The Big Picture of Selling
The Big Picture of Selling
He was a well-conditioned athlete ready to race. In colder conditions, sprinters need to do extra warm-up to properly prepare the muscles for competition. Otherwise, painful consequences, such as hamstring pulls, are typical.
I think of that image often in business. I see people’s hamstring pop often. They get on the starting blocks and do not belong there. They haven’t done the preparation to qualify.
Business is not as selective as college sports, however. Any unqualified person can get on the track. Many don’t even realize they are in a competition. They think it is a fun run. Showing up is accomplishment enough. In reality, there is a larger picture, and because most people do not see or operate in this context, they squander opportunity.
What if you approached business, especially the business of selling, with a larger picture? Could you avoid pulling hamstrings needlessly? It takes big picture thinking to ensure victory. Here is what it would look like:
1. Preparation. How much of your presentation is left to chance? Doing so creates more opportunities for failure. Take 20 top objections and master the answers to them. Don’t think through academic answers, think through why the person would ask a question in the first place. “I don’t know if I can afford it,” translates into “My perception of your value does not overcome my reluctance to change.” When you are blindsided in a sales conversation, go back to preparation and master your answers. You are not a loser for not anticipating everything. You lose when you do not do the things to win the next time.
2. Solutions. Are you a person who has real answers for what a person is trying to accomplish in their business? Or is it about you making a sale? The largest blind spot people have is that they have an inability to truly put themselves in the other person’s shoes. They are thinking about selling, making money and making someone a customer. This is completely irrelevant to the customer. They do not want to be sold, closed or made a customer. They want you to bring true value and drive a solution. Think in terms of their problems and how to solve them and you will become indispensable. Selling follows solutions.
3. Connection. Assume this truth – all your customers already have all the friends they need. They are not looking for a friend. They are looking for someone who is bringing continuous value to their ongoing business problems. Heed Rockefeller, “A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.” Connect with your customer in a way to bring the highest level of value you offer. Don’t back-door them with a relationship maneuver. They want to know you are credible and capable first and foremost. Trust develops through competency.
4. Perception. Here’s where most sales people blow it. They put most of their energy into charisma and closing. How hard is it to change someone’s perception? It is very difficult, indeed. Read the book, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and you will learn how we operate from rapid cognition. As human beings, we decide, then we think. People make decisions irrationally, then they use their rationality to justify their decision. If you want to win, work on developing the touchpoints which create perception that will position you as an expert rather than a peddler. You will separate yourself from your competition from a four letter word – W-O-R-K. Most will not pay the price of positioning because it takes work and thinking.
If you approach selling with a small picture – closing someone, making money, meeting quota – you are just a salesperson. The world has stereotypes of salespeople for a reason. They can sense the inherent selfish motives.
However, those who can see a bigger picture, think differently. They put their energy and focus into being prepared. They deliver solutions. They connect. They work hard at designing the right perception because they understand how hard it is to undo.
Your mindset will dictate your results. Enlarge your thinking. Do the hard work of a professional, lest you get in a race you are not qualified to run. A true athlete understands there is more to racing than showing up. Likewise, a true professional understands selling is not just showing up. It has a much bigger picture. Get coached through sales training on how to design the approach to win. You are making a decision to be strategic rather than random. Sell by design rather than desperation.
The Big Picture of Selling - To learn more about this author, visit Don Dalrymple's Website.
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I remember competing at the University of Chicago in our conference championship track meet one dreary winter. I had finished my race and was sitting on the sidelines to watch the 60 meter dash. It was cold. Indoor track season in the north is bitter and frigid. The gun went off with six sprinters coming out of the blocks. Then it happened. A loud “pop” sound. A sprinter pulled his hamstring. He was on the sidelines in agony.
He was a well-conditioned athlete ready to race. In colder conditions, sprinters need to do extra warm-up to properly prepare the muscles for competition. Otherwise, painful consequences, such as hamstring pulls, are typical.
I think of that image often in business. I see people’s hamstring pop often. They get on the starting blocks and do not belong there. They haven’t done the preparation to qualify.
Business is not as selective as college sports, however. Any unqualified person can get on the track. Many don’t even realize they are in a competition. They think it is a fun run. Showing up is accomplishment enough. In reality, there is a larger picture, and because most people do not see or operate in this context, they squander opportunity.
What if you approached business, especially the business of selling, with a larger picture? Could you avoid pulling hamstrings needlessly? It takes big picture thinking to ensure victory. Here is what it would look like:
1. Preparation. How much of your presentation is left to chance? Doing so creates more opportunities for failure. Take 20 top objections and master the answers to them. Don’t think through academic answers, think through why the person would ask a question in the first place. “I don’t know if I can afford it,” translates into “My perception of your value does not overcome my reluctance to change.” When you are blindsided in a sales conversation, go back to preparation and master your answers. You are not a loser for not anticipating everything. You lose when you do not do the things to win the next time.
2. Solutions. Are you a person who has real answers for what a person is trying to accomplish in their business? Or is it about you making a sale? The largest blind spot people have is that they have an inability to truly put themselves in the other person’s shoes. They are thinking about selling, making money and making someone a customer. This is completely irrelevant to the customer. They do not want to be sold, closed or made a customer. They want you to bring true value and drive a solution. Think in terms of their problems and how to solve them and you will become indispensable. Selling follows solutions.
3. Connection. Assume this truth – all your customers already have all the friends they need. They are not looking for a friend. They are looking for someone who is bringing continuous value to their ongoing business problems. Heed Rockefeller, “A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.” Connect with your customer in a way to bring the highest level of value you offer. Don’t back-door them with a relationship maneuver. They want to know you are credible and capable first and foremost. Trust develops through competency.
4. Perception. Here’s where most sales people blow it. They put most of their energy into charisma and closing. How hard is it to change someone’s perception? It is very difficult, indeed. Read the book, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and you will learn how we operate from rapid cognition. As human beings, we decide, then we think. People make decisions irrationally, then they use their rationality to justify their decision. If you want to win, work on developing the touchpoints which create perception that will position you as an expert rather than a peddler. You will separate yourself from your competition from a four letter word – W-O-R-K. Most will not pay the price of positioning because it takes work and thinking.
If you approach selling with a small picture – closing someone, making money, meeting quota – you are just a salesperson. The world has stereotypes of salespeople for a reason. They can sense the inherent selfish motives.
However, those who can see a bigger picture, think differently. They put their energy and focus into being prepared. They deliver solutions. They connect. They work hard at designing the right perception because they understand how hard it is to undo.
Your mindset will dictate your results. Enlarge your thinking. Do the hard work of a professional, lest you get in a race you are not qualified to run. A true athlete understands there is more to racing than showing up. Likewise, a true professional understands selling is not just showing up. It has a much bigger picture. Get coached through sales training on how to design the approach to win. You are making a decision to be strategic rather than random. Sell by design rather than desperation.
The Big Picture of Selling - To learn more about this author, visit Don Dalrymple's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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 Don Dalrymple (Visit Don's Website) With a high-tech background and entrepreneurial know-how, Don helps business professionals with the clarity and systems required to compete in the new economy. He has held executive positions in software companies and is adept at designing, building and training in business technology systems. Don is the President of AscendWorks, a business consulting company. He has a passion for communications and causing movement in people’s lives. He helps them towards action and winning. He loves to speak, write and architect business and technology solutions. Don has a master’s in Mechanical Engineering and a communications passion. He is a leader who enjoys helping business professionals intersect with their customer in the new economy.
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