In the past, solution selling has been effective because most of our customers did not really have a good understanding of the challenges in the organization. As a sales executive, we could walk them through a “pain funnel” to dig into what the real issues were and consult on the best solutions. More recently, procurement teams and purchasing consultants make enterprise sales more complex with clients having preconceived ideas on what they need and how much they are open to paying. Also, to make it more complex, the CSO Insights 2016 Sales Enablement Optimization Study states there are as many as 45 decision makers in the average enterprise sales opportunity.
To add to the complexity, Gartner research states customers are already 57% through the purchase process before the first interaction with the sales executive. By doing effective research and providing insights, sales executives can challenge their current thinking, differentiate from competition and tailor the message based on customers economic drivers.
The sales executive using the challenger sales process or also the Sandler process pursue clients in a state of organization challenge. This includes regulatory issues, external or internal pressures, recent acquisitions, turnover of leaderships or overall need for change. By doing extensive research, challenger reps often drive client thinking in new and different ways by bringing in new ideas on avoiding risks that clients had not completely evaluated in the past or other ways to reduce costs. Challenger methodology suggests presenting a vision for improving customers business with a valuable and unique perspective. This can help “reframe” the discussion from clearly defined requirements the customer developed to reshaping the deal to align with core capabilities of your company.
Sales 101-It is very important to understand the risks and issues of each industry as well as individual risks and goals with each role in the prospect company to prepare to win a deal. Sandler sales teaches that understanding how those risks impact them, what will happen if they do not make a change, what steps they have already taken to fix the issue are all important questions.
The challenger methodology of sales teaches sales executives to know our customers industry better that they do and be prepared to teach for differentiation. On the other hand, Sandler sales training teaches “People buy for their own reasons not ours.” Therefore, even if we go in knowing their industry better than they do by teaching them new valuable insights, we still must include good questions and listen 70% of the time. Asking Socratic, intriguing questions that guide them down a path to our solution is imperative. Why? Sandler sales states that “people will not argue with their own data”.
Last, it is not so much the information that is important but how the information effects each role emotionally. According to Gerald Saltman, Harvard Business School professor, 95% of purchasing decisions take place unconscious level and the rational mind has little effect on decision making. According to Gerald, “Our conscious mind will always make up reasons to justify our unconscious decisions”. This is a fact because neuroscientists have been able to catch the conscious mind red handed in this act of deception. By understanding decision makers business drivers as well as personal challenges with their roles, it will help guide discussions and presentations for mutual win-win solutions. -Patricia Jimenez