Fundamentals of Strategic Selling

Marketing 3360

Phil Bartos, Executive in Residence

Chapter 1

Selling in a World of Constant

Change
The Complex Sale:
A number of people must give their
approval or input before the buying
decision can be made.

Strategic Selling: Defined

Premise 1:
Whatever got you where you are today is
no longer sufficient to keep you there.

Strategic Selling: Defined

Premise 2:
In the Complex Sale, a good tactical plan is
only as good as the strategy that led up to
it.

Strategic Selling: Defined

Premise 3:
You can succeed in sales today only if you
know what youre doing and why.

Strategic Selling: Defined

Profile of a Strategic Professional:
Developed a selling process or method
Visible, logical and repeatable
Never satisfied

Strategic Selling: Defined

How Strategic Selling works:
Focus is on success, not failure avoidance.
Focus is on your accounts.

Chapter 2

Strategy and Tactics Defined

Contrasting Strategy and Tactics:
Strategy: A process to lay out moves in
advance of the sales call. Be in the right
place at the right time.
Tactics: An action plan to accomplish
strategic goals. Focus on the account.

Strategic Selling: Defined

Long-term Strategy:
Focus on the account
Sale or selling event versus Account
Creating the next satisfied customer Drucker

Strategic Selling: Defined

Setting the Account Strategy:
Four steps
1. Analyze your current position
2. Consider alternative positions
3. Devise an action plan
4. Implement action plan

Chapter 3

Starting Point: Position

Positioning:
1. Identify relevant changes.
2. Rate changes as opportunities or
threats.
3. Define current single sales objective.
(specific and measurable; timing;
outcome; single versus multiple)
4. Test current position.
5. Examine alternative positions.

The New Strategic Selling

A Unique Sales System
Originally developed by
Stephen E. Heiman & Robert B. Miller
Updated by
Stephen E. Heiman and Diane Sanchez

Chapter 4

Key Elements of Strategic Selling

Six key elements:
1. Buying influences.
2. Leverage from strengths: Red
flags.
3. Response modes.
4. Win-results.
5. Ideal customer profile.
6. Sales funnel.

Key elements:
1. Buying influences
A. Economic
B. User
C. Technical
D. Coach . . . Your coach!

Key elements:
2. Red Flags/Leverage from Strength
A. Red Flags = warnings
B. Leverage from Strength =
differentiate from competition

Key elements:
3. Response modes
A. Growth
B. Trouble
C. Even keel
D. Overconfident

Key elements:
4. Win-results
A. Win-Win
B. Win-Lose
C. Lose-Win
D. Lose-Lose

Key elements:
5. The Ideal Customer Profile
A. Anticipate problems
B. Analyze good customers
C. Be real!

Key elements:
6. The Sales Funnel
A. Continual prospecting
B. Maximize use of time
C. Work allocation:
What to do, when.

Chapter 5

Key Element 1:
Buying Influences
Positioning yourself with the people playing
buying Influencer roles.
1. Understand four Buying Influences.
2. Identify key players in each role.
3. Insure that each player is covered.

The Coach
Criteria of a coach:
1. You have credibility with the person.
2. Coach has credibility with the Buying
Influences for your single sales
objective.
3. The coach wants your solution.

Chapter 6

Key Element 2:
Red Flags/Leverage from Strength
Warnings
Opportunities

Chapter 7

Buyer Level of Receptivity

Key Element 3: Response Modes depend on
buyer receptivity.
Traps:
1. Your perception is reality.
2. Your perception is same as Buying Influence.
3. Buying Influences perception is wrong or
irrelevant.
Change: The hidden factor in every sale!

Chapter 8

Key Element 3:
Four Response Modes
People buy when, and only when, they
perceive a discrepancy between
reality and their desired results.

Chapter 9

The Importance of Winning

Mutual satisfaction is the foundation of
long-term success!
Getting the order is not enough!
Whats desired?
Satisfied customers
Long-term relationships (CRM)
Repeat business
Strong referrals

Chapter 10

Key Element 4:
Win-results
Key terms of the Win-results concept:
Selling - Interactive process based on benefit.
Product - Whatever you are selling.
Process - Series of activities.
Result - Measurable impact of product on your
customer.
Win - Fulfillment of a subjective promise.
Win-result - Business result giving Buying
Influences a subjective, personal win.

