Traditional wisdom says, “People buy on emotion and justify with fact”. But which emotions exactly?

Sales reps understand facts. They present them quantified (ROI), certified (ISO), and verified (references).

But facts are after the fact.

Customers have already bought on emotion by the time they’re looking at the facts. What do sales reps do to get customers to that point?

Do sales reps motivate customers? Is that where customers buy on emotion, because they’re motivated to:

• Approach (going towards something they want more of)
• Avoid (going away from something)
• Attack (eliminating something they don’t want )

Customers may need to be motivated but sales reps can’t do “motivation”, reps can’t act on it. They can’t sit in a conference room and push customers towards something, or away from, or kill what customers want eliminated.

Motivation is the customer’s response. Their action to their emotions. It is what a customer does because of what they are feeling.

So that leaves sales reps trying to reach customers’ emotions
- which drive customers’ motivations
- which drive customers’ actions
- which result in customers buying sales reps’ offers.

Emotions that Motivate Customers to Buy

So, we’re back at the beginning: Which emotions motivate customers to buy?

The emotions we’re talking about fall into two groups:

#1) Emotions that motivate customers to buy from anyone
#2) Emotions that motivate customers to buy from you

#1) Emotions that motivate customers to buy from anyone

At first glance, these emotions may not seem helpful because who wants customers to buy from their competition? But knowing which emotions motivate customers to buy, gives reps the opportunity to act. (I’m also listing over-simplified actions reps can take to move customers towards those emotions.)

Lastly, these emotions aren’t all that pretty. As a matter of fact, they look more like manipulation than legitimate sales tactics. Here goes, this is what sales reps want customers to feel, so they will be motivated to buy.

Customers will buy if they feel:

* Frightened of inaction (reps can threaten or scare them to it)

* Courageous to make a decision rather than status quo (reps can encourage)

* Ashamed to hide away from change or improvement (reps can shame or tease)

* Empowered to contribute to their company’s success (reps can praise)

* Confident in their choice (reps can agree)

* Powerful to deal with challenges (reps can acknowledge)

* Capable of overcoming obstacles (reps can assure)

* Responsive to threats facing their business (reps can warn or alert)

* Amused at absurdity & silliness of life & work (reps can joke or laugh with them)

* Safe & in control (reps can reassure or comfort)

#2) Emotions that motivate customers to buy from you

Sales reps not only want customers to feel emotions that motivate buying, but emotions that motivate customers to buy from them in particular.

These are the golden emotions, the ones that count – but they’re a lot more complex to generate, especially in a short period of time.

Customers will buy from you if they:

* Trust you – to steer them in the right direction for their benefits before yours

* Like you – enough to give you their time, and enjoy being with you during and after the sale

* Rely on you – to do what you’ve promised and make them look good

* Respect you – for your knowledge of how to deliver value for them

* Love you  – for who you are in relationship to who they are

One Final Question

After identifying which emotions motivate customers to buy, you’ve been asking yourself: “How do sales reps get customers to feel these emotions?”

What’s your answer?

Please share how you do that by posting a comment up here.

Remember during your sales presentation when there were so many buying signals you needed an air traffic controller to navigate them?

Then negotiations began. You were almost done but the customer began asking for the moon and in your desperation to make the deal you gave them almost everything. But you felt cheapened, taken advantage of, by their avariciousness and your own greed. Still, you got the deal done.

Signed contract in hand. What’s the problem?

The last step to finalizing a sale is negotiation. Almost every sale has some form of it. Yet when the deal is eventually done, reps end up feeling bruised and beaten. And from the selling company’s perspective, how much of the farm really needed to be given away to make that deal?

We want the sale and to feel good about the negotiation. We don’t want to feel victimized, or cheapened, or taken advantage of. We want the sale and to end up with an agreement:

• That satisfies both of us (buyers & sellers)
• Where we both happily fulfill the terms of the deal (payment & delivery)
• So that we are willing to buy from & sell to each other in the future

So, how do you get the sale and feel good about the inevitable negotiation?

Recognize and prepare.

Recognize Customer Expectations

Customers expect to negotiate as the final step in their buying process. They may be looking for lower pricing, free extras or better terms but they are looking. In some cultures it’s an insult not to negotiate a sale.

In large, complex sales negotiation has been formalized in the Procurement process. For example, step 5 in A.T. Kearney’s 7 Steps For Sourcing Information Products is to negotiate and select a supplier.

Additionally, in formal bid processes, Procurement will begin negotiations with the best final two bidders.This way Procurement doesn’t lose time if choice number one bows out of the negotiations. They still have choice number two ready to sign. It also provides Procurement one last round of leverage for negotiations with their number one choice.

As a sales rep, it doesn’t sound fair does it?. But that’s how it works, so prepare for it.

Here are a few considerations, though not an exhaustive list. These provide several workarounds to get through that last hurdle before you plan how to spend that massive commission you’ve just earned.

Tactics for Negotiations

1)  Free Your Thinking

If the customer begins negotiating after you believed you had a deal then consider the process a new one.

I’m not suggesting you forget everything you’ve offered before their request – I am suggesting you free your thinking up. Don’t keep it attached to having to deliver everything that was on the table before. You now have the freedom to think of new workarounds.

Give yourself the room to explore those alternatives. Considering this a new process within the sales opportunity gives you that freedom. Who knows, but at the end of it your customer may circle back and accept your original pricing, terms, offer.

2) They Ask for a Lower Price –> Re-engineer Your Offer

Change the value of your offering to match any price concessions you may make. This means adjusting scope, specifications, deliverables, schedule to adjust your costs down, which brings down your total price

Whatever you adjust, focus on lowering cost downwards to lower your price, not your profits.

If your customer wants to get into your shorts about how much profit you are making, discuss the value they receive. Your profit is a different conversation from your customer’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Ultimately, customers should focus on their total costs, of which your pricing is a part, and your profit a small percentage of that entire equation. The amount of your profit doesn’t necessarily effect them, unless of course they believe you are making substantially more than is typical for your industry/offering. But how knowledgeable is your customer about your pricing? See item D below for more about speaking to value.

3) They Ask for a Lower Price –> Add a High-Value, Low-Cost Incentive

Consider offering a value add that costs you little instead of lowering your price the full amount. This is a counter offer with a much smaller discount than they were asking for, but gives them instead a high-value add for them (one which doesn’t cost you as much as the value it adds to them).

This might be adding a smaller, contract service at a 50% discounted price, when added to your total offering reduces what they would pay if they bought it separately. Of course that extra service probably had a profit markup of 75%, so even discounting it by 50% and including it in your contracted service, you’re still ahead of the game.

