sales methodology
Is your differentiation based on features or outcomes?
It’s a fundamental principle of value-based selling that whenever a prospective customer is unable to establish any meaningful difference between the options open to them, they are likely to choose what they perceive to be the cheapest or safest option.
What’s next? What’s your deal strategy?
In any given year, I may be involved in doing 100’s of deal or opportunity reviews. Inevitably, I end up asking many of the same questions:
Critical to B2B sales success - stakeholder assessments
One of the most common reasons why apparently promising B2B sales opportunities get derailed - often at a late stage in our sales cycle - is that we have failed to identify all the key stakeholders or to understand how to get them all to support our approach.
Ad-hoc projects: another nail in the coffin of BANT
It surprises and shocks me how many sales organisations still regard BANT as a practical way of qualifying sales opportunities. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, it dates back to the steam-driven days prior to the emergence of the Internet, SaaS and modern buying behaviours and stands for Budget, Authority, Need and Timeframe.
4 ways ‘cramming’ is killing your sales
When you were young, did you ever stay up all night “cramming” for a test? Did the adults in your life criticize you for this behavior, and explain to you that you would learn better if you studied a little at a time instead of all at once?
If you really want to shorten your sales cycle, slow down!
If the conversations I’ve been having with sales leaders recently are anything to go by, our sales pipelines are full of opportunities that start off looking like they are going to end up in a quick sale, but then get stuck somewhere in the middle (or towards the end) of the process.