Wins Results
Companies get Results, people Win.
Results:

Wins:

1. Impact product on
business process.
2. Tangible,
measurable,
quantifiable.
3. Corporate.

1. Fulfillment of
promise made to
oneself.
2. Intangible, not
measurable or
quantifiable.
3. Personal

Summary of Win-results
Product leads to improved process
producing results and persons win.
Understand how buying influences win.
Connect your proposal to buying
influences self-interest.
Use a coach to focus on buying influences
results and how they win.
Win-win conclusion

Chapter 11

Getting to the Economic Buyer

Common questions:
How do I get to the Economic Buying
Influence?
How can I effectively utilize a strategic
Coach?
What about the competition?

Remember:
Manage every one of the sales
objectives to a Win-Win with all Buying
Influences!
How Economic Buying Influences are
different from User or Technical buyer:
More difficult to identify.
More difficult to reach . . . Physically and
psychologically.

Root problems to getting to the

Economic Buying Influence:
1. Cant identify the Economic Buying
Influence.
2. Blocked from getting to the person
playing the role.
3. Uncomfortable with talking to the
person.

Profile of the Economic Buying

Influence
Sale-specific
Highly placed in the organization

Paid to be future oriented or focused

Solving the problem 1:

Perceived risk in terms of five variables:

Dollar amount of sale.

Business conditions.
Experience with salesperson or firm.
Experience with product
Potential organizational impact

Solving the problemthe next step.

Zeroing in on the Economic Buying Influence:
Ask the person directly.
Get some coaching.
Guess.

Solving Problem 2:
Handling the block: Three methods.
1. Show blocker how to win.
2. Go around the blocker.
3. Go along with the blocker.

Solving Problem 3:

Reasons for being uncomfortable:

Intimidated by position of person.
Uncertain about what person wants or
needs.

Solution:
Have a valid business reason for contacting
the Economic Buying Influence.
Be prepared!
Know what the person doesnt want.
Understand the concept, as in Conceptual
Selling.
Establish credibility.
Like-rankpeerselling.
Advertise past successes.
Executive briefing.
Bring in a guru
Keep in touch

Final Position Check

Four key questions:
1. What do I need to find out?
2. What do I want the Economic Buyer to
Know?
3. What do I want the the Economic
Buyer to Do?
4. What do I want the Economic Buyer to
Feel?

Chapter 12

The Coach:
Your prime information source.
Your coach can:
Help you find the players.
Identify strengths and red flags in your
position/proposition.
Help you understand perceptions and response
modes (Growth, Trouble, Even Keel and
Overconfidence)
Help you understand how to develop a WinWin result.

Coaching Criteria
1. Your credibility.
2. Coachs credibility.
3. Desiring your success.

Choosing your coach:

Avoid false coaches.
Be careful of a friend.
Choose a coach that gives unique &
useful information.
Choose inside salespersons as coaches
carefully.
Avoid the mentorits about the sale not
you.

Coaching focus on a specific sale:

Economic Buyer as coach is best possible
situation.
Ask for coachingthe coach doesnt do
the selling.
Set up a coaching networksafety in
numbers.

Final Test

Trust your feelings and instincts.

Chapter 13

What about the Competition?

Four reasons maintaining a competitive
edge is difficult.

Lack of differentiation
Increased savviness in market
Rise in different types of competition
Obsession with the other guy

Dont focus on the competition:

Danger: Its a hidden messagenot
better than but me too.
Allows the competition to write the rules.
Advertises weaknesses not strengths.
Invites price slashing.
Makes you look stupid.
Deflects attention from customers
concerns.

