Selling to Big Companies Blog

Leverage Thought Leadership to Win More Sales

Brian Carroll of InTouch Lead Generation challenged attendees of the Sales Shebang to forget about selling and concentrate on becoming thought leaders in their field.

Today, potential buyers are really busy with a lot on their plate.  They're trying to make the best decision for their company, but they don't always have the time on their own to do exhaustive research.  They're also delaying meetings with sales people until the really late stages of the buying process.

For sellers, this is a problem.  There's no time to nurture a potential buyer through the sales process, or even to develop trust that their product/service is the best fit for this situation.

In fact, sellers even run the risk of antagonizing their potential buyers.  A friendly call to check on the buyer can easily be interpreted as pressure to buy.

Brian told attendees at the Sales Shebang that they needed to change what they know about selling.

Sellers today are more effective not when they contact someone who is ready to buy, but when they contact someone BEFORE they're ready to buy.

Sellers can make the biggest impact early on in the buying process, or before it happens by developing relationships with potential clients and setting themselves up as thought leaders.

Brian said that the biggest concern of B2B buyers is "Is this person relevant to me/my company?"

Buyers want to know that the seller understand their issues/needs, knows their budget and restraints, and wants to help the buyer/buyer's company succeed.

Today, sellers need to stop focusing on how people buy. They need to learn how to converse with someone who is stuck in their status quo?

Brian laid out several steps for sellers to get started:

• ID the right people in right companies.  Find people who will have a need for your product/service and who will benefit from what you have to offer.

• Find out what they are concerned about.  What questions should they be asking and what do they need to know to make the right decision for their company.

• Reach out to them as an adviser.  Send them relevant articles you write, or a great white paper you read.  Point them to information that will be valuable to them and that will show that you are an expert resource on their subject.

• Think of this as a long-term project.  Forget about the sales pitch and concentrate on building a relationship with your potential customer. 

Brian cautions that this process will not lead to immediate results.  Sellers should plan to contact potential buyers with valuable information over a period of 7-12 months.

However, this is not about “what can I do today to create revenue?”  This is about planting seeds to harvest later.

By keeping in touch with potential buyers and taking the time to develop a conversation with them, sellers are giving themselves top-of-mind placement.

Once nurtured customers have a need, they will think of the person who has been helping them first.  Since they now trust that seller's judgment, they’re easier to sell to and will have a higher purchase price. 

The trust and relevancy is already there.

Be Your Best Rainmaker

Betsy Buckley of What Matters spoke at the Sales Shebang about a major factor that prevents buyers from making purchasing decisions.

Often, sellers focus only on telling potential buyers about the benefits of their product or service.  In many cases, however, there's a hidden dynamic at work in the sales process.

Believe it or not, many people who are buying today are scared.

If it's their company, they're worried that making the wrong decision could destroy them.  If they're working for someone else, their job could be on the line if they make the wrong choice.

Betsy addressed what sellers can do to shift that fear away.  She talked about identifying the interpersonal aspects of selling: when contacting someone involved in purchasing, the seller needs to consider who else needs to know what they do, how the contact can share that information with them, and how the seller can keep the conversation grounded.

Many times, potential buyers are held up in their decision because they don't know how to tell the other important decision makers about their decision. 

Why are they choosing to go with this seller?  Why do they need the new product/service?  How does this decision benefit the company?

Betsy said that this essential information cannot just be given to the potential buyer.  It's not as simple as running down a list on the phone, or sending over a fax.

To really give a potential buyer the information they need to make their decision and talk to others about it, sellers need to go beyond telling, and show their potential buyers what they have to offer.

Sellers need to be generous with their knowledge and help buyers learn the information they need to know.  They need to think about the questions the buyer is facing, and share their wisdom in a way that will get the buyer to where they feel confident about the experience.

According to Betsy, many sellers are hesitant to give away information for free.  What they know is valuable and they feel that customers should pay for it.

However, the more complex a sale is, the more fear haunts buyers.

Having that valuable information at their disposal not only makes them more confident about their purchasing decision, it also predisposes them towards the provider of that information as someone who wants to help their business succeed.

Betsy reminded attendees that sharing their wisdom and knowledge is a fantastic way for buyers to experience how it will be to work with them. 

And when buyers are operating in a tense environment where decisions are incredibly important, knowing the experience they will have with a seller ahead of time can be a powerful factor in their buying decisions.