4) They Ask for a Lower Price –> Ask for Better Terms

Getting better terms is always more important to you than it is to your customers. So if they ask for a lower price, ask for better terms:

* Longer contract terms

You don’t want the business to go out for competitive bid for as long as possible, so ask for longer terms, i.e. five years fixed instead of three, and/or three additional one-year extensions on top of the base contract.

* Early payment

The speed with which you receive payment is more important to you than it is to customers. Although they may not be used to the idea of changing their standard terms that doesn’t mean you can’t ask. So ask them to pre-pay amounts, such as,

–> Deposit to begin work – you don’t start until a hefty down is received
–> Fixed amounts based on time, not work completed ( i.e. 60% down to begin work, 20% in 30 days and the balance on completion)

* More Frequent Smaller Payments

–> 26 payments per year, twice a month rather than monthly (with variable cost pricing you can still bill for estimated amounts and reconcile monthly or quarterly)

4) Know Your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement

It’s best not to be caught off guard emotionally during the negotiation sit-downs. Work out what your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) is before you begin negotiations.

Roger Fisher and William Ury wrote about BATNA in Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
in 1981. They recommend you develop a list of actions you would take if no agreement is reached, improve some of the more promising ideas from that list, and finally select your final BATNA. All this before negotiations begin.

You will be much clearer when a worthy alternative is presented. You’ll know whether you should take it or not.

In the end, BATNA or none, be prepared to walk rather than accepting a bad deal, and of course this means you have to define what that bad deal looks like.

Performance During Negotiations

A) Pause before Responding

Go slowly during customers’ questioning for price concessions. Don’t respond immediately. Literally pause to slow your breathing, which can help take the edge off your anger if you’re feeling hostile to their last minute negotiations.

B) Question for Understanding

Be patient and ask questions to fully understand what they’re trying to accomplish. Are they asking solely for lower price? Or do they want to outsource more risk? Don’t always assume they want to lower price. That’s a good guess but you certainly don’t want to bring up lowering your price if they haven’t.

C) Never give something for nothing – always get something in return

If you don’t ask for something in return customers may suspect you were overcharging them in the first place.

D) Speak to Value

When customers want to talk about your profit and price, refocus the conversation on the value customers receive. This is what they get for what they spend. This means you must know where customers benefit from your offering, and by how much.

Turn the questioning around by asking them “how much liability risk they would be willing to accept for a reduction in your price?” Not that you’d go there, but if they answer you’ll have gained insight about what they’re trying to accomplish, or how desperate they may be to achieve it.

Preparation Before Negotiations

#1: Know Your Customer’s Situation

Sales reps should be doing this as part of their pre-proposal due diligence. Specifically, in the negotiation phase you need to really understand your customer’s business, market, industry, and competitive situation. Are they growing, holding, shrinking? What are their business drivers? Is their budget fat or skinny? What’s the overall health of their business?

These are relatively easy to find out through Internet searches.

#2: Know Your Customer’s Alternatives

Again, part of sales due diligence is understanding what your customer can do instead of buying from you.

Pre-proposal you should seek detailed and intimate knowledge of your customers’ alternatives. These are your competitors and their offerings, if your customers do it themselves in-house, or “No-decisions” of staying exactly as they are before the sales/bid process.

This knowledge includes your understanding of how well your individual contacts are doing as seen by their bosses. Are your contacts well thought of, or on the way out? Also, how well is their department doing, is it well thought of within their organization?

When you begin negotiations you’ll have a better understanding of what they need to get out of the deal and hopefully you can be creative enough to help them get it.

#3: Sell Value

Before you reach the negotiation step, be sure to sell to your customers so they understand the quantified and qualitative value they’ll receive from your offer. This is the sales challenge of your proposal work.

But don’t’ feel bad when customers still try to negotiate with you. Remember they all believe they should, it’s not a reflection on you or your selling. Be thankful that at least they’re considering your offer and you have the opportunity to dance with them in negotiations.

#4: Plan & Prepare for Inevitable Negotiation

Finally, consider that at some point before the sale is finalized you will have a meeting that is only about negotiation. In that meeting, your job is to fully understand what they’re seeking.

If your sale is large, consider not giving them an answer at that meeting. You don’t have to tell your customer that when you first meet them, just know it for yourself. Then during the meeting let them know you want to try and come up with a solution that works for them as well as yourself.

If you go in knowing you’re not going to commit on the spot, you’ll be in a better frame of mind for listening and understanding them. Give yourself that breathing room. Now you can really hear “what” they’re asking first,  and then uncover “why” they’re want it. The “why” will give you more insight and help you creatively look for an offer that gives you both what you want.

Prepare for the Final Step First

Since you know there will be a negotiation step or meeting before the sale is finalized – prepare for it.

It’s not only doing your sales work well, it’s also getting your BATNA prepared and getting the right mindset.

Good luck.

The first lesson in sales is that “selling isn’t telling” – you can talk at customers but that won’t get them to buy.

However, this #1 sales directive doesn’t say what selling is, nor does it say how to sell, it only describes what selling isn’t.

In answer to this dilemma, consider a new sales directive: “Selling is storytelling”.

But before you let word prejudices get in the way, think about this: Stories and storytelling are the most effective form of human communication. They are more interesting and compelling because humans live storied lives. Stories increase audience listening and retention.

They are a tool to transfer knowledge, and they provide social cues about how that knowledge is to be applied. Our brains are wired to think in narrative structures and most often remember facts as smaller versions of a larger story.

This anthropological reality could be the basis for the #2 sales directive: “People buy on emotion and justify with facts”.

Research by Daphne Jameson in 2001 showed that “Storytelling plays an important role in reasoning processes and in convincing others…managers preferred stories  instead of abstract arguments or statistical measures. When situations were complex, narrative (stories) allowed them to involve more context.”

In selling, this is exactly what we want; Customers listening, engaged, remembering our message and finally taking action based on our proposed solution.

Removing Word Prejudices: “Stories” & “Storytelling”

To some sales reps, “stories” and “storytelling” don’t belong in business because they are fiction, and not based on facts.

The reality is that boundaries have blurred between fiction, which is or can mostly be made up, and non-fiction, which is mostly information.

Now there are categories in between the two, semi-fiction and creative non-fiction.

For our purposes, let’s consider creative non-fiction, which presents ideas and information that already exist, but does it in a more interesting and accessible way than non-fiction alone.

Again, in a sales context we want customers to be interested in our vision of their future by presenting factual information in an interesting and persuasive way.

The Elements of Successful Sales Stories

Successful reps are those that tell customers the most compelling and persuasive business stories.  They tell their stories in written proposals and face-to-face presentations. While the telling is important, the story is the driver.

The following looks at creating a sales story and though there are many theories and opinions on what elements make up a story, we’ll keep it to a simple three; character, conflict, and plot.

Character

Customers only buy what’s in it for them, so the story is about them. They are always the leading character(s) and are always described in positive terms, though you may have  to stretch a little to see their good sides. You, your sales team and your company are the cast of supporting characters.

