Believe it or not, I actually enjoy being called on by telemarketers. In fact, when it happens I start going through the steps: The introduction. The time check. The understanding. The demonstration of need. The value proposition. The trial close. The objection (my favorite). The real close. The conclusion. I learn something new each time.
Welcome to the world of sales, fellow B-to-B followers. In our sandbox, it's about selling value and minimizing risk. It's about technical sellers for technical buyers. It's about solutions, not products. It's also about winning. After all, the pressure is on us for business growth. And we love it. So pick up a shovel, a bucket and let's see what ideas we can build together. Hold on... I think I hear my phone ringing again.
October 1, 2009 | 10:51am
Overcoming the Price Objection (Lance Baird)
All eyes seem to be on Big Ben these days. No, I'm not talking about Ben Roethlisberger, starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers (although I keep getting requests to trade Kurt Warner for him in my fantasy football league - thoughts anyone?). I'm actually talking about Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Just last week, the Fed declined to raise overnight lending rates in an effort to continue pulling the economy out of the recession, noting that the economy is finally recovering. Hoorah! Let's keep the momentum going! Does 2010 look equally positive for your business? Will this be the banner year for your sales team? One of our partners, Ken Jones, recently offered some great advice on planning for the recovery for those with marketing responsibilities. But if your business card says something to the effect of "sales and marketing," let me offer some thoughts. |
November 14, 2008 | 3:14pm
Experimental Marketers Unite! (Lance Baird)
I'm a big fan of Mad Men, the television drama series on AMC that depicts the advertising business in the 1960s. I've seen every episode. In fact, I even have my favorites saved on the home DVR. Therefore, it should likely come as no surprise that I'm including it as the introduction to my latest post. Mass communications was the name of the game fifty years ago. |
August 15, 2008 | 4:42pm
Selling Higher (Lance Baird)
“A sales professional should always try to find the decision-makers in the organization. The decision-makers have the least knowledge of the situation and are therefore more likely to believe whatever the salesperson says.”
-- Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle
Have you ever submitted such a well-groomed proposal and/or delivered such a smashing presentation that you were sure your customer would move forward? A few days go by... no big deal. A week goes by... maybe they’re traveling. A few weeks go by... maybe they’re on vacation. A month goes by... they’ve selected somebody else. Where did you go wrong? One concept that has always helped me throughout my career is the notion of selling higher – selling your proposition to those higher in the organizational food ---More--- |
March 7, 2008 | 9:54am
Peanuts and PowerPoint - Part 1 (Lance Baird)
Have you ever attended a business conference where many of the presenters were qualified, yet when given the spotlight, their presentations were lacking? You know what I'm talking about. You're sitting with hundreds of other people in a large room. The presenter stands front-center, articulating what he or she believes to be an oratory masterpiece, when in actuality what occurs is similar to a classroom scene from the early Peanuts cartoon movies (muah muah, muah muah muah muah). The sound of people text messaging on their BlackBerrys increases at a steady pace. Papers begin to ruffle as attendants flip through the pages desperately trying to discover when the next coffee break begins. A few people are even sleeping, only to move when their heads nod so lowly, they wake themselves up, reset, then repeat the process ad nauseum. When did we get so poor at public communications? It all began in 1990, when Microsoft bundled PowerPoint in their Microsoft Office suite of |
January 25, 2008 | 1:47pm
In a recent article published by The Economic Times, Nirmalya Kumar encourages B-to-B companies to embrace a new culture of communications when selling to prospective customers – the 3Vs – “valued customer, value proposition and value network.” While seen as a complement to the 4Ps that comprise the typical marketing mix (product, pricing, promotion and placement), the 3V-approach is more strategic in nature. Therefore, it is more likely to engage the CEO at a strategic level during a time when many CMOs are struggling to stay relevant and remain on the payroll (the average tenure of a CMO is 26.8 months according to BtoB Magazine). Realizing this philosophy of customer value management |