The proactive alternative:

Restoring Differentiation
Practice Strategic Selling & keep on focus

ID and cover Buying Influences

Determine Response Modes
Deliver Win-Results
Leverage from Strength, eliminate Red Flags
Engage a good Coach

The proactive alternative: (continued)

Focus on the customer

Make a contribution
Something of Value
Cannot be obtained elsewhere

A good offense

Non-methods

Schmoozing for a losing.

Im worth it.
You really oughta wanna.
First choice for second place.
Fake sincerity ploy.

Tricky Cases
1.
2.
3.
4.

The competition is entrenched.

Youre firmly entrenched yourself.
Youre the higher-priced supplier.
The customer just wants you to bid.

Chapter 14

Key Element 5:
Ideal Customer

Focus on Win-Win!

Chapter 15

Ideal Customer Profile:

Demographics and Psychographics
Demographic characteristics:
Size of market
Number of end-users of product
Age and condition of customers equipment
Location
Note: These characteristics are measurable.

Ideal Customer Profile: (continued)

Psychographic characteristics:
Importance of company reputation.
Ethical standardspublished code
Attitudes to stakeholders
Openness to innovation and change
Importance of quality versus quantitiy

Chapter 16

Time, Territory and Money

Selling time is any time spent talking to a

Buying Influence about Growth or Trouble,
or asking questions of a Buying Influence to
uncover a Growth or Trouble discrepancy.

What the Sales Funnel does:

Defines position in the selling process.
Tracks each of the sales objectives.
Sets priorities focused on objectives.
Allocates time at each level.
Forecasts future income.

Chapter 17

Key Element 6:
The Sales Funnel
Four Parts of the Funnel:
1. Prospect
2. Qualify
3. Cover the bases
4. Close the order
Note: Work smart!

Preliminary tips:
Use of the Sales Funnel:

Helps sort and track progress of

individual order not account.
Two things decrease as order moves
down the funnel Time & Uncertainty.
Prerequisites must be met before
moving from one level to the next.

Chapter 18

Priorities and Allocation:

Working the Funnel
Working the Funnel:
Setting priorities for the four kinds of
selling work.
Allocating limited selling time to each
kind of selling work, on a consistent
basis.

Setting priorities:
Dealing with the roller coaster effect.
1. Do closing work on Best Few objectives.
2. Prospect a narrow universe.
3. Qualify your Above the Funnel objectives
4. Work the objectives in the Funnel.
Great advise: Every time you close something,
prospect or qualify something else.

Allocating time:
Key success factors:
1. Number and type of tasks.
2. Difficulty and amount of work required.
3. Amount of revenue involved.
4. Account potentialLTV.
5. Accommodation of buying cycles.
6. Product-mix quotascontinuous
reassessment.

Chapter 19

Action Plan
The bridge between theory and practice
emphasis is on practical planning.
Each action that you list as part of your Action
Plan should capitalize on a Strength, eliminate
or reduce the impact of a Red Flag, or do both.

Putting the theory into action:

Focus on these areas:
Your single sales objective.
Buying Influences involved.
Response Mode of each Influence.
Win-Results of each Influence.
Level and nature of competition.

Final list of actions:

Concentrate on best four or five actions
that are:

Logical
Urgent
Do-able

The acid test

strategy to tactics and back:
How do you feel and are you comfortable
about the overall situation?
Evolving action plans are engines for
strategic reassessment.

Chapter 20

Strategy When You Have No Time

The solution:
First Which accounts and sales objectives
call for the long form Action Plan.
Second Adopt a short form action
analysis.

Long-form analysis:
When its needed:
1. Youve inherited an account.
2. A high-dollar account is involved.
3. Tough competitive battle.
4. Competition is unknown.
5. A new market is involved.
6. Youre stuck in the Sales Funnel.
7. Essential information is lacking.

Short-form analysis I:

Quick and dirty analysis:

Do I know the Buying Influences?
Do I know the Influences WinResults?
Am I capitalizing on my Strengths
and working on eliminating
Weaknesses?
Do I have one reliable Coach?

Short-form analysis II:

Crisis in the elevator
Do I know who my Buying Influences are?
If not, do I at least know who is the
Economic Buying Influence for this sales
objective?