During the telling of your sales story you’ll describe your characters positively, honestly and as accurately as practical. This doesn’t mean you’re lying about their  failures or overstating your capabilities but that you find a truthful and detailed way to describe them.

The sales story is about how the lead character(s) overcome their conflicts and win the day with your help, should they be wise enough to select you.

Conflict

This is where you describe the lead character being caught between opposing forces. These are the business forces in play based on your understanding and  analysis of your customer’s situation. They’re losing money, shedding market share, in regulatory non-compliance, unsafe and/or unproductive, whatever the first opposing force in the conflict is, usually this is the obvious part of their pain.

After describing one side of the conflict you must tell them about the other side just as forcefully to establish the conflict.

Here you describe what would  happen if the leading character took no action, or made a bad decision (choosing your competitor instead of you – you just can’t say this explicitly). You will  describe concretely what sad tidings would befall them, such as how investors would trash their stock price if they didn’t fix their problems, or customers reject  their offerings.

Plot

This is the sequence of events where the leading character, with the help of their supporting characters (you), take action, resolve the conflict, avoid catastrophe and take home the prize.

The action you describe here is how your solution works, how it will be implemented, and then point to the visible evidence and measurable results they will have with you as their ally. At the end of your plot you’ll also tell them about your past successes to assure them you can deliver the promises made in your sales story.

4 Storytelling Tips

Creating great sales stories is more art than science. So in addition to following your instincts and paying attention to great stories in literature and entertainment, here are four tips that can help in our selling context.

#1 Use 5 Senses

Use as many of the five senses as practical in telling your sales story. More than getting your audience to see what you’re describing, seek to engage their other senses too, get them to feel, hear, smell and taste it as appropriate.

You may think this is a stretch in a business-to-business sales situation but it’s easier than it seems. While you may not work in smell and taste, you’ll be surprised that with a little thought you can easily work in sound and touch.

#2 Capture Attention in the First 8 Seconds

You have eight seconds at the beginning of your story to capture your audience’s attention. Focused attention lasts only eight seconds, after that the attention wanders somewhere else and you can only hope it wanders back to you.

Place an attention-getter in those first eight seconds of your face-to-face presentations, or in the first page of your written proposal. Make it intriguing and relevant but incomplete. This might be the introduction of your customer-specific theme or your radically unique approach. You want to tease your audience’s attention into the sustained attention phase, which lasts for about 20 minutes.

#3 Sustain Attention, Build to 20 Minutes

Develop your story’s plot to build up to its highest point of interest just before the 20 minute mark (or 7 page Executive Summary in a written proposal).

If your available time for storytelling is capped at 30 minutes, hit your plot’s crescendo at 20 minutes, then resolve the details and answer their questions with the remaining time. When they’re talking their attention is back with you.

If your allotted time is more than 30 minutes, develop a second plot crescendo timed for five to seven minutes before your time ends. Then resolve details and get them talking with questions for the remaining time. Why not include the description of the cheers of the service team when the results were announced, or the voice of gratitude from the Area VP whose operations were now in the black?

#4 Wrap Facts in a Story’s Context

When communicating facts and figures include them in a story that presents them in context.  Numbers by themselves are easily forgotten, but when part of a larger story they become memorable.

For example, a brief story in the middle of your presentation that describes what you did to help another client increase their customer retention by 3%, which drove a 15% increase to their bottom line.

Summary

Your storytelling must place customers in the leading roles of their own stories – and you’re there to support them in their journey to slay the business dragons of high cost, or hyper-aggressive competitors, or regulatory  non-compliance.

Your storytelling describes what success looks like for them; how you can help them earn their treasure and ensure their kingdom lives happily ever after.

That’s your sales job. It isn’t “telling” but it is “storytelling”.

Everyone makes pitches, some more formal than others. But with every presentation there are ditches to overcome.

Ditches are the many, critical choices to be made before developing your pitch. They are the determinants of your presentation’s success. PowerPoint failures occur before the pitch.

There’s no one correct choice but ignore them at your peril. Who else but you loses, or ends up looking like a fool?

Consider these ditches as your prep work prior to all live pitches.

Presentation Duration (Time)

Often your audience decides the time available for your pitch but you don’t have to use it all.

How long should your pitch be?

There are as many answers as there are pitch situations, here are a few thoughts.

If you are in the position of determining the length of your presentation, shoot for 20-30 minutes. Why? The adult attention span is short.

How short? Our focused attention is about 8 seconds. That’s to a stimulus that attracts attention, like a ringing telephone. Our sustained attention on one thing is about 20 minutes at a time.

We can choose repeatedly to re-focus on the same thing, which is why we believe we can “pay attention” to things that last for more than a few minutes, such as hour long presentations. In reality, we’re continually re-focusing in much shorter increments.

Where did your audience go in between those re-focusings?

So make your opening exciting and less is more. Use less time than you’re given. But make that time count. You’ll notice this isn’t about slide count. You can have a mesmerizing pitch with one slide, or a boring one with 100 slides.

Audience Size

You rarely control the number of people in your audience. But your presentation  TECHNOLOGY will differ by audience size, and to a lesser degree DURATION, TAKEAWAYS and CALL TO ACTION.

Use the following three sizes to help you over those ditches.

1) Small Show- 1-2 customers, in-person or by web meeting

2) Medium Group – 3-5 customers, in-person and/or some by web meeting

3) Big Theater – 10 or more customers, in-person and/or some by web meeting

Presentation Technology

Technology includes the obvious types, plus there is the “no-technology” of just presenting directly without aides. Here are the ditches for technology, once selected you have to get over it appropriately:

• Projectors (using PowerPoint, Keynote, Flash, PDFs, etc.)
• Web meeting (same as Projectors) for more see “23 Tips for Delivering Great Sales Presentations via Web Meetings“
• Flip books (retro tech using printed, laminated and then spiral bound content)
• Phone (verbal only)
• No technology (in-person, face-to-face)

Audience Location

Technology in general has made it possible to pitch an audience when you’re not in front of them. LOCATION is a minor ditch but does direct you to making better decisions, specifically for choice of TECHNOLOGY and DURATION.

• Audience all in one location physically
• Some together, others remote
• All remote

Audience Feelings about your Topic

This ditch can be huge to overcome and drives your choice of TAKEAWAYS & CALL TO ACTION. Also to some degree your LEAVE BEHINDS. Is your audience there because:

• They have to be there (mandatory)?
• They paid you to be there?
• You paid them to be there (attendance incentive)?
• They volunteered their time to be there (optional)?

Takeaways

To get over this ditch you must be hyper clear on the 3 ideas-concepts-info bites you want your audience to walk away with. Literally, if they were asked an hour after your pitch what it was about, they would be able to recite these 3.

