How to Stop Losing 2 | SellXL - Selling at the Executive Level

Selling to Executives:
How to Stop Losing and Keep Winning!

Part 2

Stephen J. Bistritz, Ed.D. - www.sellxl.com
Karen Jackson - www.cchangework.com

In Part 1 of this article, we discussed the four reasons that salespeople lose deals. Those four reasons are outlined here:

Lack of relationships at the executive level
Client is unconvinced of the service provider's level of commitment and/or credentials
No clear strategies exist to effectively address the executive's risk sensitivity
Inability to effectively articulate a compelling value proposition that accelerates the client's goals, objectives or aspirations

Now let's review each of those four reasons and how to overcome them.

The Number One Reason that salespeople lose deals couldn't be more clear - lack of relationships at the executive level. How many times in your own career have you had the best solution, the best price, the best terms and conditions and the best delivery and still lost the deal? The key question becomes: Did the most powerful (or influential) executive in the client organization want you to win the deal? If you can't answer that question positively, chances are that the executive was aligned with one of your competitors. If they really wanted you to win, they would have done something about it.

How to overcome it

Top sales professionals know that executive-level relationships take time to cultivate and nurture. You can't walk into an executive's office for the first time and immediately expect to be treated as a trusted advisor. You have to demonstrate a consistent level of integrity and capability in each and every interaction to achieve that level of relationship. That capability can be demonstrated in one of two ways; namely, by creating value directly within the client organization or by using a business reference that can describe how you have created value in their organization.

When your relationship is elevated to the trusted advisor level, it often becomes collaborative to the point where the executive starts to think about what s/he can do for you to continue to further develop the relationship. This is the level of business relationship where the finest professional salespeople continually operate. These are the salespeople that focus on the client's success and view that success as critical to their own success. They continually demonstrate that they can create and deliver business value to the client - and personal value to the client executive.

The Second Reason that salespeople lose deals is that the client is not convinced of the service provider's level of commitment and/or credentials. To some degree, this is linked to the number one reason salespeople lose. The lack of executive-level relationships in the client organization helps create a degree of uncertainty with respect to the salesperson's level of commitment. However, by continually focusing on enhancing and developing executive-level relationships, you are in a much better position to also mitigate this objection.

How to overcome it

Phenomenal salespeople make certain that they continually communicate the value they create and deliver to the client organization. While this can be viewed as "blowing one's own horn", more importantly it provides the executive with an understanding of the value they are contributing to their client's organization - and perhaps to the client, personally. This is critical! Never assume that an executive understands the extent to which you are creating and delivering value. Often those details get lost after contract signing! Only by communicating the specific business value that you bring to the table, will you start to differentiate how you and your company are different and better than your competitors.

The Third Reason that salespeople lose deals is by not having clear strategies to address risk sensitivity. Executives operate as managers of risk. Effective executives will take calculated risks to achieve significant results. However, they must be convinced that the risk of change will deliver a significant level of value or potential achievement.

How to overcome it

Exceptional salespeople are masters of mitigating the risk(s) executives assign to making change. You must be able to demonstrate to the relevant executive that you alone have the ability to mitigate those risks and deliver more value than any of your competitors. When you are effective in doing this, the executive's focus on risk shifts dramatically from what could go wrong if they don't make the change, to how do they make sure they don't increase their risk by not changing.

The Fourth Reason that salespeople lose deals is that they fail to articulate a compelling value proposition that is focused on achieving the client's goals, objectives or aspirations. In surveying a number of CXO-level client executives, we found that more than 90% of the executives surveyed said they looked for salespeople to deliver compelling value propositions to them.

How to overcome it

Top salespeople know that it's not enough to communicate features, functions, speeds and feeds, they have to be able to communicate the difference their product/service will make to an executive's goals and objectives.

If you, too, are interested in developing winning value propositions that address the client's key issues, you must make sure they have the following characteristics:

Enables the client to perceive that your solution offers competitive advantage
Clearly differentiates your solution from that of your competitors
Quantifies the specific business value of your solution, using the client's metrics
Creates a sense of urgency for the client to take immediate action
Is provocative and compelling

This will prove next to impossible if you don't have a thorough understanding of what drives the client's business, their key metrics and what's most important to them.

Summary - Keys to Keep Winning

If you want to take your sales to the next level, here are a few things you can do today to make sure you win more deals tomorrow.

First, begin to expand those executive-level relationships in the client organization. Start by identifying the relevant executive for the sales opportunity and identify the other key players of power and influence. Consider focusing only on your top opportunities to see how this approach might be of value to you. This represents a good first step to implementing a consistent, repeatable process for all major sales opportunities.
Second, look to learn as much as you can about each client's business, their customers, their competition and their industry so that you can begin to deliver value to each one. Take the steps necessary to elevate your level of knowledge, as well as your business relationship, with several key clients so that you can see the benefits of those efforts. Then apply those same techniques to all of your top sales opportunities.
Third, examine the specific ways you can begin to mitigate the risks associated with the solutions you propose to your clients. Look at how you can demonstrate to the client executive that you alone have the ability to mitigate any risks associated with the implementation of a value-driven solution.
Fourth, begin to develop compelling, provocative value propositions that demonstrate the return on investment your solutions can provide to your clients. Start with a focus on some key deals where you can clearly articulate and differentiate your solution from that of your competitors. Share your value propositions with your sales team and challenge them to provide you with suggestions to improve them.

Many of the techniques described in this last section are related to developing, enhancing and then leveraging your relationship with key executives in the client organization. In so doing you significantly increase your chances of closing those key deals!

About Steve Bistritz

Steve Bistritz has more than 40 years of high-tech sales, sales management and training management experience. He is a published author and lecturer in the field of sales, sales management and selling to executives. Steve spent more than 27 years with IBM in sales and training-related positions. He then led the development of sales training programs which were delivered to tens of thousands of salespeople worldwide. He holds a doctorate in human resource development from Vanderbilt University and is currently president of his own sales training and consulting firm, based in Atlanta. Visit his website - www.sellxl.com

About Karen L. Jackson

Karen Jackson has more than 20 years of experience in business strategy, organizational change and complex sales as an executive with Fortune 500 corporations. Her solutions have been the catalyst for achieving unparalleled results in terms of revenue, profit and competitive advantage. She has analyzed go-to-market strategies spanning several industries. Her work has taken her beyond the U.S. to South Africa, Sweden, Japan, Malaysia, England, France, Belgium, Denmark, Australia, Singapore and Germany. Karen is the Managing Partner of C-ChangeWork LLC, a business strategy consulting firm. Visit her website - www.c-changework.com