Wanna Be More Effective At Prospecting…Follow Sales’ New Golden Rule!!!

One of the greatest barriers to sales or business success is the inability to prospect effectively. Wherever one finds a failing business, a fledgling sales organization, or ruined sales career, poor prospecting is sure to be one of its culprits. While desperate business owners and chief executives hope and wish that their lagging sales will rebound next month…or next quarter…or next year; sales managers and chief sales officers (who remember their own futility in this area) are reduced to micro-managing the number of prospecting phone calls made or email sent. Meanwhile, sales professionals, in their desire to avoid the constant rejection they are sure to receive with each prospecting attempt, simply elect to reduce their level of activity because they simply do not know how to become more effective at prospecting.

As a result, companies (including yours) lose hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars in lost sales opportunities for which they never even had a chance to compete. What’s worse, the competition (theirs and yours) gets to retain coveted customers despite the fact that their solutions and services may not afford these customers the level of quality your company can deliver.

The vast majority of sales professionals fail at prospecting because they misidentify what they are supposed to sell during this phase and are, either, unaware of The Selfish Bastard Rule or unable to adhere to it.

After hearing thousands of ineffective prospecting phone calls and reviewing just as many bad prospecting emails over the years, I can say that the vast majority of these messages are nothing more than sales presentations condensed down to 2-3 minutes. Even the most seasoned of sales professional, who sees the flaw in this tactic, will unwittingly, more times than not, do the same, but more cleverly so.

Sales professionals can significantly improve their prospecting success by simply selling appointments instead of products. Further, they can drastically improve their success by applying The Selfish Bastard Rule when selling appointments.

Before examining the rule, it is important to understand that there is a simple formula to effective prospecting or selling appointments. In its simplest terms, effective prospecting (selling appointments) entails one’s ability to:

· Deliver the right message
· To the right contact
· At the right time

If one pictures a three-legged stool, these three elements would be its legs. Effective prospecting (selling appointments) requires that all three elements be firmly in place. One can craft the right message and deliver it to the right contact, but if it’s not the right time for the prospect to meet (they are not in the market for what you’re selling); the appointment will not be sold. The same is true for any other two elements that are missing its third.

However, when the rule is effectively applied in effective prospecting (selling appointments), sales professionals gain more control over all three elements, including the last element which speaks to timing.

The Selfish Bastard Rule has two parts: (1) Buyers prefer to buy outcomes, not solutions, offerings, or commodities; and (2) Decision-Makers, when possible, will act in their own interest over that of their employer.

With this rule in mind, effective prospecting (selling appointments) hinges on a sales professional’s ability to:

· Identify the right decision-maker
· Understand the outcomes that are most important to him or her based on their job title or responsibilities
· Craft and deliver a prospecting message that communicates how the decision-maker can easily eliminate current, undesirable outcomes while attaining desirable ones.

If this is done effectively, the third element, which speaks to timing, is better controlled by the sales professional. This is true because while your prospects and decision-makers may not be in the market for your specific solution, per se, they are almost always in the market to attain desirable outcomes while eliminating and avoiding undesirable ones.

Additionally, effective prospecting (selling appointments) requires that your message have both a stated purpose and call to action. In other words…get to the point!

For best results, structure your prospecting message with the following types of statements in the following sequence: (I will number these for a sample prospecting message later).

1. Purpose or reason for your call or message
2. Acknowledgement of a current, undesirable outcome or challenge that is relevant to the decision-maker
3. A statement that communicates how your company has helped others, in a similar situation, eliminate the very same undesirable outcome or challenge
4. A statement that lets them know what positive outcome they will enjoy if they agree to meet with you.

To put this prospecting structure to work, consider the following sample. I will number the statements as they are examples of types of statements above. Note: this is an actual message that generated a significant amount of interest among the buyers targeted.


Dear, Ms. Decision-Maker

I hope all is well.

I am contacting you in hopes of scheduling a brief meeting with you (1). In response to the economic downturn, department heads are under intense pressure to reduce costs (2). Despite this, most employee recognition vendors continue to either impose unexpected and exorbitant surcharges, or deliver a program where the cost of the awards and services significantly exceeds its actual value (2).

{Company X} offers its clients a more cost effective approach to employee recognition. In recent months, we have helped several companies save as much as 30% off their current program cost while enhancing their award selection and level of service (3).