Call to Action

This is the one action your audience must do. To get over this ditch, the call to action must be observable, meaning you’ve got to be able to tell if your audience has acted on your call.  Keep it simple, such as:

• Buy from you
• Take a specific action
• How you want them to feel
• How you want them to be

Leave Behinds

What prompts should you leave behind? You don’t always need to have them, but if you do, don’t give them a full printout of your PowerPoint. Your deck is not your leave behind. Leave behinds could be the detailed report that supported your pitch, or a high-level synopsis of your pitch (1-page).

Types of Pitches

All the ditches above apply to these common types of pitches. Pitches make specific ditches more important than others depending your type of presentation.

Introductory Presentation

You’re trying to pre-qualify for something, either getting pre-qualified onto a bidders list, or acceptance to an organization or community.

In this presentation you’re presenting your capabilities and qualifications; the reasons the audience should accept you.

Sales Showtime

This is the moment of truth. You’re trying to make a sale, seal the deal, get the contract.

Here you’re presenting a customized solution that will solve customers’ problems and help them gain improvements. You should already be pre-qualified but you may have to show how you’re “more” qualified than the competitors.

Educational Seminar

This is the “sage on the stage” presentation. Often performed at trade shows, conventions or industry meetings.

Here you’re enlightening the audience with insights or new information but there may not be a lot of interaction.

Training Session

These are more intensive and interactive than an educational seminar. They have a lot of give and take.

Here your presentation goals are those of adult learning: your audience:

• Needs to know the info you’re training them on
• Can relate it to their experience
• They’re involved in the planning &evaluation
• Immediate relevance of what your training them to their work
• Sees it as problem-centered,
• Sees your training as based on internal versus external motivators

Don’t Fall In

Starting from an intentional and aware position increases your chances of success with your pitch. Audience watch out.

• What do you do to pitch better?

ABC (Always Be Closing) has damaged more reputations and hurt the selling profession more than any other sales tip.

Doubt that? Answer these truthfully:

• Do you ask for the sale right after you first meet a customer?
• Do you try to sell things customers don’t want or need?

Of course not. Asking for the order is only one component in a sale and it occurs at a specific time. There are other requirements. Ask at the wrong time and you’ll have lost a sale, and may have angered a customer by appearing insensitive and selfish.

Like an American driving a car in England, if sales reps don’t know the rules of the road and obey them, it doesn’t matter how skilled they are, a head on collision is coming. So it helps to know the difference between working on a sale and when it’s time to ask for a customer’s commitment.

Showtime is Selling Time

Selling only takes place after you’ve done your homework, and shaped your offer and materials. Once those are covered, then it’s Showtime. You will have talked with customers beforehand as part of your homework. However, talking with customers doesn’t mean it’s Showtime.

Here’s a sales rep’s take on the four parts of a sale: Prep, Offer, Props and Showtime.

Prep

This is the preparation work you do from your first customer contact up to the moment Showtime begins.

In Prep you dig out what you need to know to shape your Offer and Props. This is your due diligence to understand customers’:

• Problems they need fixed
• Improvements they want made
• Company’s situation: is it stable, expanding, contracting, etc.?
• Alternatives to you, i.e. competitors’ offers or status quo

Once you have this info and understanding, then you can customize your Offer and Props to specific customers.

Offer

This is the offer you will make during Showtime. The Offer is always shaped to what your customers need and want. The Offer is your solution that will help fix customer’s problems and/or help them make their desired improvements.

Even if you’re selling a stock item, there are components to shape to a customer’s specific buying situation. Things like terms, add-ons, size, scope and scale.

If you’re selling a complex item or service, there are plenty of components to be shaped into a customized solution.

Props

Props are the properties you’ll use to present your Offer during Showtime. They also include materials you’ll use to qualify yourself/company/product/service during Prep.

Props used in Prep include brochures, fliers, email, web sites, slideshows, etc. These gain you access to customers at the beginning so you can do your Prep work.

Props used during Showtime include proposals, responses to RFPs, and short-list slideshow decks. These are your vehicles for your Offer. Without them you’re only talking, and it’s hard to get customers’ signatures on air.

Once you’ve completed your Prep and shaped your Offer, you can then craft your Props. You’ll want to play back your understanding of the customer’s situation in your Prop before presenting your Offer. This shows customers your Offer is a solution to their needs/wants, not just a commission for you.

Showtime

This is it, Showtime. The defining moment in a sale. The only time you can make a sale because it’s the only time customers can buy — when your Offers are in front of them. You will have shaped your Offers, crafted it in your Props, and based it on the work you’ve done in Prep.

Showtime is when it counts. Perform poorly here and all your work is lost. You will only get a polite goodbye from your customers.

A Problem with Sales Reps

There is an inherent problem with many sales reps; they believe they are much better at Showtime than they are. They love to get up in front of customers and bray through their limited face time. At that point, bored and exhausted customers gratefully send them packing, and ultimately buy from a less painful sales rep, one who may also be less qualified.

An inconvenient reality is that sales reps can’t see their effect during Showtime. Watching practice videos is not enough. It can only help reps mimic a better posture, voice inflection or gesture. It doesn’t help reps be present in the moment; to be honest and authentic.

And there are authentic sales reps who unintentionally appear manipulative and false. They’ve picked up “sales presentation tricks” and ignorantly use them. The results are disastrous. Customers see them as self-interested and self-serving. They can smell falseness in seconds. During Showtime customers are actively looking for it. They have their sensors out, feeling the airwaves for signals of a lying, cheating salesperson.

The way out for sales reps is to learn Showtime skills based on truthful reality. A daunting and ambiguous, but necessary requirement.

Do you Agree?

There’s only one time in a sale to sell: Showtime. Prep work must be done first, then Offers shaped before crafted into Props.

Is it this simple?

Sometimes selling is not about how-to. Sometimes it’s about context. This is one of those times.  Besides, when will you find Shakespeare, Petronius, Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando all together in the same article about selling? It’s true, Google it.

Selling is Theater

Using theater as a metaphor for selling is relatively new. It’s only been around since sales trainers sold training, less than 100 years.

However, theater as a metaphor for life has been around much longer. In 1599, Shakespeare wasn’t the first to use the metaphor in his “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players”.

In the first century AD, Petronius (ca. 27-66 AD), wrote quod fere totus mundus exerceat histrionem: because almost the whole world are actors.  As a Roman consul and courtier in the reign of Nero, Petronius probably saw a lot of sales presentations and must have suffered through many painful ones. However, in Nero’s time bad presentations likely received harsher punishment than losing a sale.

Back to the present.

Selling is Acting

Since we are all actors in life, so we are when selling. And that brings us to a common misconception about acting. There is not one but two forms of acting. And the difference between them can make or break your success selling.