The Power of Referrals

Joanne Black, author of No More Cold Calling, started off her Sales Shebang session with a bang by stating that there is no such thing as a warm call.  According to her, a call is either cold or HOT.

Why?  Because either the seller is calling someone who knows them and is expecting their call, or not.

Cold calling is a sales tactic that has a low conversion rate.  A seller might start off with a list of 100 prospective clients, but may only receive any sort of response from 20 people.  Of that smaller number, only a handful will become buyers.

Instead of cold calling, Joanne advocates that sellers focus on getting referrals.

Referred clients are a seller’s dream.  The seller knows going in that there is a need for their products and services, so part of the selling is done already.  Since the seller was referred by someone the client knows, the sales process is much more personal and a lot of trust is already there. 

In fact, when sellers are referred, they get a new client more than 50% of the time.

A big part of this is that people don’t have time anymore, so they’re more willing to talk to sellers who have been referred than some random person.

Unfortunately, Joanne pointed out that most sellers have a hard time asking for referrals for five reasons.

• There’s no strategic initiative to ask for referrals. As a result, most sellers are busy with a lot of activities that don’t lead to referrals.

• Referrals have not been part of the sales process. No one is used to asking for them.

• There haven’t been metrics around referrals. No one knows why sellers should focus on referrals.  They don’t track how many referral meetings happen each week, how many clients give referrals, or the time it takes to make a sale to referred prospects versus how long it takes to sell to a non-referred prospect.

• Referrals are a skill.  Sellers don’t know how to ask, so they don’t do it.

• There’s a risk of personal discomfort.  Sellers don’t want to be rejected, so they don’t ask.

Joanne reassured attendees that asking for referrals is not as uncomfortable as most people fear it to be.

After all, she pointed out; most of the attendees at the conference have happily recommended people or products themselves.  When someone they knew, liked and trusted asked for a referral, most attendees at the conference were probably happy to help.

She also talked about how most people are happy to give referrals because they’re helping the person they’re referring the seller to.  They’re saving that person time in looking for a solution to their problem, they’re giving that person a valuable resource, and elevating their own perception with that person because they’re becoming a resource as well.

Joanne concluded her session with a challenge.  She told attendees to make a list of 100 people, with the ones they knew best on the top.  Then, attendees were to start from the beginning and ask those people for referrals. She promised attendees that they would be pleasantly surprised at the great results.

For more info on Joanne and her referral strategies, visit her No More Cold Calling website.

The Improvising Saleswoman

Molly Cox, who is the author of Improvise This! also performed at the Sales Shebang fundraising fiesta on Sunday night, brought everyone into her presentation on Monday.

Molly spoke about how when people are feeling a certain way, they bring that energy into the other parts of their lives. When someone is having a bad day, it’s obvious to those around them and other people act accordingly. 

On the other hand, when it’s a good day, what people bring, their energy, will make the atmosphere either positive or negative for them.  When someone is tired or in bad mood, and they make a sales call or go into a meeting, they bring all that garbage with them.

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible for people to completely control their environment. What is in someone’s control is how they react.

Molly talked about how improv is one way for someone to change their attitude. Improvisation is about taking whatever situation is given, and moving forward with it.   

She demonstrated that on Sunday night when audience members would yell out random suggestions to the performers, who would then have to continue with the scene while incorporating whatever wild and crazy thing the audience had just told them what to do.

According to Molly, improvisation is an inherently positive activity.  It’s about looking for opportunities and ways to move forward.  And it brings energy to the room because each person continually builds on what the others have created.

Molly didn’t just talk about improv though, she made everyone do it.  Attendees formed small groups and were told to make up nonsense words.  Then, they were told the word was a product and they had to make a list of its attributes.

The catch: no one could reject any attribute that was said.  Even if it was completely unrelated, the attribute had to be written down.

Of course, each group started out with descriptions that made sense.  But, it didn’t take long for the crazy suggestions to come out.  At the end, each product was more fantastic than the last.

This session wasn’t just fun and games though.  Molly used the improve exercises to prove her point—that it’s possible to get energized (even early in the morning)—to the attendees. 

By the end of her session, everyone had tons of energy—no matter how they had felt when they walked in the door.  People were bubbling with ideas, and they were having a great time.

And their presentations of their imaginary products were hilarious! 

Molly concluded her session by talking about how improv is good practice for life.  Its quick, fast-moving pace and the necessity of having to adapt quickly help people learn how to think on their feet. 

The better they are at that, the less likely they are to fall on their face.

