Solution%20Selling

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Solution Selling
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What Are Your Sales Goal?

• To create a customer - Peter Drucker
• To bring our audience and advertisers together
  - KOMC/KRZK, Branson, MO
• To help people sell more Fords, -- Lowry Mays,
  former CEO of Clear Channel Communications

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Objectives

• What are your sales objectives?
• To get results for customers
• To develop new business
• To retain and increase current business
• Presell
• Upsell
• To increase customer loyalty

4
Strategies

• What are your sales strategies?
• To sell solutions to advertising and marketing
  problems
• Complete customer focus
• To reinforce the value of advertising and of your
  medium

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Strategies

• To create value for your product
• To become the preferred supplier
• To establish, maintain, and improve relationships
  at all levels of the client and agency (keep
  agency informed)
• To provide the best research, information, and
  advice
• To be customers marketing consultant by
  providing solutions

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Strategies

• To innovate
• New packages, new products, new promotions
• New creative approaches
• New technology
• The only functions of an enterprise marketing
  and innovation. Peter Drucker

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Key Functions

• What are a salespersons key functions?
• To position your product to have a differential
  competitive advantage
• To manage relationships and build trust
• To create rapport
• To empathize
• To persuade
• To cooperate
• To build consensus

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Key Functions

• To solve problems
• Creativity
• Get results
• To create a sense of urgency
• To communicate effectively up, down, and across
• Keep your management and coordinator informed
• From the street, bring back market and competitor
  knowledge

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Old Paradigms Of Selling

• AIDA
• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action
• Commitment
• Close
• Each step used tricks

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Old Paradigms

• Old tricks dont work anymore.
• Designed in 20s and 30s for one-call, low-cost,
  unimportant decisions
• Old selling models dont work in todays highly
  competitive, interactive, sophisticated business
  environment.

Adapted from Sales Effectiveness Training by
Carl Zeiss and Thomas Gordon, Dutton, 1993
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Old Paradigms

• Dont work because
• Increased competition, increased need for
  stronger customer loyalty and long-term
  relationships
• Increased cost of developing new business
• Solution selling requires partnering.
• Solution selling is all about establishing and
  maintaining relationships and building trust.

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Old Paradigms

• Dont work because
• Todays buyers are more sensitive to traditional
  sales techniques, manipulation, and tricks.
• Todays buyers have a multitude of complex
  alternatives they can buy.
• They need help making decisions.
• They will let you help them only if they trust
  you and our company.

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Old Paradigms

• Dont work because
• More, stronger competitors provide buyers with
  more choices they dont have to deal with
  anyone who doesnt satisfy their needs or they
  dont like or they dont trust.

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Old Paradigms

• Dont work because
• Todays sellers are unhappy with the pressure and
  grind of one-shot sales (Hunters), they prefer
  long-term relationships (Farmers).
• Todays sellers want to get results for
  clients--more satisfying.
• Todays sellers want to be trusted, respected,
  and not seen as manipulators (old-fashioned sales
  image).

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The New Paradigm

• The customer is not the opponent--not someone to
  be overcome or beaten.
• The customer is a partner who needs
• A trusting relationship
• Problems solved
• Needs and wants met
• Concerns addressed
• A win-win, fair agreement
• To get started before a competitor does

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Solution Selling Is Need-Satisfaction Selling

• Relationship Rule Do unto others as they would
  have others do unto them.
• Treat people like THEY want to be treated.
• Uncover and define problems and needs.
• Business problems (rational, often ill-defined)
• Personal needs (emotional, unconscious)
• Need-satisfaction selling is difficult.
• Requires emotional intelligence, interpersonal
  skills.

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The Needs-Recognition Process
UNOBSERVABLE
OBSERVABLE
(Unconscious,
Semi-conscious)
(Conscious)
NEEDS and MOTIVATION
BEHAVIOR
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Needs Recognition Process

• Behavior is observable.
• Behavior is conscious, purposeful -- people
  behave for a reason.
• Motivation is unobservable.
• Motivation is semi-conscious -- people are
  usually not fully aware of their motivation that
  drives behavior.
• Needs are unobservable.
• Needs are unconscious, deep seated, changing to
  get satisfaction -- people are unaware of their
  needs that drive motivation.