Laurence Olivier, arguably the greatest English stage and film actor in the last century, felt most comfortable acting when wearing a wig, a fake nose or some other elaborate make-up. According to one of his film co-stars, Peter Ustinov, Olivier often insisted on this, even when it wasn’t particularly required for the role he played.

As an actor, Olivier crafted his performance from the outside in. He presented his character by altering the way he spoke, moved and looked. In acting parlance, he “indicated” the character he was playing, and was brilliant at it. However, he was the extremely rare actor who delivered great performances by “indicating” them.

Compare Olivier with his American counterpart, Marlon Brando. Brando was arguably the greatest American film and stage actor of the last century. Yet he approached acting far differently than Olivier’s outside-in approach.

Brando lived his characters. Before performing his roles, he got inside their skin. He knew his character’s  lives as if they were his own; their histories, beliefs, values, prejudices, likes and dislikes.

He asked himself what would he do in his characters’ situations if he knew what they knew. Then using the Magic If, he behaved as if he were in their situation.

As a result, Brando behaved naturally, he was present in the moment. Unlike other actors who pretended to be characters, Brando just was that person, authentic and honest. He acted from the inside-out, which is also known as Method acting.

About Selling

The difference between indicating and behaving honestly is that we, the audience, can be persuaded to follow a Brando-type sales rep and do what is asked. Because that rep is present and authentic in what they’re doing, and they’ve done the right work in preparation. We instinctively know they are genuine.

However, with an Olivier-type sales rep, we know they’re acting, pretending to be something they’re not. We won’t follow their advice because we sense they’re lying, even though they may be very good at it. We can smell their insincerity.

Imagine if your customers felt you were not honest; you were only pretending: you only wanted your commission and not a good deal for them. That would be the end of your career.

Self-Perception

But here’s the issue. Most sales reps believe (or want to believe) they’re viewed by their customers as authentic, honest, and genuine.

Yet when sales reps “indicate” they’re selling, their performances show them for what they are;  self-interested, shallow, and dissembling.

As it is with acting, so it is with selling, except more so. We believe (or want to believe)  we’re much better than our performances reveal.

The Parable Closes

And so ends this story about right-behavior for sales reps. If all the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players, then how can sales reps become better actors?

Method acting, though it may be helpful in the long term, is hard work, time consuming and requires spending money, not making it. So:

• How do you become more authentic in your sales performances?
• What can you do to avoid customers seeing you as self-interested?

All sales reps want referrals because they can lead to quick and easy sales. Yet referrals are hard to get. If we think of referrals as one thing entirely they become elusive. Why?

Because those that want to give us referrals often lack the time to do it. Those that can, may feel uneasy referring us in case we make them look bad.

However, by deconstructing referrals into their parts it’s easier to benefit from components rather than waiting for the entire referral. Understand? May be not. Read on and all will become clear, or at least clearer.

A Referral in 4 Parts

Your best referrals will come from business contacts who meet these criteria from “The Quick Sales Funnel and Super 8“:

• They know you & your company
• They like you personally
• They have time for you
• They value what you do

But there’s more to referrals than just wanting the opportunity. The four parts of a referral are:

#1 The Referrer
#2 Contact Data
#3 Inside Info
#4 The Referral Introduction

#1 The Referrer

Not all those willing to refer you will have the same value to your sales’ efforts.

Because your time is limited, work from a prioritized list of those who will introduce you, or provide a lead.  Here is how to identify your high priority referrers:

1.1 They work for a highly visible, well known company

While this isn’t a requirement, it’s what you hope for. Your referrer works for a Microsoft or Apple or GE or Goldman Sachs. It’s the brag factor that counts as most of your referrals will be made to lesser beings. So start your referral efforts with high visibility brands first.

1.2 They are recognized as Subject Matter Experts in their fields

Obviously, you can’t alter whether they have this status or not. But you can first choose those that have, then follow with the balance of your referrers.

1.3 They have personal connections with your target prospects

A personal connection is obviously stronger than a professional one only. The personal relationship has the potential for providing secret insights of the target prospects.

1.4 They have a professional connection with your target prospects

In the absence of a personal connection, professional credence is valuable. Even if your referrer is not from a high-profile company, the fact they have worked with your target prospects can lend weight to their referral. Again, you can’t do anything about this, but you can prioritize them.

#2 Contact Data

At the most basic level your referrer provides a name, title, email and/or phone number of a target prospect. This is also called a “cold referral” as there is no referral action, only the contact info.

#3 Inside Info

This is the information your referrer gives you regarding the secret info on your target prospects (ethically of course).

Receiving inside information about your target prospects is pure gold. It gives you an immediate base from which to develop talking points, and provides a platform for developing your sales offer.

#4 The Referral Introduction

This is the payoff, the desired outcome of selling by referral; the referral action itself.

Since this is where your referrer is going to say something about you, do what you can to shape what they say. If you can, prep them to mention specifics, such as ROI, improvements, cost savings, or benefits you’ve delivered. Of course this depends on your relationship but it’s worth asking for.

Your referrer can make the referral introduction in several ways, some are more helpful to your success than others. Here they are:

4.1 In-person

Your referrer introduces you face-to-face – the best you can hope for, especially if they say the great things you prepped them to.

4.2 Voice message from your referrer tells them to take your call

Not as warm as the in-person because your targeted prospect may forget your name from the voice mail.

4.3 Web meeting with your referrer

Enables you to launch your intro presentation if appropriate, and if your referrer is kind enough, they’ll stick around and answer questions from your target prospect, or provide a testimonial to your greatness.

4.4 Email introduction from your referrer where you are cc:d in the email

This is also known as a virtual introduction as neither party engages in a conversation.

Consider writing the email intro for your referrer as this will highlight specific benefits and outcomes you’ve delivered. Additionally, it’s easier on your referrer, saving them the time and effort to write it themselves.

4.5 Request Intro within LinkedIn

Similar to an email virtual introduction but with much higher visibility for your target prospect to check up on you first. This means you’ll need to have your LinkedIn profile 100% complete.

Here’s an effective way to request an introduction through LinkedIn (better than LinkedIn’s instructions).

NOTE: In this process you must be a 1st degree connection with your referrer.

4.5.1 Write up a stock “request for introduction” with placeholders for the name of your targeted prospect’s name and company.

* Keep it short and pointed at what you help customers solve, and the nature of your relationship with your referrer.

* Save it as a plain text file – you’ll want to copy and paste this later, as you’ll see in the steps below.

* IMPORTANT: This message may (will) eventually be seen by the person you want to be introduced to (your target prospect). Write it like you mean it to be read. Here’s the write up I use:

<<Referrer’s First Name>>,

Would appreciate an introduction to <<Targeted Prospect’s First & Last Name>> to see if we might help <<Targeted Prospect’s Company>> with their <<sales need>>.

