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Archive Archive for December, 2007

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Selling

Making it easy for customers to say "yes". How to make cross-selling work.

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 21st, 2007.

Fries “Would you like fries with that?”

Some say those are the six most profitable words in business. And cross-selling can indeed ramp up the profitability of your sales.

Yet at the same time, clumsy cross-selling attempts can turn-off customers in no-time and leave a sour taste that damages customer retention.

So when does cross-selling work – and what are the most effective cross-selling strategies?

In my experience, the first secret behind an effective cross or up-sell is that cross-selling works when it's actually helpful to the customer. When it makes the customer aware of valuable or useful options they didn't know they had (or in the case of “would you like fries” – when they had forgotten or overlooked the option). When the salesperson or server is genuinely thinking about what might be useful to the customer – then the cross-sell will be seen more positively.

As I posted in In Praise of Passion, everyone's BS detector is set to max nowadays – and a mechanistic, pre-programmed, corporately mandated script will be seen through in an instant.

So why does “would you like fries with that?” work? It's the same pre-programmed script in every outlet. Well, in this case, there's no pretense about the cross-sell. There's no fake sincerity in the simple six words. Just a reminder that you've got the option of fries.

And it takes advantage of the second secret of the effective cross-sell (in fact it's one of the secrets of all sales): they've made it easy to say yes. There's no complex choice to work through, no expensive options to evaluate. Just a yes or no to something you knew you wanted anyway.

In Malcom Gladwell's Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking he highlights an experiment where researchers wanted to examine the impact of breadth of choice on decision-making.

They set out two booths showcasing different types of jam. One with 6 selections, the other with 24. Conventional economic wisdom says that the more choices customers have, the more likely they are to buy, because it is easier for them to find the product that perfectly fits their needs. But the researchers found the opposite to be true. 30% of those who stopped by the 6 choice booth ended up buying some jam, while only 3% of those who stopped by the 24 choice booth bought anything.

Contrary to economic theory, in the real world too much choice paralysed their decision-making. In particular, because the effort involved in making the choice was far greater than justified by the payoff (a better jam is hardly a life-changing decision).

The same applies when cross-or up-selling – particularly for a small, simple sale. Make it simple for the customer to say yes and don't over-complicate with too many choices.

Case in point: I regularly stop by for a coffee in my local Caffe Nero (a kind of UK Starbucks with more of an Italian flavour). Historically, whenever I've bought a coffee they've always asked “would you like a cake or muffin with that?”. And I've always said no. Too much choice. I've never had enough energy to think through what exactly I might want. But recently, they've started tailoring the cross-sell – and making it more specific.

Last time in I was asked if I'd like a Raspberry and Vanilla Chocolate muffin – the time before that it was some Passion-cake. It was far easier for me to say yes to that proposition. Nothing too deep to consider and weigh up. Just would I like one or not (and I have to admit, I succumbed to the passion-cake). And by tailoring each offer they're showing some genuine (albeit small) concern for me rather than just trotting out the corporate script.

Onward!

Ian

Disclosure: I've included an amazon affiliate link for Gladwell's book Blink. Hell, someone might as well make some money if you really want to buy it. In reality, I didn't think it was that great. Some interesting examples – but no real clarity on when the instant “blink” assessment was accurate and when more reflective thought worked better. I found both Freakonomics and The Undercover Economistboth more interesting and useful. (Hey – did you see the way I sneaked a couple more affiliate links in there – much more of this and be able to sell my own “how to make money blogging” programme to an unsuspecting world.

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Marketing

The Perils of Drifting Away from your Core Sales Positioning

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 19th, 2007.

I was recently given a clear reminder of how easy it can be to drift away from your core sales positioning – and how dangerous that can be.

For more years than I care to remember I've positioned the value of my consulting services and expertise as being able to practically implement new ideas and solutions to achieve tangible business results. Yes, I like to think I can bring thought leadership and leading-edge practices; but those things only bring value when they result in real change and improvement with bottom-line benefits.

That positioning has always seemed to resonate with clients – but over the last few years I've drifted away from using it. Sometimes it's felt like I've talked about it so often that surely it's “old hat”. Surely everyone understands that value from consulting only comes when real improvements are made, not when reports are written or presentations delivered? Surely all consultants position their services this way and I risk just becoming “one of the pack”?

So over the years I've tried to make my positioning more “sophisticated” – making the importance of successful implementation a given, or even an unstated assumption.

But a recent conversation with a potential client (where I almost accidentally focused on my old “successful implementation” message) highlighted for me that it still resonates brilliantly – and is very often the most important factor for many clients. The client almost bit my hand off when I started talking about how I focused on strategies which were proven and practical and how I stayed with them to ensure they were implemented successfully.

In my quest to improve my positioning over the years I'd forgotten that although I sit through hundreds of my own sales meetings and presentations; my clients only experience one. Messages which for me had become stale and seemed old hat can still hit all the right buttons for them.

By focusing on my perception of my positioning rather than my clients I had begun to drift away from something that worked really well.

Key learning: If you find yourself wanting to make your positioning or your sales messages more “sophisticated”, or you feel that what you are saying must surely be old news by now – take a reality check. Find out how your clients and potential clients perceive those messages – you may be pleasantly surprised – and you may prevent yourself from a dangerous drift away from something that works really well.

Onward!

Ian

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Selling

In Praise of Passion

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 17th, 2007.

Passion The stereotype many people have of salespeople is of an amoral hired gun. A sharp suited, sharp talking huckster who doesn't care what he's peddling as long as it brings in the money.