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Human Needs

• See List of Human Needs at http//www.charleswarne
  r.us/indexppr.html

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Solution Selling

• Relationship Rule People like and trust people
  exactly like themselves.
• Trust depends on source credibility
• Trustworthiness
• Competence
• Objectivity
• Expertise
• Physically Attractiveness
• Dynamism
• Similarity

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Features, Advantages, Benefits

• Features What youve got.
• Channels, splash-screens, impressions
• Advantages Why what youve got is better.
• Benefits How what youve got solves a problem.
• Always remember WIIFM
• The client is asking himself silently to every
  feature you describe, Whats In It For Me?

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Solution Selling

• Position features, advantages, and benefits as
  problem solutions.
• Position features, advantages, and benefits
  according to needs (Were a safe buy, e.g.)
• Business needs
• Personal needs
• See List of Human Needs in the workbook.

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Benefits Matrix

• Use a Benefits Matrix to position features,
  advantages, and benefits according to business
  and personal needs.
• See Benefits Matrix at http//www.charleswarner.u
  s/indexppr.html

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Solutions Selling

• Relationship Rule People dont care how much you
  know until they know how much you care.
• The best way to let people know how much you care
  is to listen.

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Effective Listening

• The single most important skill in personal
  relationships, selling, negotiating, and managing
  is listening.
• You cant have a successful relationship unless
  you are firmly committed to listening a majority
  of the time.

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Effective Listening

• Listening
• 60 in most relationships -The minimum
• 80 in some relationships - The maximum
• If your partner wont listen at least 20 of the
  time, it is not a two-way relationship its a
  one-way relationship like in theater, movies,
  print, broadcasting, or cable -- you are the
  audience.

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Effective Listening
Listening is an essential component of
communication.
The Communication Process
Source
Message
Channel
Receiver
Listening
Understanding
Feedback
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Effective Communication

• Effective communication requires understanding
  the elements of the communication process and
  using them to enhance your communication
  effectiveness and to power a relationship
  forward.
• More effective communication stronger
  relationships
• The goal, destination of a relationship is
  agreement.
• Relationships, like car engines, are very
  complicated.

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The Elements of the Communication Process

• Communication -The fuel that powers a
  relationship forward.
• Trust - The grease and oil that keeps it running
  smoothly.
• Listening - The foundation, the road on which the
  process of communication travels toward agreement.

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Effective Communication Depends On

• Source credibility
• Message strength
• Channel effectiveness
• Receiver characteristics
• Listening effectiveness
• Responsive feedback

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Effective Communication

• Elements that enhance Source Credibility
• Trustworthiness
• Competence
• Objectivity
• Expertise
• Physical Attractiveness
• Dynamism
• Similarity
• People like and trust people exactly like
  themselves.

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Effective Communication

• Elements that enhance Message Strength
• Two-sided argument
• Ordering effects
• Primacy and recency
• KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)
• USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
• Focus on benefits

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Effective Communication

• Channel Effectiveness
• Face-to-face most effective
• Full, two-way verbal and non-verbal communication
  with instant feedback
• Video (film, TV, e.g.) next most effective.
• Audio (radio, e.g.) next.
• Video and audio can convey emotion and control
  emphasis, even though they are one-way.
• Print least effective unless the message is
  complex.
• Cant convey emotion, one-way.

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Effective Communication

• Receiver Characteristics that affect
  communication
• Intelligence
• The receiver can understand and evaluate
  messages.
• Self-confidence
• The receiver trusts self to evaluate
  communication and make an assured decision.

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Effective Communication

• Effective Listening is the foundation on which
  effective communication rests.
• You can improve not only your listening
  effectiveness but also the listening
  effectiveness of your partner on the road to
  agreement.
• The beginning of knowledge, learning,
  relationships, communication, and conversation is
  a question -- an open-ended question.

