Back in June I wrote this article about the difference between sales process and sales methodology.  In addition to those two sales infrastructure components, companies should have a sales model.  How is the model different from the other two key components of an effective sales organization?

Where processes contain the sequence of customized/optimized steps, milestones and tasks in your sales cycle, and methodologies are the sales approaches or styles, the model is the success formula.  The model is presented to new salespeople during orientation and it demonstrates what they must do in order to succeed.  Models often include the target customer/client, some application of what they would typically purchase, a revenue goal per customer/client/account and a summary of how many of those it takes to achieve quota/goal/income.  In sumary, the model is a blueprint for what your successful salespeople do in order to succeed.

When companies are able to easily and successfully plug-in new salespeople, have predictable ramp-ups and few hicups, it is because they usually have all three crucial pieces of sales infrastructure in place.

Do you have a customized, optimized, formal, structured sales process that delivers consistent predictable results and everyone follows it?

Do you have a sales methodology and everyone is able to effectively utilize it?

Do you have a sales model that everyone understands and they all use it to achieve success?

If you are missing any or all of these components, or have them but people aren't locked in to them, think of the consequences in terms of each component having the potential to provide a 33% gain in revenue over the course of 1-3 years!

Yesterday, we discussed the elements of the complex sale and the factors that make it so challenging.  I also asked whether you should you attempt to incorporate some of the elements of the complex sale in order to outsell your competitors.

Today, we will revisit the factors that make it so challenging and discuss how various selling weaknesses interact with those factors.

There are several common selling weaknesses that cause salespeople to become ineffective in various selling scenarios.

Need for Approval, or the need to be liked, prevents them from asking tough questions, challenging, and pushing back.

Those who have Difficulty Recovering from Rejection avoid questions or statements that carry the perceived risk of evoking a "No".

Salespeople who have a Discomfort Talking About Money aren't able to have an in-depth conversation about finances - finding the money that isn't there.

A Non-Supportive Buy Cycle causes salespeople to empathize with various stalls, put-offs, excuses and objections rather than asking questions to overcome them.

A Self-Limiting Record Collection has salespeople listening to their greatest fears and self-limiting beliefs, affecting outcomes before they have left their offices.

Salespeople who easily Become Emotionally Involved on calls go into reaction mode rather than calmly and systematically continuing to ask questions.

Salespeople who are Too Trusting don't challenge or push back on conventional buyer thinking, put-offs or stalls because they take everything they hear at face value.

The table below places the 16 challenges from yesterday's article in a matrix with the 7 common sales weaknesses and illustrates which weaknesses impact each of those 16 challenges.  

It's OK if you don't immediately understand how the weaknesses cause problems for each challenge.  Just be aware that based on 1831617 salespeople that Objective Management Group has assessed, the data is there to back it up.

The Complex Sale - it's so----complex!

Today we will simplify the complex sale and even ask if you should have a complex sale.

First, what makes a sale complex?

In most cases, a sale is complex when it:

• is expensive
• has a technical component
• has a long sales cycle
• involves multiple roles and titles from both buyer and seller sides
• requires that you build and sell value
• includes selling "why buy at all?", as opposed to "why buy from me?"
• involves buyer side resistance

While these elements can be more challenging than other sales models, they don't have to be.  Why do companies find it so difficult when faced with a complex sale?  Their salespeople must be able to handle additional challenges, like being able to:

• use their rolodex to get an audience with a C-Level Decision Maker;
• get and maintain that executive's attention without being sent down;
• work with others in the company that have a role in the process;
• speak the same language as the various executives;
• build trusted advisor status with the executives;
• sell consultatively
• identify issues that are a drain on company resources;
• identify compelling reasons for the company to buy;
• build a case for your solution (the unique value proposition);
• understand the technical nature of the problem and match a potential solution;
• remain comfortable with the large dollar value of the opportunity;
• have patience while all of the pieces are fit into place;
• be strong enough to push back when buyer side thinking runs off the track;
• leverage company resources only when and where appropriate;
• negotiate terms of the deal;
• close.

No single one of the 16 elements is daunting, but what makes it so difficult is that there aren't many salespeople that can effectively execute all 16 criteria.  That is what makes the complex sale so challenging.

On the other side of the argument is this question:  What would happen if you repositioned your offering as a complex sale?  If you apply as many of the above elements as possible, wouldn't you more effectively and consistently outsell your competitors?