Jill Konrath | Selling to Big Companies

Selling Through a Slump: An Industry-by-Industry Playbook

Selling in a recession is tough. And simply doing more of the same is not the way to survive, much less thrive. There are important dos and don'ts in times like these.

Selling through a Slump: An Industry-by-Industry Playbook brings together best practices from 11 top sales experts from 11 distinct vertical market sectors—because one size doesn’t always fit all.

In this FREE ebook, you'll find an arsenal of great sales ideas from leading sales strategists in ...

• Selling Technology - Dave Stein, CEO of ES Research Group, Inc

• Selling Services - Jill Konrath, Author, Selling to Big Companies (THAT'S ME!)
  

• Selling for Accountants & Consultants - Charles Green, Author, Trust-Based Selling

• Selling Media - Anne Miller, Author, Metaphorically Selling

• Selling to Manufacturers - Dave Brock, Partners in EXCELLENCE

• Selling in Health Care - Anneke Seley, CEO, PhoneWorks & author, Sales 2.0

• Selling for Retailers - Skip Anderson, Selling to Consumers Sales Training

• Selling to Public Sector Clients - Mike Kujawski, Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing 

• Selling in Telecommunications Markets - John Caddell, Caddell Insight Group

• Selling for Insurance Agent - Mike Wise, VP, Insurance Technologies, IdeaStar Inc.

• Selling for Lawyers - Matt Homann, Founder, LexThink

Click here for valuable sales strategies
from experts in every industry!
(A simple registration is required)

Brought to you by The Customer Collective  and Oracle CRM.

Escaping the Price Trap: Multiple strategies you can use to reframe the issue

How many times have you been told that it's imperative for you to "get inside your customer's head?" Probably a gazillion, right?

Today we're going to turn that into a reality. In fact, I'm going to give you the opportunity of a lifetime - the chance to have a ringside seat inside a real prospect's mindset - one in which price is an issue.

You'll also be able to see, in real time, how a seller might choose to deal with this situation. The only limitation to this learning opportunity is that the buyer and seller can only communicate via email.

Here's some background on the situation.

Less than 1 minute ago, you (and I mean you personally, not some generic "you") read a brief overview of the upcoming Sales Stimulus Package - the big event I'm pulling together to help sellers get more prospects in their pipeline.

For the purposes of this exercise, you (remember, I'm pointing my finger directly at you right now) will be the prospect and I'll be the seller.

So let me ask you this: What thoughts went through your mind when you read about the Sales Stimulus Package and preview calls?

Did you think...

• Sign me up now!  It's just what I need.
• Cool. I'm going to see if I can get my boss to pay for it.
• It looks good, but your prices are pretty high.
• Sounds great, but I can't make every session.
• Will I really learn some good stuff that will make a difference?
• Maybe I'll just attend the freebies.
• Times are tough. We'd love to have our reps attend, but that gets costly.

These are just a few of the reactions I've heard since I launched the Sales Stimulus Package early last week. My guess is that you reacted similarly to at least one of these.

The key question that you - and most others - are evaluating right now is, "Is it worth it?"  As the seller, it's imperative for me to address that issue, because it influences whether you sign up or not.

Like many of you, my natural tendency is to tout how incredible these speakers are and promise that you'll learn all these wonderful things that will totally transform your business and make you the most successful seller in the whole wide world.

That would be really stupid to do. The more I'd try to impress you, the less likely you would be to believe me. I've chosen to avoid the hype.

So how can a seller (me) increase your perception of the value of the Sales Stimulus Package?

There are multiple ways to do this and they all involve REFRAMING the price. In essence, instead of having you focus on $299 (Early Bird/person), here are some strategies I could use.

As you read them, think about which have the biggest impact on you and your decision to sign up or not.

Lost Opportunities | Future Gains

In today's economy, virtually every seller I know is experiencing challenges right now. Decision makers are cautious, not wanting to spend money unnecessarily. Sales are being delayed and more people are involved in the buying process. Slow, slow, slow.

Let me ask you a few questions:

• How has the economic situation impacted your business so far?
• How effective are your prospecting strategies?
• Do you have enough prospects in your pipeline to meet your goals?
• What are you doing to adjust to the changing economic climate?
• How's it working for you?

Yes, the Sales Stimulus Package costs some money. It's not cheap because it's high quality, high impact. But it is affordable.