Similar to our work with you and <<Referrer’s Company Name>> for the last few years,  such as <<list several of the services and/or results you’ve provided>>

Thanks again.

Chris Arlen
President
Revenue-IQ
carlen@revenue-iq.com
206-780-2963

4.5.2 In LinkedIn, go to your CONTACTS / CONNECTIONS and select your referrer  that meets most of the conditions listed above in #1 The Referrer.

4.5.3 Once your referrer is selected, in the right hand side of the screen CLICK on their number of connections.

NOTE: Your referrer may control who sees their connections list. By default it’s set to display your referrer’s list because you are a 1st degree connection.

However, if their number of connections is not linked, then your referrer has limited their list to only those shared between you. This won’t do you much good. If this happens, do the following: SEARCH on PEOPLE or COMPANY, find your target prospect that way, then jump to step 4.5.7.

4.5.4 You’ll now be on your referrer’s ALL tab on their CONNECTIONS page.

4.5.5 Scroll through your referrer’s list of CONNECTIONS, and when you find a target prospect CLICK on their name

TIP: In Firefox and Internet Explorer, hold Control + CLICK, or in Safari hold Command-click a link. This opens a new window with that targeted prospect, and keeps your referrer’s list of CONNECTIONS window open.

4.5.6 You will land on your target prospect’s PROFILE page. In the right side of their profile CLICK on “Get introduced through a connection”

NOTE: LinkedIn’s free version only allows you 5 introductions, so choose them carefully. You may want to scan through your referrer’s entire list before selecting target prospects.

Additionally, LinkedIn’s paid versions allow more introductions based on the plan you’re paying for, such as:

Sales Basic = 15 introductions
Sales Navigator = 25 introductions
Sales Executive = 35 introductions

4.5.7 Once you CLICK on “Get introduced through a connection” you’ll be in the Introduction window.  Look for your referrer and select them from the list of connections available.

4.5.8 Enter a subject for your message. Use a straightforward subject, one that is clear but describes why you want to connect, such as “Introduction to Offer Consulting Help”.

4.5.9 Go to your stock “request for introduction” from step 4.5.1 above and copy it into the message body. CLICK Send Request.

4.6.0 Your “requests for introductions” are displayed in your INBOX / SENT. You’ll be notified when your referrer accepts it and passes it on to your target prospects. It’s up to your referrer now.

4.6.1 You’ll be notified by LinkedIn when your target prospects accept your request to connect. When that happens, it’s time to follow up in the same manner you would if they were a warm referral.

Summary

The four parts of a referral are:

# 1 The Referrer
#2 Contact Data
#3 Inside Info
#4 Referral Introduction

Referral introductions come in five flavors:

• In-person
• Voice mail
• Web meeting
• Email
• LinkedIn

How do you get referrals?

Sales funnels work at their own pace. Yet there are times when a quick sale* is needed more than oxygen.

When sales are at the bottom of a trough or stuck in a down economy, one quick sale can mean survival. It can turn confidence in the right direction, appease management and pay the rent.

Timing is everything when faced with a do-or-die quick sale. That means the first, most critical decision to make is where you spend sales time. Or else you waste those few days or weeks before your job evaporates.

Who do you work on first?

Prioritizing Possibilities with the Super 8

Start where you have knowledge and connections. While you may not know all the details, here you begin with a stronger understanding than starting cold. The best, first possibilities are where you know their:

1) Industry – trends, problems and improvements typical to their industry.

2) Company Needs – company-specific business problems to fix and improvements to make.

3) Price Tolerance – you’ll have a feel for the range they buy in, may be their budget.

4) Buying Process – you’ll know how they buy, the obstacles, the champions and the final sign-offs.

Your best, first possibilities know about you too. They are the ones who:

5) Know you – recognize your name and company.

6) Like you – personally, even hang out with you socially, or would if they could.

7) Have time for you – will include you in their work day.

8) Value what you do – they understand what you contribute and value it.

The Super 8 in the Quick Sales Funnel

Looking at the Super 8 characteristics, it quickly becomes clear who you should sell to first. They are, in this order:

#1 Current Customers – Friends
#2 Former Customers – Friends
#3 Warm Referrals
#4 Current Customers
#5 Former Customers
#6 Cold Referrals

The 1-2-3 Strategy for Quick Sales

Follow this strategy for a quick survival sale.

1) Work your way through the Quick Survival Sales funnel

Start at the top, and work your way through to the bottom. Do this before starting to work on suspects/leads in your normal sales funnel.

2) Use your access and do your homework first

Take advantage of the relationships you have to get inside information BEFORE you pitch your offer.

These are your business friends and professional acquaintances. Ask them about  the serious problems their company is trying to fix, or improvements they want to make.

3) Use your knowledge to solve problems and deliver improvements

Build your offer around solving problems and delivering improvements. Then sell something else to them (cross-selling), or sell an improved version of what you sold before (up sell).

* How quick is quick?

The “quick” in a quick survival sale depends on what is sold and how buyers buy it.

Here, quick means getting a sale faster than normal. If the buying time cannot be shortened (think contractual bid processes), then quick means getting further through the process faster than normal. In these time-extended sales, “quick” may mean:

• Joining a bid already in progress
• Skipping qualification phase
• Getting onto a bidders list immediately

Need a Quick Sale?

• What’s left out of this survival strategy for quick sales?
• What do you do to get a quick sale?

Come on, you are generous, share with us.

Fact #1: A portion of your prospect data starts to sour the moment you import it into your CRM or database. Some was already sour when imported! Sour means it’s off, it’s obsolete for prospecting.

That’s the problem with churn today. Your prospects move around. If not to new companies then within their own organization to new jobs and responsibilities. They may no longer be the one you sell to.

Since we are all temp employees, how do we keep prospect data current in the sea of change? No one is talking about it. Why not?

Fact #2: You won’t know your prospect data is sour. It all looks good digitally until you use it. Then you’ll know some of it stinks when you:

• Send an email – and get a hard bounce back
• Mail a direct piece – and it’s returned to you marked “No such recipient”
• Call directly – and you’re told they’ve left the company & can’t get their replacement

Prospect databases require you, the owner, to keep data current. Once you have 100s or 1,000s of prospects, you’re burdened. Get lazy and you pay for it.

Work around the Souring of Prospect Data

It would be wonderful to turn over data maintenance to the crowdsourcing world of social media. That’s where prospects keep their own data current for their own benefit and you have access to sell to them (this is the model for Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, any social media).

However, that’s a future we’re not at yet. Until then, here are a few ways of working around sour prospect data.  I’m sure there are more but let’s look at these (none are affiliates):

• LinkedIn into Outlook
• Data.com
• Plaxo Personal Assistant
• Alternatively try Inbound Marketing

LinkedIn into Outlook

A prime crowdsourcing tool for business contacts, LinkedIn has big positives for avoiding sour data and some negatives.

