The value that Dealstorming brings to life is the collaboration among people to get the job done.
“Gather a team, put your brains together, and make it rain!”[note]Page 1[/note]
The information coming from a collective group is so much more valuable than one person. Everybody has different personalities, viewpoints and opinions. You’re going to find a solution if you have a team to help you. I ran into a snag last week at work. I found out that one of my prospects was apart of an association and they didn’t think they could buy my product. However, they’d entertain a call to see if there was another way I could help… Guess what.
I reached out to six other people; four within my organization and two external people. After a few conversations with experts on the association, I learned that the prospect had been mislead in which vendors they could purchase. The meeting has been set and now I can do a little educating. If I hadn’t reached out to those people, I never would have been able to compete for their business.
“As it turned out, sales genius didn’t come solely from individual sales reps, my researchers, or me. Sales genius, I discovered, is a team sport. It was about all of us in the room finding and solving problems as one.”[note]Page 5[/note]
Different ideas come from different individuals. Have you ever worked on a project and then asked someone for feedback? Then realized that the feedback they gave you was really valuable… but you never would have realized you needed to make the changes they were suggesting? It’s truly amazing what other people can offer. Don’t just choose anyone though! Make sure you choose wisely because sales in only getting tougher.
“Today, tough sales are the norm.”[note]Page 18[/note]
Man, ain’t that the truth. The list is never ending. You’ve got the internet… you can compare price, service, competition, reviews… just about anything. There are purchasing teams, consultants, influencers, people who think they’re influencers but aren’t, and the never ending madness of people changing jobs. If your champion decides to change jobs… you’re starting from scratch. Start-ups trying to get some traction in a market. Heck, don’t forget about the ‘research companies’ that determine who the big players are in each industry.
“Customers on average have completed nearly 60% of their purchasing decisions before having a conversation with a supplier.”[note]Page 21[/note]
You better hope that your buyer is looking in the right place to find your product, or you’re shit out of luck. Having to re-educate the buyer on what your company sells or stands for is difficult. The internet is full of information and you need your buyer to consume the right type.
When you get the opportunity to re-educate your buyer, because you will, you need to get off your agenda and onto theirs. They already know their pain points and they’re looking to you to help fix them. It’s now your turn to understand them and find more pain points so you can bring more value.
“Their insight is yours: When the going gets tough, the ambitious get innovative.“[note]Page 27[/note]
If you want to win that deal, you better bend over backwards to figure out the answers to their questions. If you don’t have the answer, get together with your team to find the answer. Get innovative and come up with outcomes that nobody else thinks of. Don’t just give up. Find another way… find a better way to get it done.
There’s more to come from me about:
Dealstorming | Tim Sanders
Get “Dealstorming” on Amazon.