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Effective Listening

• Ask an open-ended question.
• Adopt the proper attitude.
• Optimistic, open, confident, trusting,
  respecting, non-defensive, and non-judgmental
• Shut up and listen.
• Listen actively nod, use gestures, smile
  (Responsive Feedback).
• Concentrate on the speaker.

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Effective Listening

• Do not step on sentences.
• Do not respond to negatives, objections, concerns
  too quickly.
• If you do, you appear to be defensive.
• Do not think of a rebuttal.
• If you continually rebut arguments, youll stop
  getting them and wont learn anything.
• If you think of a rebuttal while trying to
  listen, you cant receive 100 of the information
  you hear.

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Effective Listening

• Respect the other sides statements.
• Respect and learn about their view of the world.
• Listen for themes.
• Risk averse, conservative, entrepreneurial, needs
  recognition, affiliation needs, goal oriented,
  etc.
• Be very sensitive to emotional cues.
• Listen in synchronization--dont mimic.

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Effective Listening

• Concentrate on the speaker (open body language).
• Acknowledge, dont always agree.
• Oh, Uh-Uh, I see, e.g.
• Dont say Good, or Youre right, --
  judgmental.
• Do not react emotionally.
• Control your emotions.
• Listen with authenticity.
• Be yourself, others can tell when youre not
  sincere.

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Non-Verbal Communication

• Non-verbal communication conveys 65 of a
  messages meaning.
• Look for individual body language.
• No universal body language.
• Use gestures, space, openness, and your body
  language to
• Give the message you care about and like the
  other person.
• Match their style and pace.

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Non-Judgmental Listening

• People have a deep need for someone to listen to
  them and understand them.
• Non-judgmental listening responds to this need.
• Interpreting and understanding their entire
  message without imposing your preconceived ideas
  or opinions on it.
• Non-judgmental listening is non-defensive
  listening.

Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and
Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
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Non-Judgmental Listening

• Listen, understand and accept other peoples
  perception of the world.
• Spend time in their shoes.
• Develop a non-threatening, non-confrontational
  attitude so people feel secure in opening up,
  revealing personal information.
• Offer personal information first and then trade
  it.
• Find something you have in common with the other
  person.

Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and
Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
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Non-Judgmental Listening

• Vary your responses, otherwise listening becomes
  a monotonous technique.
• Show genuine concern and caring.
• I dont care how much you know until I know how
  much you care.
• Never ask Why?
• No challenges
• No obvious, manipulating techniques or leading
  questions Have you stopped beating your wife?
  e.g.

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Non-Judgmental Listening

• Objectives
• To understand the other persons needs
• Often, the other person just needs to talk.
• To understand another persons unique perception
  of their world.

Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and
Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
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Listening Roadblocks

• Denying, minimizing,
• Cheering up, reassuring, encouraging
• Sympathy, indignation, me-tooing, story-telling
• Advising, teaching
• Become condescending

Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and
Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
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Listening Roadblocks

• Taking over, rescuing
• Analyzing, probing, playing detective
• Criticizing, moralizing, warning
• Arguing, defending, counterattacking
• All of these responses are judgmental.
• So the point is to shut up and listen and
  acknowledge unemotionally like a therapist does.

Sales Effectiveness Training, Carl Zaiss and
Thomas Gordon, Penguin Books, 1993
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Effective Communication

• Aggressive behavior - Getting What I Want.
• Dont be aggressive.
• Assertive behavior - This Is How I Feel.
• Be assertive.
• Know who you are, what you want, and what you
  feel and communicate it.
• Use I messages.

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Effective Listening The Four Steps

• Listen carefully, actively to other people.
• Repeat/rephrase their position/objection.
• Let me make sure I understand your positionyou
  feel our CPMs are too high?
• Get their agreement that you understand.
• Is that correct?
• Respond with a form of an I understand
  statement (vary your responses)
• I understand,
• Feel, felt, found.