And, when you think about how much business you've lost in the past six months, it's a small price to pay for learning skills and strategies that can help you succeed despite the economy.

Usually I wouldn't lead with this type of approach because I don't like "fear-mongering."

However, I am a pragmatist - and this is what I'm seeing right now. I have to make changes to get business. Everyone does. But not everyone knows what to do to make it work. That's why I've chosen pragmatism as a major emphasis in what I've already written.

Average Customer Value

What's your average customer worth to you? My guess is that it's a whole lot more than what you'd pay for the Stimulus Package. So think about this:

• If Patrick O'Malley could show you a new way to leverage LinkedIn to get business, your investment would more than pay for itself.

• If Kendra Lee's advice on leveraging email got you a meeting with an executive you've been dying to land as an account ... what would that be worth to you?  Perhaps now the investment in the program seems miniscule.

• If Sam Richter's strategies on gathering sales intelligence were just what you needed to snatch the business from competitors, would the program be worth it then?

• Finally, if you extended the value of the initial order to Lifetime Customer Value, what kind of money are we talking then?

Personally, I think this is a really good reframing because it talks about the true worth of the program to you personally. It also puts your INVESTMENT in a more proper perspective.

Please note the switch away from price, because we truly are talking about an investment in your success. Since most people don't automatically make this mental leap themselves, it's important to bring it to their attention.

Cost of Hiring Experts Individually

Each of the presenters that I've lined up to speak at the Sales Stimulus Package is a highly paid professional. Bringing even one in to speak to your organization would cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

But all of them? You're looking at spending about $75,000. Why so much? Because they know how to help you sell more. They're experts ... pros who know how to help you put more prospects into your pipeline. Most companies couldn't spend this much - even when they desperately need it.

As a seller, one of my responsibilities is to educate my prospects on the true value of what I'm my offering - otherwise you don't know. You don't make decisions about this often, if at all.

That's what the jeweler did when my husband shopped for engagements rings. Once he knew all about the 4 Cs (carat, cut, clarity, color) that influence a diamond's worth, he realized what he was investing in and willingly paid more.

Since most of you would never spend that much money, I only bring this up to give you a comparison of fair market value versus what you'd need to spend. Since it's so much less, I'm hoping that you'll think, "Wow. What a great deal!"

Low Cost Per Session

By packaging these programs together, we're able to offer you special pricing that you couldn't get if you attended each of these teleseminars individually. In the past, we charged $79 per program. But if you get the Stimulus Package at the Early Bird rates, each session is only $25. That's a whopping 66% discount.

What I'd like to point out here is that this is a secondary strategy. This only works if you, as a potential buyer, think that the PACKAGE itself brings value and you have a strong desire to learn from multiple presenters. If you think it's a waste of time and money, saving 66% is irrelevant.

Understanding Value

Once you start thinking about how to help people realize the true value of your offering, it's amazing how many ideas can pop up. For example, I could also stress:

• The value of training reinforcement. Since Sale Stimulus attendees get MP3s of each session, they can listen to the experts over and over again - thus ensuring that the training "sticks."

• The minimal risk involved. In fact, we've created two free preview sessions where you can listen in to the speakers prior to signing up - just to make sure it's of value to you.

• That you don't have pay to go to a conference or spend money on hotels, airfare and more. It's the most cost-effective training you can get.

But enough of that. I could go on and on. Let's get back to what this is all about.

Every seller today is getting caught in the price trap. It's one of the first things your prospects want to know. How much is it? How much is it? How much is it?  It's enough to drive you crazy.

PRICE IS RELATIVE. It's a bad place to start.

As a seller, your job is to help your customer understand the value of your offering. You need to get them off the pricing and into a conversation about what really matters.

That's why I put you into the role of the prospect. Which of the strategies I described worked best with you? Perhaps you have some other suggestions. If so, I'd love to hear them.

Hopefully, my transparency in talking about my own options has opened your eyes to new ways you can approach the dreaded price talk.

I didn't avoid it. In fact, I tried to deal with it very openly. But you can't do that if you're not prepared. These strategies didn't just pop into my mind when I was under duress. They're something I think about ahead of time.

We all need to be prepared to talk with our prospects about price. We need to be able to reframe it - hopefully before they say, "How much?" or "Too much."