If you have 45 minutes available, I would like to discuss how we could help your company do more with less by scaling back your current costs while enhancing the quality of awards and level of service (4).

I will call you later in the week to find out your availability or level of interest.

In sum, your prospecting efforts will bare significantly more fruit if your prospecting message seeks to:

· Sell appointments instead of solutions, offerings, and commodities
· Deliver the right message to the right contact at the right time
· Sell outcomes that are relevant to the decision-maker

Finally, while the objective of prospecting is to schedule appointments, it is important to note that there are other success factors that are ignored. Responses that inform you who the right contact really is can be very useful for future marketing or prospecting efforts; responses that instruct you to follow up, at a designated date, are also an expression of future interest; and responses that instruct you to register to become an approved potential vendor deserve note as well.

When we recognize all these responses as success, the degree and frequency of perceived rejection is significantly diminished. When this happens, sales professionals may increase their activity, sales managers and chief sales officers will be able to offer more to their sales teams than being an activity cop, and business owners and chief executives will see that long awaited sales rebound.

Sales Has A New Golden Rule...Follow It !!!

The reason why sales professionals, in your organization, continue to struggle with uncovering opportunities, and closing business, is because they are either unaware of The Selfish Bastard Rule or are unable to adhere to it. The same is true for the majority of chief sales executives, whose sales strategies are driven by nothing more than a wild guess; and sales managers, who offer nothing to their sales teams except a watchful eye over their shoulder.

The Selfish Bastard Rule has two parts: (1) Buyers prefer to buy outcomes, not solutions, offerings, or commodities; and (2) Decision-Makers, when possible, will act in their own interest over that of their employer.

Any disconnect that occurs between buyers and a sales professional is due to the fact that while buyers prefer to buy outcomes; sales professionals sell solutions, offerings, or commodities. Simply put, they are not buying what you’re selling! Instead, buyers are left to figure out which solution, offering, or commodity affords them the best possible chance to gain the outcome they are seeking to buy in the first place. As a result, business is normally awarded to prospective vendors by default.

Hint: If you are an inward looking sales professional, sales manager, or chief sales executive whose activities are driven by what your company or product is or does, instead of the outcomes you can deliver, you are relying on the relative incompetence of your competitors to win or grow your business. Your best chance of enhancing your sales performance, and growing your business, lies in your ability to:

• fully capture your prospects’ desired outcomes


• communicate that your company was founded on, and continues to be driven by, delivering those specific outcomes to similar organizations


• further communicate that your company developed whatever you’re selling, specifically to deliver the outcome your prospect is looking to buy.
  

In other words, sell outcomes.

All decision-makers are driven to make purchasing decisions based on their need to either gain a desired outcome or avoid an undesired one. It’s that simple. Hence, your mission to be a more effective sales professional, if you choose to accept it, is to lead with your prospects’ desired outcomes and position your company, its offerings, features, and benefits as a means to deliver it. Adopting an outcome-based sales approach is not a departure from solution or consultative selling, but, rather, the next evolutionary step. Although it is a small step, it’s a significant one.

When selling outcomes, it is critical that sales professionals make the distinction between the outcomes of the company being called upon and those of the actual decision-maker. While they will share desired outcomes, it is important to note that among the desired outcomes not shared by both, those of the decision-maker will often take precedence.

Finally understanding and adhering to The Selfish Bastard Rule is critical to enhancing the competencies of sales professionals at all levels. It also serves as an effective guide for chief sales executives, who wish to set a strategic direction that will grow their business and improve their market share, and sales managers who wish to be active in leading high performance sales teams.

All subsequent posts on this blog will help sales professionals best apply The Selfish Bastard Rule to:

• Prospecting


• Qualifying Prospects


• Delivering Sales Presentations


• Moving Sales Opportunities Through The Sales Cycle


• Closing Business

There will also be content posted to help chief sales executives and sales managers effectively apply The Selfish Bastard Rule to:

• Identify and hire the right sales candidates


• Develop effective prospecting strategies for their sales teams


• Ensure that their sales reps set the right objectives for their sales meetings


• Design the right go-to-market or sales strategy


• Expose and exploit competitor vulnerabilities


• Properly assess the viability of new products, offerings, and solutions
  

There is a new golden rule for sales professionals. Effectively adhere to it and watch your business grow.