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Feel, Felt, Found

• Respond
• I understand how you feel
• Acknowledges their feelings and honors them.
• Many advertisers have felt the same way
• Reinforces and legitimizes their opinions so
  they know they arent way out, unusual, or silly.
• But we have found that higher CPMs are based on
  three things highly targeted inventory, high
  demand, and high renewal rates.

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Effective Listening Exercise

• Find a partner
• One is the salesperson, the other the client
• Client says, your price is too high.
  Salesperson then goes through the four steps of
  Effective Listening.
• Practice repeating the phrases.
• Let me make sure I understand what you are
  saying.
• Is that correct?
• I understand how you feel, others have felt the
  same way, but we have found
• Switch roles after three attempts.

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Solutions Selling

• Position features, advantages, and benefits
  positively as solutions to advertising and
  marketing problems.
• Dont knock the competition.
• You cant sell what they dont have.
• You can only sell the features, advantages, and
  benefits you have.

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Dont Knock the Competition

• When you knock, you
• Waste time.
• Lose credibility (not objective).
• Lower your image (stay above it).
• Open up areas you cant control.
• Client/buyer may like competitive salesperson.
• Build competitors image.
• Bring them up to your level.
• Rolex doesnt advertise thats its better than
  a Timex.

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Ways of Dealing with the Competition

• Dont mention the competition if you dont have
  to -- ignore them.
• If you have to mention them or are asked a
  question about them
• Compliment the competition.
• Talk first about your strengths (dont answer the
  question directly--like politicians do).
• Expose generic weaknesses.
• Yahoo has very high-traffic and is the best of
  the portals, but portals arent very sticky.

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The Six Steps of Selling

• Prospecting
• Identifying Problems (discovery)
• Generating Solutions (research and strategy)
• Presenting
• Negotiating and Closing
• Servicing

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Set Objectives for Each Step

• Criteria for MADCUD objectives
• Measurable
• Attainable (accepted)
• Consistent with company goals
• Under the control of the person
• Deadlined
• MADCUD goals must be flexible

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Goals
Peak Motivation
Motivation
Goal Difficulty
Very Hard
Very Easy
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Goals and Objectives

• The purpose of goals (long term) and objectives
  (short term) is to make people feel like winners.
• Must be bottom-up, not top-down
• Budgets and quotas are not motivational for all
  people.

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Goals

• Set time-spent goals for the five steps of
  selling. For example
• Prospecting 10
• Identifying problems (discovery)
  15
• Generating solutions
• (research,strategy)
  15
• Presenting 40
• Closing
  20
• How much time spent on each varies according the
  the experience of the person, type of account
  list, etc.

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Set Activity Goals

• Calls/Contacts
• Meetings
• Critical skills
• Building rapport and trust
• Presenting
• Solving problems
• Overcoming objections
• Addressing concerns

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Set Activity Goals As Well As Revenue Goals

• Orders
• Critical elements
• Creating value
• Selling an idea
• Selling the proposal
• Negotiating
• Closing

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Set Activity Objectives As Well As Revenue
Objectives

• Set activity and revenue objectives
• Revenue objectives dont work for everyone.
• Calls, appointments, and presentations lead to
  sales, which lead to revenue imperative to make
  the connection.
• By focusing on activities that lead to revenue,
  the control of the goal stays with the
  salesperson.
• Salespeople cant always control the size of the
  order they get.
• But they can control how many calls they make and
  effective their sales presentation is.

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Set Activity and Revenue Objectives

• There must be a well-organized system for
  tracking and reporting on calls, meetings,
  presentations, opportunities, and orders.
• And details on why opportunities were won or
  lost.

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Prospecting Creating Opportunities

• Developing new business finding prospects who
  have advertising and marketing problems.
• No one is completely satisfied with their
  advertising.
• Make contacts
• Write out your telephone pitch in advance.
• Use the prospects name, introduce yourself and
  your organization.
• Use a referral if possible. (Jeff Bezos
  suggested I call you.)