But in reality, the opposite is true of all truly successful salespeople: they have a real passion and belief in the products and services they sell. And this is even more true for professional services where the person doing the selling is usually the person who will deliver or oversee the service. After all, if you can't get passionate about what you do – how can you expect a client to do so.

In my 15 years as a consultant I've worked with and observed hundreds of business developers in action. I've seen very different selling styles and cultures, and helped salespeople from countries as diverse as Iran, the US, Lebanon, Algeria, Finland, Spain, Panama and Japan.

Yet across all these countries and cultures, the very best salespeople share a real passion in the quality of their products and services and a sincere belief that their customers will genuinely benefit from using them. And I've witnessed that passion overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to win a sale, or protect an account from an undercutting competitor.

We live in a cynical world today, with everyone's BS detector constantly set on max. And it doesn't matter how many body language or NLP courses you've been on; if you aren't being sincere – if you don't really believe in your products with a passion; then your customers will pick this up in an instant.

Winston Churchill said it best: “Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe”.

Churchill knew the power of passion and belief. And we saw the power of his belief in his great speeches which convinced and mobilised a nation at its time of greatest need.

How can we build this same level of passion in ourselves and in our professionals?

First, we need to make sure that the professionals we hire are capable of being passionate. Emotion is often frowned upon in business – and especially in the supposedly “rational” professions such as law and engineering. But without emotion – and the strength of character to express it; we cannot communicate our passion. We need to hire people able to maturely express their emotions. Not just to wear their heart on their sleeve; but to be able to convince with passion.

Next we need to make sure we incubate belief in our services amongst our professionals and business developers. Don't just train them in the technicalities of the service and in its features and benefits. Really show them what the service can do for our customers – what an impact it can have on their lives and their businesses. Use case studies and examples in training.

Better still, take the salespeople and professionals out to “spend a day in the life” of their customers – they will benefit immeasurably. And make sure they keep talking to customers over time about the impact of the work they do for them. Not just the cold, hard financial impact – but what they personally get from the service in their own words.

Finally, make sure your partners and managers “walk the talk” too – and really support the passion of your people.

All too often it's seen as “cool” to be ultra-hip and cynical. Yet this cynicism can kill the passion of the team. They'll become embarrassed to talk about how great they believe the service is to their peers.

They'll figure that maybe being cynical is the way to success in this organisation. And pretty soon they'll become the cynical, smooth operators that customers hate.

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Selling

Selling is simple, isn’t it?

Posted by

Ian Brodie on December 4th, 2007.

Selling is simple.

Just like golf is simple and sculpture is simple. You just put the ball in the hole, or chip away all the stone that isn’t your subject.

Selling is simple in concept – but difficult in practice. And often, under pressure to deliver our numbers this quarter or in the heat of the moment trying to close that deal we’ve been chasing for months, we forget the simple things that actually lie at the core of sales excellence.

In my work with clients I often find that returning to the basics – the simple core of excellent sales – can often lead to a great leap in performance.

And in my experience, the basics of selling can be simplified into two essentials – what I call “Twin Track Selling”. In essence, these are to establish with potential customers:

That they have a need for the benefits your product or service can deliver – a need big enough to justify paying the price you’re charging for the product.
That they trust that your product, service or people can really deliver the benefits you claim – and do so better than your competitors.

That’s all you need really. Establish the need, and build the trust. Simple in concept, but immensely difficult in practice.

When we work to establish needs, typically we jump too fast at the first hint of a need and try to close immediately.

Sure, the customer said he wanted a more reliable car, or a more usable sales management system. But is that initial, surface need going to be enough when you start pitching how great your £20,000 car or £100,000 CRM system is? Probably not.

Most likely the customer hasn’t fully thought through their needs and doesn’t realise just how much that unreliable car or the unusable sales management system is really costing them. They haven’t considered the risk of their wife being left stranded at the side of a motorway if the car breaks down, or the impact of the system on sales-force productivity and morale – and hence on sales.

As a result, your product looks awfully expensive compared to their perception of a relatively minor problem. So they’re uncertain when you push for the sale – and despite your attempts to steamroller their “objections”, you usually end up in the nightmare “I’m not really ready to buy yet – but I promise to keep you in mind in future” scenario.

Or perhaps the customer does understand the value of what you’re offering to them – but the sale just seems to be drifting away over time. You keep telling the customer about the benefits of your product – but even thought they agree with your business case projections they just seem unwilling to commit.

While it’s tempting to write them off as tyre-kickers; often the problem goes much deeper. Often the issue is that you just haven’t proven to them that your product really can deliver the wonderful benefits you’re claiming.

In this increasingly sceptical world, they won’t just take your word for it. And all your competitors have equally glowing testimonials in their literature. Building a high degree of trust with your customer is crucial – not just personal trust, but trust that your product, your services and your people really can deliver.

It takes time – and thoughtful planning to build up a sufficient level of trust to allow the customer to buy with confidence that the benefits they’re looking fo really are going to be delivered by your product.

Often when you’re in a rut or you have a sales pursuit you’re really struggling with, it’s tempting to turn to a flavour of the month solution – a new closing technique, a clever elevator pitch or other techniques.

But in reality, you’re far better off investing your time going back to basics and really thinking through, for this situation – how can I help my customer understand their real needs? And how can I prove that my product really does meet those needs?

It’s only by doing this, and tailoring it uniquely for each sales situation, that you can put yourself firmly on the track of Sales Excellence.

Onward!

Ian