Positives of LinkedIn into Outlook

On the plus side, here’s what LinkedIn says you can do once you’re connected via Outlook:

• Access your LinkedIn network from Outlook.
• See who your connections are connecting with.
• See when connections update their profile.
• See profile photos of LinkedIn members who are on the email. Photos could take a few hours to appear after tool is downloaded.
• Send invitations to connect directly from Outlook.
• Access current email addresses, photos and other profile details from a folder titled LinkedIn.

Here’s some more from LikedIn about Accessing LinkedIn through Microsoft Outlook.

We’re talking about the free LinkedIn, not their premium “pay” version and Outlook 2010, which of course you must be using and Steve Ballmer thanks you for that.

Also, before connecting LinkedIn with Outlook, consider going all the way with LinkedIn. If your profile is not 100% completeness, get it there. Also, do the things gurus mention. You can work on this over time, as I am at Chris Arlen.

Connecting LinkedIn with Outlook

This is the workaround I’m using, and here’s how I got there. If you know an easier path please post up a comment.

LinkedIn says “Here’s what you can do today to start leveraging your professional network within Outlook:

1) Download the latest version of the Outlook Social Connector from Microsoft (Outlook 2003, 2007, or 2010 is required)

2) Once that is installed, download the LinkedIn Outlook Connector

3) Restart your Outlook and follow the instructions to connect your LinkedIn account to Outlook

When you’re done with step 3) above you’ll have a folder in Outlook under “My Contacts” called “LinkedIn”. You’ll also have a preexisting folder called “Contacts” under “My Contacts”.

I wanted all my contacts in one folder. If you do too, copy them, in essence a merge, into your primary contacts folder. This process is a little involved but here are the steps:

a) In Outlook, in the left navigation pane, click on “My Contacts”, then click on LinkedIn

b) In the right hand pane, select all contacts (CNTRL+A)

c) Right click all selected contacts, then from the right click menu select “Move”

d) From the “Move” fly-out menu select “Copy to Folder”

e) The “Copy Items” dialog box opens – then find your “Contacts” folder on the left and select it (it’s in alpha order). You’ll also see the LinkedIn folder underneath it but don’t select that – it’s the source you’re copying contacts from. Click OK.

f) If you have duplicates (expect that you will) the “Duplicate Contact Detected” dialog box comes up.

g) Select a radial button at the top for “Add new contact” or “Update information of selected Contact. A backup copy will be saved in Deleted Items Folder”.

h) In the same dialog box, at the bottom click either “Update” (for one record at a time), “Update All” or “Skip”.

i) You’re done.

Negatives of LinkedIn into Outlook

* You only have access to prospects who are your connections. This means you should get connected in LinkedIn with as many prospects as fast as possible. They will be better prospects because they have given you permission to connect.

Alas, this means you can’t prospect people you’re not connected to. Is that really so bad?

* Not everyone keeps their LinkedIn data fully up to date. The freshness of contact data is dependent on your connections updating it. However, it’s more likely they’ll have their data current than if it’s sitting in your Outlook or ACT db.

* Not everyone includes their email address and phone data in their profile. However, you can still send up to 50 messages from within LinkedIn at one time.

* Not everyone includes their mailing addresses, which hurts when you want to make direct mailings. Haven’t found a workaround for that one.

Data.com

Disclaimer: I don’t use Data.com but have spent two sessions viewing demos with their account execs. Here’s what I learned.

Data.com (part of Salesforce.com) combines 32 million individuals’ contact data from Jigsaw.com with 200 million companies’ data from Dun & Bradstreet.

Individuals’ contact data is crowdsourced from Jigsaw, meaning a community of 2 million cloud-based community (aka sales folks) enter info in to get info out in return.  Dun & Bradstreet provides big volumes of company data.

For example, I want the contact data of a particular prospect. I enter one contact (name, phone and email), and I get to pull one out (it’s really 5 points for one in/out). I can also add company data and earn/spend points too. You earn a personal rating for the volume and quality of contact info you provide, just like on eBay.

Getting Prospect Data out of Data.com

The more you add, the more points you earn and the more data you can pull out.

Or, you can buy contact data, with pricing based on volume. Note there is a limit of 300 per day.

It’s a clever barter system with very sophisticated controls to keep data true and current. It’s this community that will update contact data if they find a bad apple or sour one.

Working with Prospect Data within Data.com

Alternately to pulling data out, you can work within Data.com. It has some  tools for tracking your actions and monitoring contacts’ social media activities. I didn’t dive into this so my knowledge is limited.

Positives of Data.com

• Contact data is kept relatively current via the cloud-based community
• Complete contact data as Data.com requires name, title, email and phone to be entered
• Large base of contact data (32 million individuals) to pull from
• Integrates seamlessly with Salesforce.com (they own Data.com)

Negatives of Data.com

• Cost involved, you have to pay if you want more data than you can barter
• Data.com is not a CRM so doesn’t have full functionality
• If you work in Data.com, you’ll need to transfer your activities into your non-Salesforce.com CRM
• Though large base of contacts, what happens when you can’t find who you need? (happened to me on several test attempts)
• Contact data is only refreshed once a community member uses it and finds it sour – this must vary so who knows how frequently?

Plaxo Personal Assistant

Plaxo (owned by Comcast) is another workaround to avoid souring of prospect data.

Plaxo is a consolidated online address book that syncs to Outlook, Google and smartphones. Their mission is to fight address book decay. Their press kit says they have 21 million accounts and Comcast another 29 million.

Disclaimer: I don’t use Plaxo or its Plaxo Personal Assistant but gave it a once over on their web site. Here’s what I learned.

This is what Plaxo says about how Plaxo Personal Assistant gets data:

“Plaxo acquires contact info for these suggestions from a variety of publicly available data sources. We then determine which portions of that info to suggest based on a number of factors, including whether other Plaxo users have that contact info in their address books, and whether other Personal Assistant users have accepted or rejected that suggested contact info in the past.

Suggested contact info only comes from publicly available data sources. It does not come from any individual Plaxo member’s address book.”

The basic Plaxo (part of the Personal Assistant) is crowdsourcing like Jigsaw.com. Once you’re in the community, you benefit by getting your contacts to join. Haven’t you received an email from an acquaintance asking you to update your Plaxo contact card?

Positives of Plaxo Personal Assistant

• Proactively searches to fill in contact data holes
• Recognizes outdated data and prompts with current data (don’t know how that is done)
• Affordable at $7 per month + $5 per month to sync with Outlook, Google and smartphones (must buy a year’s worth)
• Sync function should update contact data with changes
• Data available from contacts you imported

Negatives of Plaxo Personal Assistant

• You only have access to data of contacts you know
• The freshness of contact data is dependent on the data owners’ updating it.
• Is Plaxo old news and losing steam? Speaking for myself, I’ve stopped responding to Plaxo email requests to update my contact card – not sure if others do the same

Alternatively try Inbound Marketing

Now may be the time to stop pursuing prospects and get them to come to you.