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Prospecting

• State the purpose of the call is to set up an
  appointment, not to sell anything.
• Mention a motivating benefit (special reason or
  special idea).
• The word idea is magic, consultative.

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Prospecting

• Pacing is the key on the telephone.
• Get to the point quickly.
• Pause often.
• Match prospects style and pace.
• Put a mirror on your desk and stand up.
• More animated, friendly, dynamic

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Prospecting

• On the phone, be persistent (but not obnoxious).
• If you get a yes, reconfirm the time and day.
• Do you have your Blackberry handy?
• Generally, dont reconfirm the day of the
  appointment unless its out of town.
• In town, have your assistant call and say, Shes
  on her way for her 1000a.m. appointment.

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Prospecting

• If you get the dont-come-see me stopper
• Ask why
• Compliment their business.
• If one of your salespeople...
• Appointments are imperative.
• Getting appointments is the most difficult part
  of selling new business and requires creativity
  and, most of all, persistence.

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Prospecting

• Prospecting success ratios
• By telephone 66
• Cold calling 92
• Play the odds, use the telephone.
• Use voice mail effectively.

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Prospecting

• On cold calls never say
• May I have a few minutes of your time?
• I just happened to be in the neighborhood?
• Im sorry I interrupted you.
• On cold calls always state the purpose of the
  call and how long it will take.

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Prospecting Methods

• By Current Advertisers in Other Media
• By Season
• By Category
• By Geographic Region
• By Inactive Advertisers
• By Current Advertisers
• By Business, Civic, and Other Organizations

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Persistence in Prospecting

• The key to prospecting, in fact, to all selling
  is persistence.
• Never, never, never, never, never give up.
• Every client has at least one problem (perhaps
  they are unaware of it) that is searching for a
  solution.

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The Process of Preparation Identifying Problems

• Set objectives.
• Ask Discovery Questions
• What is the age, sex, and lifestyle of your best
  customers?
• What problems do you expect interactive to solve
  for you?
• What advertising are you doing now?
• What do like best, least about your current
  advertising?

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Identifying Problems, Needs (Discovery)

• The best questions are follow-up questions.
• Discovery requires solid detective work.
• Information is power.
• The more information you get, the more problems
  you uncover, the more objections and concerns you
  uncover, the more precise and helpful your
  solutions will be.
• See Discovery Questions at http//www.charleswarne
  r.us/indexppr.html

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Generating Solutions (Research and Strategy)

• The process of preparation
• Research prospects category.
• Advertising and marketing expenditures.
• Category growth profile
• Research prospects industry.
• Rank order of players and their market share.
• Media expenditures of players
• Creative campaigns and approaches of players
• Marketing strategy of players

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Generating Solutions (Research and Strategy)

• Research prospect companys marketing and
  advertising goals, strategies, and problems in
  achieving these goals.
• Prioritize problems.
• Research prospect companys customers.
• Research prospects strengths and weaknesses.
• Research prospects major competitors strengths
  and weaknesses.
• Research prospects current creative approach.

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Generating Solutions (Research and Strategy)

• Create ideas that will solve the prospects
  problems.
• Targeted
• Maximize reach
• Receptive audience
• Brainstorm to generate several solutions.
• Order, anchor, and frame solutions effectively.

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Generating Solutions (Research and Strategy)

• Anticipate your competitors attacks on you (what
  they say about you to prospects).
• Anticipate prospects objections and prepare
  appropriate answers.
• Keep your sales objectives in mind at all times.
• Create an account-entry strategy.
• Create an overall sales strategy a detailed,
  step-by-step plan of attack (who does what when).

