Selling in the Modern Era, or, how to control the Sales Power Curve™

Sales executives are either Reactive or Proactive. They either drive sales in their territory, or wait for and react to, buyer stimulus. Until recently this “choice” was made by the sales executive, based on desire, experience and work ethic. Product or service commoditisation also influenced their “choice”. The more commoditised, the more reactive.

The big change in recent times, is that the buyer has been able to disenfranchise the sales executive from the early stages of the sales process and thereby force most sales executives to be reactive. And, most products and services into commodities, even where they should not be. To say that the buyer is now in control is an understatement of significant proportions.

Here’s how you can tell if your sales executives are in react mode;

The forecast is always wrong and overstated Opportunities move through the funnel more slowly There is not enough coverage in the funnel to meet targets The sales executives are not engaging with decision makers Closing takes longer (and longer…) Negotiations are protracted and one-sided Discounting is commonplace Deals are lost at the last minute and no-one knows why The sales executives complain there are not enough leads And, that the product is not competitive And, that the price is too high Sales reviews confirm the sales executives don’t know what is going on Poor performers have been replaced and it didn’t make any difference

Can something be done? Yes, and relatively simply. Your sales executives need to recognise which side of the Sales Power Curve™ they are operating from, and act accordingly.

Think about it this way. Consultative Selling, Solutions Selling (etc) taught us how to engage with a prospect to help them work out their problems. This process gave sellers the opportunity to influence their thinking and to create relationships. If you are in react mode, you will not get the opportunity to do this…. Try and you will damage your position. Anyway, if your initial meeting with the buyer is at their behest, you will almost certainly be engaging with evaluators, not decision makers. Ask them “why they need to do this” and most of the time they won’t know. You will not be allowed to get anywhere near the decision maker either. Feeling disenfranchised yet???

Even in this tough new environment there is a technique for engaging with prospects that will elevate you above your competitors. That will make the prospect realise that you provide a high value, low risk solution to their problems. It will enable you to engage in Peer2Peer dialog and influence how things progress. It will give you access to decision makers and increase your ability to win more often.

Buyer Controls The Power Curve aka “Beware the Inbound Lead” The seller is invited to enter the buyer’s buying cycle. The seller is in react mode. The buyer "knows what they need" and doesn’t want the seller to influence their thinking. They limit discussions to "prove what you can do" and to get set up for a on-sided negotiation. Peer2Peer discussions that cross between Probe and Prove are difficult. The seller has limited potential to influence outcomes or understand their position. The seller’s process and techniques do not enable balance to be established between buyer and seller, real issues to be discussed,value to be defined and fool-proof qualification to be carried out.