell cycle!
• Determining your company's market positioning so I'm asking sales personnel to go where the GOLD is!!
• Preparation of your company's "Core Marketing Messages" and using a "Rifle Shot" approach!

Good Selling,

Dan Lemke
A Licensed Affiliate of
CustomerCentric Systems®

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Post Script - check out the CCS® website