For more information about Molly, visit her:

• Career Chik website which features sassy cards for women in business.
• Molly Speaks website to learn how to bring her into your organization as a speaker.

Want Results Fast? Reach the Top Dog!

Leslie Buterin of Cold Calling Executives gave a very informative presentation at the Sales Shebang on how to reach top decision makers when cold calling.

As most people in sales know, it’s really tough to reach someone on the phone. 

And it’s even harder to get them to call back!

Leslie made that point that even most people have come to believe that voicemail messages don’t get returned (because theirs don’t), it doesn’t mean that voicemails don’t get returned.

All it means is that their message didn’t work.

Leslie explained that in order for voicemails to work, they have to capture the attention of the person you are trying to reach.  This doesn’t mean that salespeople should try gimmicks to get attention—exactly the opposite! 

The key is to leave a simple, effective message. 

Leslie gave us an example that worked phenomenally for her in the past:

My name is Leslie Buterin, like butterin’ bread. You can reach me at …. I’m calling to reduce your workforce costs by 20%.  Once again, my name is Leslie Buterin.  You can reach me at….

That’s the entire message.  And it works.

Why?  Because it was…

• SLOW  Why is this important?  So people can write it down.  When callers speak too fast, their message gets deleted.  Speaking slowly makes listeners want to make a note.

• EASY Leslie said her name and at the beginning and at the end.  That meant the decision maker doesn’t have to repeat the message, and don’t have to waste more time.

• LEGITIMATE  Leslie established credibility with a legitimate bottom-line reason for calling.  She knew that her decision maker wanted to reduce workforce expenses and stated a reasonable percentage so her call didn’t sound like an overhyped claim.

• CONFIDENT Leslie spoke like an equal to the decision maker.  She didn’t hope for a call back, or beg, or do anything to diminish herself.  She was confident that she fulfilled a need, and that the decision maker would appreciate her call.

Cold calling is never easy, but Leslie reminded the Sales Shebang attendees that they need to make it easy for the person that they're trying to reach. 

Decision makers don't want to work hard to find out who is calling and why, and they need to know right away how the caller can benefit them.

For more information on Leslie Buterin and how to reach executive-level decision makers, visit her Top Dog website.

3 Experts to Whet your Appetite

Ardath Albee of Marketing Interactions is also blogging about the Sales Shebang over on her blog.

We're spreading out across the presentations so we'll be able to cover as much as possible.  So, keep an eye on her blog in the next couple days for posts about the Shebang.

We'll also keep you up-to-date here on her posts:

Talent and Value - What Cards Are You Playing?

The Sales Shebang kicked off this morning with Faith Ralston [President of Leaps of Faith Consulting and author of Play Your Best Hand] teaching us about Talent Types.

Faith says everyone has 5-7 talents that they use in predictable sequence for successful outcomes. But, taking it farther, she explains that everyone has a primary talent type and discussed the four types of talent. By identifying and focusing on this talent, people can do extraordinay things.

If you want to figure out what your best talent is, and which famous person and Sales Shebang presenter you share that talent with, click here to read more.

Crystal Ball Research with Search

Sam Richter, President of James J. Hill Library in St. Paul and author of the upcoming Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling, led a workshop on Getting the Inside Scoop on Companies, Industries and People this morning at the Sales Shebang.

According to Sam, this era of selling doesn't allow salespeople to be lazy and learn what they need to know from their prospects. The buying cycle starts earlier and your prospects want to know how you're going to help them, not how they can educate you.

If you're interested in Sam's advice on how to get better information when you're searching online, click here to read more.

Reading Your Buyer's Online Behavior

Jill Rowley, Director of Key Accounts for Eloqua, presented an insightful workshop about Reading the Buyer's New Body Language today at the Sales Shebang.

Jill opened her presentation with a quote from Thomas Stewart, editor of the Harvard Business Review about how the world has evolved into instant, ubiquitous communications but, "...selling processes have for the most part stayed the same."

She then talked about how the way people buy is changing and if you can't decipher what 91% of the people who turn to the web first are doing while they're researching your product online, you're passing up a huge opportunity.

If you'd like to learn more about the changing behavior of potential clients, click here to read more.

Don't forget to read the other posts on the Sales Shebang:
Sales Shebang: Started with a Bang

No Sweat! Working Workouts into Your Workday

How do you keep eat right and stay fit when you’re really busy?

Nationally-recognized fitness expert, Wendie Pett of Visibly Fit, started off Monday morning of the Sales Shebang by addressing this issue.

