As people, we all have unique comfort zones. However, as sales and relationship management professionals, we tend to have some shared areas of comfort. One of the most common – and most dangerous – comfort zones in our profession is ‘calling only on the people we are supposed to call on...
In our last Tip, we shared a bit about the “POSI Grid”. This tool helps you to organize your understanding of a customer’s business into four categories:
As sales and relationship managers, we know it’s important to do our homework. We also know there is a lot to learn about our customer’s business and their needs. We could brainstorm for hours all the different things we would like to learn, which could lead to a few logical...
“How can we help?”
This question is one many salespeople ask, and it is both simple and complex. It is a favorite question for many people – all of whom seem to be well-intended. Yet in most situations, this is a poor question to ask. Why?
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Many of us in sales and relationship management positions are looking ahead to 2023 and setting our goals – revenue, retention, close rate, margin on sales and retention, new logos (new customer commitments), share of customer wallet, etc. As we consider our targets, it’s critical to determine...
In order to sell your value, you need to discover your business fit and sell this fit to decision makers. The business fit is how your two companies, working together, drive critical business outcomes for the customer. These outcomes typically come in the form of objectives that are attained,...
In our last Tip, we emphasized the importance of doing your homework to optimize your message, as well as your delivery of the message. Set the stage for your closing question by making a compelling case that a relationship between your two companies will support their efforts to drive specific...
In our last Tip, we talked about getting a closing forum scheduled and setting the stage for the closing question. In this situation, we have the most important thing in place – a meeting with the decision maker.
To best position yourself to get a “yes” from the decision maker, you...
In our last Tip, we talked about the importance of identifying the decision maker in order to close effectively. Now that we know who the decision maker is, we need to figure out how to get a meeting with them. After all, it’s hard to close a decision maker without a suitable forum.
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There is one constant in sales – for us to be successful, we need to close and close well.
What does it take to close? The subject of this Tip is one of the most basic factors associated with closing – we need to identify and gain access to the decision maker.
Although a...
