Stop trying to sell product and start focusing on how you help your client with business outcomes.
Stop trying to talk features and benefits and start developing the business chops that is business acumen and situational knowledge (You need to sound like you work in business, like a good general manager. You need to understand how your client’s business works, the economic and market conditions, and the challenges confronting their business).
Stop talking about you and your company and start listening to your client talk about their business, their goals, and their needs (they talk at least 70% of the time, you talk no more than 30% of the time, you wait 8 beats after they’re done speaking before you say a word . . . Yes, that’s a long time, and yes it will make you uncomfortable).
Stop trying to close opportunities fast and start doing the work necessary to helping your client loosen the status quo’s grip on their organization (Fast is slow and slow is fact. You can only go as fast as you can together obtain the real outcomes you need).
Stop skipping the discovery work and start helping your client discover why they need to change. Stop skipping whole stages of your sales process, too (Your process is your best and surest path to creating value and winning. Use it!).
Stop trying to sell without discovering, creating, or building dissatisfaction and help your client develop the compelling case for change (Want to know why you aren’t different? Want to know why you aren’t compelling? Want to know why you end up with so many “no decisions?” Your dream clients don’t change without the necessary motivation).
Stop playing too low and too small and start creating the greatest level of value you can (If you want to be consultative, you have to help your clients with their biggest, most important, and most strategic outcomes. It’s about the most value, not what you can or want to sell).
Stop trying to sell to the individual you are comfortable with and start building consensus (There is no power sponsor; there are power sponsors. There is no economic buyer; there are economic buyers).
Stop trying to drop your product off at the door and start being accountable for the results you sell (Execution is the name of the game. If you want to win, your dream client needs to know that you are going to deliver for them. You. Personally. You sold it, and you own it).
Stop avoiding discussions about price and start helping your clients make the investments that are necessary to producing the results they need (Only small, transactional salespeople avoid conversations about money. Better outcomes cost more. Grown-ups know this—even if they need a consultative salesperson to remind them).
Stop discounting or matching your competitor’s price and start capturing the value necessary to serving your clients (Nothing says transactional like discounting or matching prices. Your client suspects you’re no different, and you confirm that belief when you drop your price or match your competitor. If you are going to be better, how on Earth are you supposed to be cheaper?)
Stop avoiding asking for the commitments you need and start moving opportunities forward (You need information. You need access to stakeholders. You need commitments for time. Without these, you’re dead. Be consultative and ask for what you need to help your dream client start getting results).
Stop sending emails when you need a big conversation, stop emailing your pricing, and start connecting your price to the value you create in face-to-face visits (Hiding behind email or disengaging from the process when the buyer needs your help the most is a horribly transactional behavior. You have to get in there and help them make the right investments and tackle the big challenges).
Stop being transactional and start being a value creator.
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