According to her, many busy professionals have trouble fitting everything into their day. They have only 24 hours to work, sleep, eat, take care of their children, and do everything else on their calendar.

Most women would probably love to have 48 hours to get things done.

Unfortunately, when women are busy, healthy eating is often one of the first things to fall off their priority list.  Women typically eat too little because they have no time, or they scarf down a bunch of food way too quickly.  (Often unhealthy food.)

To address this, Wendie gave a couple eating tips for busy women:

• Eat constantly.  It is too easy for people to overeat, or eat something bad, when they’re really hungry.  Having many small things actually adds up to less overall and it keeps metabolisms running.

• Keep healthy snacks—like a handful of walnuts—available.  Then it's easier to eat less more frequently.

• Make it a point to eat all fruits before noon.  That way they aren't forgetten and there's plenty of time to burn off the natural sugars during the day.

However, the best part of Wendie’s presentation was her fitness advice. 

Wendie is the creator of the Visibly Fit 7x11 program:  easy-to-do exercises for women to do that uses their body as a gym.

She ran everyone through seven exercises that can be done quickly (each has only 8 reps) and anywhere.  The exercises use body tension instead of weights to provide resistance.  They're called 7x11 because the 7 exercises are meant to be done before 11am and 11pm each day.

Wendie teaches those exercises because they build up muscles naturally and boost metabolisms. 

Plus, since they’re quick, they’re really easy for busy women to fit into their schedule.

Sales Shebang ShEO Jill Konrath swears by them!

Even though this wasn’t a sales topic, Wendie was a great addition to the Sales Shebang.  Everyone came out of her workshop full of energy—even after going through the full set of exercises!

Starting Off with a Bang

Hi everyone, I’m Katie Konrath from www.getfreshminds.com.

As Jill’s minion… er, daughter, I’m bringing you updates from the Sales Shebang conference so Jill can concentrate on making sure it’s a great experience.

Right away, I want to say that we’re having a fantastic time here in Minneapolis!

Last night, we kicked off the Sales Shebang with a cabaret night for a good cause. Molly Cox, one of our Shebang presenters brought in a troupe of performers and we all gathered together to raise money for a good cause.

For the first Sales Shebang, we decided to raise money for disadvantaged women entrepreneurs through Kiva.org.

This organization is amazing because it allows us to make small loans to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world (microfinance). Kiva allows us to choose who we want to help, see what our money will be spent on, and to know what difference it will make.

The really neat part about Kiva is that we're not giving away the money, we're loaning it to the entrepreneurs and will (99% of the time) get the money back.  Then we can loan the money out to another woman.

We're just getting started--this last weekend, we invested in our first entrepreneur: Mrs. Maïmounatou Awoufo from Togo. 

She's the sole breadwinner for 5 people, and needed a $400 loan to expand her maize and charcoal business.  We're one of her 15 lenders.

Soon as the Sales Shebang is over, we're looking forward to adding up the funds we raised and helping out more women.

If you'd like to get involved with this too, head over to Kiva and start your own sponsorship... or buy us a gift certificate so we can sponsor more people!

We started off the event with a description of Kiva and everyone contributed a small cover charge towards the organization.

Then, the improv began!  Just to make you jealous, you missed:

A relationship counseling session between two sales people who could only express their feelings in sales terminology.

An expert panel advising us on the very-related topics of woodchucks and metaphysics.  (As you’re probably guessing, the performers didn’t choose those topics!)

A composed-on-the-spot musical sketch and a funny spoof commercial.

And a bunch more!

This was a great way to start things off here at the Sales Shebang. 

It was a fun atmosphere, with plenty of attendees and guests in a room that was set-up to look like a comedy club.  The planned skits were funny, and geared right towards the sales minds in the audience.

Above all though, having an improv event was a fantastic way to break the ice at a conference full of strange people.

Molly and her group brought everyone into the performance.  They took suggestions from the audience--the wilder the better!  Then, they brought people up on stage, and got them personally involved in the performances.

In fact, Jill was so excited about the opportunity to get on stage and be silly in front everyone that she completely froze and couldn't raise her hand. 

Luckily, someone (who shall remain nameless in case she reads this blog post later) bravely volunteered Jill as a performer, and she got her chance to shine!

The evening ended on a high note, with everyone laughing, talking to new people and excited for the next couple days.

And the best part, we had a great time raising a bunch of money to help women entrepreneurs in developing countries through the Kiva micro-lending organization!