Sales reps may need to let go of old ways and work differently to earn prospects’ trust, data and ultimately their sales?

Inbound Marketing pulls prospects in to engage with sellers. The subtle difference is that happens when the prospects are ready to engage.

Inbound marketing includes blogs, social media, organic search (SEO) and paid search (PPC).

There’s also a secret to kick starting inbound marketing so it’s not a walk in the park either.

Prospect Data & Databases Remain

Prospect databases and their locked up data will likely continue to be used. But changes are in play and the future is now.

• What do you do to avoid sour prospect data?
• Which crowdsourcing tools do you use?

As sellers, we’d like to think that customers eventually see the error of their ways. Customers, being the customer, have the right to make bad buys.

And they do, whether it’s recessionary tough times or not.

Sellers, being legitimate and honest sellers, take the high road and accept it when customers make those bad buys.

So now you have customers in a bad situation and good sellers looking in from the outside agreeing its a bad situation.

4 Certainties Today

#1) Cumulative Bad Buys Harm the Market Place
#2) Customers Do Not Fix Bad Buys
#3) What Sellers Can Do About BIG Bad Buys
#4) What Sellers Can Do About SMALLER Bad Buys

#1) Cumulative Bad Buys Harm the Market Place

During this recession customers probably made more bad buys than previously. However, they did it under the veil of reducing cost.

A bad buy is one where the requirements, specifications or expectations remain the same but customers buy at lowered prices.

Something’s not right. Sellers’ margins had been skinny per-recession, there’s little to no fat to remove. Fuel prices and health care costs did not go down. No new technologies have increased supplier productivity by multiples.

Lowering prices but keeping the same deliverables means something’s not delivered.

Therefore, customers are not getting what they’re promised contractually even though they’re paying less for it than in prior years. This is the definition of a bad buy.

The cumulative effect on the market place is to bring pricing down yet still keep deliverables where they were.

Now as the economy is crawling out of the doldrums, pricing levels are where they were 10 or more years ago.

Yet the hypocrisy of over promising and under-delivering is greater.

Customers making bad buys from desperate sellers. Where will it end?

#2) Customers Do Not Fix Bad Buys

Do customers admit they made bad buys and rectify them? Do they terminate the failing contract and hire the suppliers they should have?

In most cases the answer is no.

Customers Don’t Fix Bad Buys When it’s Big Dollars & High Visibility

Customers will not correct a bad buy if the price was large and the purchase highly visible within their organization (i.e. Procurement was involved).

This is more than loss of pride by admitting they made a poor choice. This is their job security. Customers get very sensitive to keeping their jobs the higher up the purchases reach.

Real World Example

In one example of a big bad buy, a global facility management firm swallowed the sales pitch of a questionable supplier when bidding out a $60 million dollar contract.

• Of course the supplier would work without profit for two years
• Of course the supplier would exceed contract specifications
• Of course the supplier had references willing to confirm this

So the management firm bought, and it was a bad buy. From the first day of service the supplier couldn’t deliver. No supplier could. But the deal was too big for the management firm that bought it. They couldn’t admit to their customer they’d been had.

So what did they do? They spent three years grinding on the bad supplier to wring out the barest minimum in contract compliance. This meant they were distracted. It meant they weren’t delivering as much value to their customer because they were busy holding a shotgun to the bad supplier.

At the end of the three years the management firm rebid the contract and a legitimate supplier won the bid.

The moral of the story is customers with large dollar purchases will not fix a bad buy. They’ll let the contract run out and then change.

The exception to customers fixing a bad buy is in the public sector. Because if it looks like the bad buy is the customer’s fault it could also look illegal. In those cases, customers will definitely boost out a bad buy. They’ll show how the supplier misrepresented its offer or egregiously did not perform. That kind of bad buy could earn customers a stay with free room and board in prison.

What Sellers Can Do About BIG Bad Buys

Honestly, after the fact there’s not a lot losing sellers can do when customers make large dollar bad buys. Here are a few things that can be done.

Stick Close

If it’s a big dollar opportunity, sellers must stick close to customers even immediately after losing a sale.

Obviously this doesn’t mean crowding or stalking lost customers, but respectful relationship building. This does mean continuing to provide customers valuable information, and keeping them apprised of industry trends and advancements.

Stay Non-Judgmental

Take the honorable high-road and believe customers made the best decisions they could at the time, with the information they had. There may have been unknown circumstances that forced customer’s decisions; circumstances suppliers were unaware of.

If sellers allow disgust or disrespect into their feelings, those feelings will eventually leak into future interactions with that customer. Disgruntled sellers may even retaliate in their pricing next time.

Find Lateral Sale Opportunities

Research smaller add-on sales. Talk with the customer to tactfully learn their level of acceptance and acknowledgment they made a bad buy.

Seek to engineer a small break away portion of the larger sale, if possible. If the customer is openly unhappy, ask them for a smaller piece of the sale pie. Additionally, ask to sell them a peripheral service/item, one the incumbent supplier typically gets by default.

What Sellers Can Do About SMALLER Bad Buys

There’s more room for losing sellers to make things happen when customers make small-dollar bad buys. The exit barriers for customers are lower.

Ease Cost of Repurchase

Customers are already out of pocket the purchase price. Make it easy for them to swallow the bad buy and get happy with your good deal. Consider:

* Extending payment terms (smaller payments over longer term)
* Offering rebates & show purchase price net rebate
* Offering volume discounts & show lower per unit price
* Providing money back guarantees – what have they got to lose?
* Granting special client status with aggressively low pricing – if they’re worth it

Stick Close

So it’s a small dollar opportunity, it’s still critical to stick close to customers after losing a sale.  Again, no crowding or stalking, just respectful concern and relationship building.

As a smaller sale opportunity, you’ll spend much less time providing information, industry trends and advancements. However, if these customers liked you, ask for referrals.

Stay Non-Judgmental

Take the honorable high-road and believe customers made the best decisions they could at the time, with the information they had.

Find Lateral Sale Opportunities

Research smaller lateral sales.Tactfully learn customers’ level of acceptance and acknowledgment they made a bad buy. Try to sell them a smaller service/item to get them on the books.

Bad Buys into Good Hellos

The reality is that sellers must live with customers’ bad buys. Don’t worry, many customers knowingly suffer from their bad buys and are waiting for the next chance to fix them.

Sellers can help out. It takes longer with large dollar buys but still there is seller work to be done. Smaller dollar buys are more malleable and sellers can do some creative things to help customers fix bad buys there.

• What’s your experience in getting customers out of bad buys?
• What did you do?
• How long did it take?