31 August 2009 | Uncategorized | Miller Heiman

Ask your sales team this question to keep sales  moving forward:

What actions from the customer led you to believe that we will close this deal by ‘x’?

Why? If the answer to this question concerns you, you may want to revisit your customer approach. Learn more about Conceptual Selling® and how this process can help you identify customer concerns and keep them at the forefront of every sale in order to secure business.

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28 August 2009 | Uncategorized | Miller Heiman

Sales organizations today have plenty of competition to consider. When customers can’t differentiate their service from the excess of choices, prospects will determine their own criteria for making choice– and price often tops the list.

Before you risk turning your valued service into a commodity, put some serious thought into what your customers are looking for. Then add a compelling value proposition to differentiate your company’s solution from the many options that are out there.

To add power to that proposition, determine what your organization’s unique strength is. What is significantly different about your organization, your product, or your service?

To jump start the brainstorming (in case it’s been a slow week), here are a few areas of possible unique strengths:

• Collaboration: Does your organization let customers drive the innovation? Many companies integrate strategic customers into the process by allowing them to contribute ideas and feedback to existing services.
• Service: Do you go above and beyond the typical expected standards when working for customers – more importantly, do you have current clients that might be willing to substantiate that?
• Experience: Many organizations won’t even consider a potential solution if they know the company has no experience in their industry or market. Were you an integral part of a campaign or launch? Did you just so happen to help a reputable healthcare company increase production because you were a nurse or doctor at one point?
• Personality: Are you the type of person that doesn’t beat around the bush? That may resonate very well with your customers. When there’s little time to dawdle with, bringing reality to your contacts’ front door may be highly valuable as they look to eliminate wasted time.

Ask yourself: “What does this mean to my prospect and how is my company uniquely positioned to meet his business and individual needs?”

If you understand your client’s business issues and have matched your solution to what the client needs to fix, accomplish, or avoid – and more importantly, if you are clear about how your company is uniquely positioned to deliver the solution – then articulating a compelling value proposition is easy.

photo credit: back garage

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20 August 2009 | Uncategorized | Miller Heiman

We want you to voice your top-of-mind issues.

What are sales leaders doing to win? What’s your outlook for the rest of 2009?  We are working on an article on the top-of-mind sales concerns for our award-winning quarterly publication, the Sales Performance Journal and we would like to invite you to participate in a quick survey to let us know what’s on the minds of salespeople and sales leaders right now: Weigh in on topics such as:

• Confidence in hitting sales numbers
• Risk of losing existing accounts
• What’s working right now to win new business

The first 25 individuals to complete the survey will receive a complimentary set of Miller Heiman Short Takes^SM, which includes “Getting to the Economic Buyer,” “Prospecting and Qualifying,” and “Cross Sell, Up Sell.”

You can take the six question survey here.

Individual and company information will remain confidential. The survey will be open through August 25, 2009.

We thank you in advance for your feedback!

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11 August 2009 | Uncategorized | Miller Heiman

Chances are you know a lot about the individuals in the biggest sales opportunity you are currently pursuing. Likely, you know who the gatekeeper is, who the managers are, and the decision maker who will be giving the final yes or no that seals the deal.

Because you found it all out two months ago – right?

Don’t pop the champagne just yet. The pressure on many organizations right now causes changes to the structure and the way they operate – and sales professionals aren’t always given a back-stage pass.

So while you knew who would be making final decision two months ago, or even two weeks ago, don’t assume that everything has stayed the same.

• Is the dollar amount of the sale of considerable significance? Has it increased recently? The more money involved, the higher title of executive needed to make the decision.
• Is your customer doing well? In times of high tide, financial decisions can be made at lower levels, but put a pinch on business conditions and that decision heads higher up the ladder.
• Do you have prior experience with the firm? If you’ve already established a solid relationship, you may be able to secure approval from lower levels of the corporate ladder. If it’s your first opportunity with the company, consider that the decision will likely have to be made higher up.
• What’s the impact to the organization? Is it short-term? Long-term? Will your solution affect one department or the entire organization? If your solution has significant potential to impact the organization, expect the decision to elevate to a high title.

Confirming your information is always a smart move – but in this economy, the closer you stay to your account, the less chance you have to lose it.

photo credit: radioactv915

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