If we sell, it's our responsibility to address the price trap proactively, so we don't get caught in it.

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So what do you think? Which approaches are more effective? Which don't you like and why? What other strategies would you recommend?  I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Sales Stimulus: Is Email Hiding Your Personality?

Kendra Lee is presenting a May 14 teleseminar on "Mastering Email  Prospecting" as part of the Sales Stimulus  Package, an intensive two-week program to help you get more prospects in your pipeline - quickly.

Starting May 4th at 1 pm ET, invest just one hour a day to get the sales results you want. Click to learn more at www.SalesStimulusPackage.com

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Email is so much easier to use for prospecting than the phone. You can write it at any time day or night. You don’t have to worry about being hung up on and you won’t catch your client “at a bad time.”

But it’s also easily deleted with no response. When you put yourself into your email, your chances of getting prospects to respond escalate. You stand apart from the other sellers who blend together as Inbox clutter.

Sound hard? It doesn’t have to be.

You know that it’s your personality and message that distinguish you on the phone. But, when you write, you have to be really careful that the words you choose let your personality shine through. If your prospect can’t feel your personality, you’re no different than any other seller trying to get time on his calendar.

Here’s the story of two sellers I’ve been working with and their very different email prospecting results: Eric, who follows the email prospecting rules perfectly, and Mae, who breaks the rules and allows her personality to shine.

Eric sells IT maintenance services. He does most of his prospecting via email because he doesn’t like to cold call. He has an outstanding value proposition including impressive financial results clients have received in reducing unplanned IT expenditures.

Eric adapts his value proposition to the group he’s targeting and follows all the email prospecting best practices.

• Limits the length to 4-5 sentences
• Uses only 1 line
• Includes a tag line in his signature
• Provides his phone and contact information
• Includes an offer his prospect can respond to if interested
• Writes a compelling subject line

Eric has utilized best-practices tactics for email, but even quoting impressive financial results and a client testimonial, he only gets replies from 10% of his prospects. Look at how Mae both uses those tactics and then goes beyond the norm to ensure her personality helps her make stronger connections.

Mae sells IT software and servers. She does most of her prospecting via email because she sees how easy it is to grab prospects’ interest and for them to click reply. She identifies a small group of prospects to target, uses a value proposition like Eric’s, then breaks the prospecting rules by:

• Mentioning something about herself in every email, from running in an upcoming marathon to the kids being out on fall break in two weeks

• Consistently following up over the course of a month, gently pushing for a connection. Each time Mae forwards the previous emails with a general, but personal, note about the prospect: how busy they must be now that it’s fourth quarter; or, are the leaves turning?

• Including a simple ☺ emoticon in her third or forth email to reinforce something personal she’s written if it suits the content: Go Broncos!! ☺

• Writing a personal subject line, such as: Can we talk?, or Checking your availability Tuesday at 3:00

Mae’s emails let her interest in talking with her prospect – and her personality – shine through. She becomes a real person who sat down at her PC to email this specific prospect. Her emails let prospects she’s never met know it’s her sending the email, not some marketing system, and in turn, as they realize it, they reply. As Mae continues to email them, a whopping 85% of prospects reply!

So how do you let your personality out and get 85% of your prospects to hit reply?

• Mention a tidbit about yourself. One time I emailed a bunch of prospects during my birthday month and told them all it was my birthday that month! I got nearly a 100% reply rate and started a conversation with every one.

• Picture your prospect and write as if you already know him. You know what job your prospect has, so talk about something he can relate to.

• Make it easy to reply by suggesting a couple of times to talk. You’ve been friendly and now you’re eliminating the work in scheduling a time to talk. Of course he’s going to respond because you’ve given him a valuable reason to take you up on your offer.

As your prospect gets to know you through your emails, he will respond as he would to anyone else he knows personally. After an email conversation he’ll want to talk to you because he knows you, likes you, and feels comfortable with you. By combining best practices with your personality, your emails will become a productive prospecting tool – instead of a shot into the Inbox abyss.

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Kendra Lee is author of “Selling Against the Goal” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group helps companies rapidly penetrate new markets, break into new accounts and shorten time to revenue with new products in the Small & Midmarket Business (SMB) segment. Ms. Lee is a frequent speaker at national sales meetings and association events. For more information, contact the company at +1 303.741.6636 or [email protected] or visit www.klagroup.com.

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