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Generating Solutions

• Create a killer presentation.
• See Checklist for Customized, Solutions-Based
  Presentations at http//www.charleswarner.us/inde
  xppr.html

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Presenting

• Confidence is everything!
• Confidence is an attitude, which you control
• Optimism
• Positive goals (winning, not avoiding a loss)
• Visualization
• Mental Rehearsal
• Do the right thing (honesty)

80
Presenting Call Structure

• Greeting
• Set tone of the meeting and build rapport
• New information
• Provide new, relevant information to enhance your
  source credibility and expertise.
• Opening
• A well-planned statement to pique interest in
  your proposal and solution
• Recap and purpose
• Recap what challenges and problems you will be
  addressing and state the purpose of the call.

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Call Structure (Continued)

• Discussion
• Move prospects from desire to conviction that
  your solution is the best one.
• Dealing with objections
• Conditions
• Discussion tactics
• Summary and close
• Summarize key points no more than three and
  ask for the order or for Next Steps.  No ask no
  order.

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Dealing With Objections

• No objection no sale
• Figurative and literal objections
• Figurative are not real they are negotiating
  tactics and can be ignored.
• Literal objections are real and must be
  addressed.
• Probe to understand.
• Compliment, restate, and get agreement.
• Empathize, reassure, and support (feel, felt,
  found).

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Dealing With Objections (Continued)

• Use trial closes
• Forestall objections
• Use Yes, but and compare.
• Use case histories (case studies).
• Use coming to that
• Pass on objections

84
Dealing With the Price Objection

• Hope it comes up otherwise youve underpriced
  your product.
• Always talk quality.
• Break price into smallest possible units.
• Talk value, not price.
• Refer to investments, not costs.
• Advertising is an investment in future profits
• Use you get what you pay for.

85

• Conditions
• Cant be overcome they are legitimate reasons
  for not buying.
• Leave as a friend

86
Discussion Tactics

• Vary your style.
• Contrast
• Movement
• Novelty
• Use equivalencies to dramatize numbers.
• Narrow down objections and reconfirm
  understanding.
• Change the basis for evaluation if necessary.
• Reassure doubts.
• Continually evaluate reactions and adjust.

87
Summary and Close

• Summarize three key points
• Close
• Ask for the order
• No ask no order.
• Move the sale along.
• Get a commitment for Next Steps

88
Presenting

• Youre a marketing solutions provider, not a
  seller.
• Always keep in mind your 1 sales objective To
  get results for customers.
• Dont sell customers stuff that wont work.
• Dont sell them something they like just to get
  an order. Sell them what works best -- youre the
  expert.
• Dont sell them more than they need no gouging,
  they wont renew.

89
Closing

• Help buyers make the right decision.
• Create a sense of urgency.
• Use a variety of closes
• The Clincher Close
• The Assumption Close
• The SRO Close
• The Minor-Point Close
• The T-Account Close
• The Pin-Down Close

90
Closing

• Ask for a decision.
• Letter of Intent (LOI)
• Commitment to send IO
• 48-hour hold
• What else is left?
• If I can resolve these issues, do we have an
  agreement?
• Once you reach an agreement, scram!
• Dont be around when buyers remorse sets in.

91
Closing

• Be careful about trying to close too
  aggressively.
• You can create a sense of urgency, but the
  timetable has to be theirs.
• Too much pressure can kill a prospective sale.
• High pressure raises suspicion.
• People want to buy, they dont like being sold
  or closed.

92
Servicing

• You are the unique competitive advantage.
• Set servicing and business increase goals.
• You never close a sale, you open a long-term
  relationship. Dennis Waitley
• Which order is the most important one first or
  second?
• Tangibilize
• Send notes (more personal than e-mails), cards,
  small gifts, etc.

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Servicing

• Always say thank you memorably.
• Dont forget anyone (review your account list
  regularly).
• Always present new ideas increases.
• Pre-sell
• Handle complaints immediately and honestly (see
  them as an opportunity to prove how good you are
  at servicing and managing an account).

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Summary

• Solution Selling is
• Managing relationships based on trust
• Creating value
• Making proposals that will get results for
  customers
• Tracking results and making adjustments
• Getting enthusiastic renewals at larger
  investments