I'm going to share the story of a real salesperson and his current, real opportunity, but change the names of everyone involved. I hear stories like this every day but this particular one happens way too often.
Many of the greatest ideas and advances in history occur when someone takes an idea from one area of expertise, and applies it in another. For this reason, I spend a lot of time listening to, reading about, and speaking with experts in a wide variety of disciplines outside of sales.
In his best-selling sales guidebook “SPIN® Selling”, Neil Rackham identified four potential outcomes from every significant conversation with a prospective customer in a complex B2B sales environment: a win, an advance, a continuation or a clear “no sale”. I’ll define these outcomes in a moment.
Anyone would get excited about snagging a superstar salesperson away from a competitor. You start dreaming about taking over the competitor’s customers, expanding into new territories, crushing your numbers, and slam-dunking your competitor.
What happens when a salesperson isn’t an effective negotiator? Often, they simply write a proposal. I’ve observed it happen many times. Somehow the salesperson thinks that if they put the information in writing the prospect will buy.
I have heard the word “unprecedented” more times in 2020 than I hope to ever hear again in my lifetime. Judging from which of Membrain’s blog posts you read and enjoyed most, I’m guessing I’m not alone.
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