The Scrambled Egg - a blog every sales professional should wake up to.

Are you using influencer and champion interchangeably? If the answer is yes, you’re making a grave mistake. While the definitions of these terms might vary slightly, that minor difference can makes a massive impact in a sale. If you’re not aware of this difference you could also be misinterpreting how close you’re deals are to closing. Which could mean you’re not allocating your time correctly and missing quota. 

An influencer is someone who can impact the decision to go with your product or service. This is the person who has access to the decision maker(s) and is usually the one doing the research and evaluating vendors.

A champion is the influencer that will impact the decision. The slight difference is “can” and “will”. A champion is the person that will run through walls to get the deal done. Having a champion in a deal will increase the likelihood of the account purchasing by 2x. While the expression “running through walls” is a great analogy, how do you really know if your influencer has turned into a champion?

Here is a list of things that are indications you have a champion on your hands: 

1. You have been brought to the decision maker(s)
2. Your champion has coached you on how to sell the decision maker(s)
3. If there are extenuating circumstances where the DMs don’t allow vendor presentations (this can happen with DM boards and committees), your champion will allow you to coach them on their presentation.

The above list are clear examples of a champion, however they are examples of a deal that would be towards the middle or towards the end of the a sale. So the next obvious question is if there are indicators of a champion earlier in sale?

Here is a list of earlier indications you’re working with a champion:

1. The person will give you inside information about what’s going on internally at their company.
2. They will pull in other people who can help influence the sale.
3. The champion will tell you who to avoid at their company.
4. They will tell what steps are next with out you asking. They will become your GPS and will pull you through the sale instead of you pushing them.
5. The champion will provide you with something tangible. I had coffee with Jeff Hoffman in the Spring when he mentioned he used to look for a prospect to provide something tangible to gauge if he had a potential champion at every step in his sale. In other words, will they provide you with something? Anything.  Will they provide you with reports they look at, perhaps complete a questionnaire you provided or share their internal presentation they might have done recently. 

Having an influencer in a sale is the first step and it’s your job to turn them into a champion. Spending your time with deals that have champions will allow you to work the same amount of deals, however sell more.

Go back through your pipeline with the lists provide above. Do you have influencers or champions in your pipe? Forecast the ones with champions and remove the ones with influencers.  Determine if the influencers can be made a champion and if they can’t, move on to another deal.

Ever watch the show What Would You Do with John Quinones on ABC? It’s a hidden camera show that creates unique situations with actors putting some unsuspecting bystander into a moral dilemma. An example would be a teen actor telling his fake and unsupportive parents he's gay. They have a loud disagreement and the hidden cameras role to watch the reaction of the onlooker(s). The topics cover everything from race, class and even recently covered the topic of The Christmas Spirit.

I had a what would you do moment in my sales career which I was reminded of just last week. Rick Roberge sent an email to a very accomplished group that consisted of Lori Richerdson, Trish Bertuzzi and Jill Konrath. In the email Rick referenced his first impression of me. The question was then posed by Trish if this same statement would have been said and thought if I were male. Rick posted most of the email exchange on his blog where the discussion continued. 

Until, it was time to bring me to the President. She became timid, gave every veiled objection you could think of, she insisted on doing the presentation alone and became distant. This wasn’t conducive to her prior behavior. She had been my champion all the way up until her most important role in the sale. What happened?

Best Practice – I always find it best to be upfront and transparent when a prospect greatly changes their behavior and/or story. Bridge the topic very carefully, but honestly. Here’s how I approached the subject with my influencer:

With a very soft slow voice, even fake a stutter to indicate the topic is difficult for me to bring up, this shows vulnerability because I'm expecting the same in return with her answer. “Mary, I’m going to do what ever you think is best. But I’m a bit… well….. confused…. We’ve had such open communication and you’ve been great to work with. You said you need this because of XYZ. When I’m in these situations it’s natural to bring to the person that makes the decision with you. It’s our best shot of getting this approved. Has something changed…..? Did I do something…….?”

I was letting my influencer know, all BS aside, I knew something was wrong and it was ok to trust me with the REAL objection. Be prepared as this approach works. Her answer floored me. “Katharine, you’re right, there is something….. My president won’t work with women sales reps. I’m so sorry”. Mary was a true champion, not an influencer. A topic I'll dive deeper into next week.

My first thought was to pity for her working for him. My stomach turned. I had a moral dilemma on my hands. I also had a quota and commission dilemma. This company needed the services I was selling and they would be a good customer for my company. As sales people we naturally want to make the sale. But even at the price of ignoring blatant sexism? While I wanted to hang up the phone, pull my hair out and write this guy a scathing email, do I teach him a lesson at the cost of my own commission?

I’ll share how I handled the situation and if I closed the deal, but first I’d like to hear what would you do? 

While it’s been a while since I wrote, I recently had an experience worth sharing. Last Thursday I was scheduled to meet with Rick Roberge. He was fighting through the traffic cause by Storrow Drive being closed. We were to be meeting in person, however we settled for meeting via phone. 

As I spoke with Rick, the door to the conference room opened. At HubSpot, we’re infamous for having a shortage of meeting rooms. It was Mark Roberge and Jill Konrath entering the room. Of course I recognized her right away (holly crap that’s Jill Konrath!) and assumed they were in need of a room. Although in mid conversation with Rick, I stood to offer the room. I had no idea Rick was the mastermind behind this meeting until Mark told me Jill was there to meet with Rick and I.

For those of you not yet familiar with Jill’s work, she’s the author of SNAP Selling and Selling to Big Companies among other accomplishments. Anyone would jump at the opportunity to pick her well tenured sales brain. That’s just what I did. This is when I learned her expression "movers and shakers".

I asked Jill what is the number one thing she looks for when determining if she should spend her time with an influencer. She answered, “if they are a mover and a shaker”. In other words, does this person get shit done? Do they take initiative? Are they proactive instead of reactive? It’s true and brilliant in its simplicity. 

Here are some questions to determine if your influencer is a mover and a shaker: 

Any of the above questions would help you uncover if you have a mover and a shaker on your hands. Why is this so important? Time management as a rep is a required skill for success and survival. Jill mentioned most deals she works on will close. She was not bragging, merely demonstrating by identifying who to spend her time with, yields a much higher probability of purchase.

If you’re still pitching in your sales process, then stop. While this used to work to get prospects interested, this now does the opposite. In fact, if you’re pitching your prospects you’re turning them off, losing credibility and frankly, annoying them. They are rolling their eyes if not in front of you, while you’re on the phone. Think about when you get pitched, how does it make you feel? Like you’re being, well, pitched? 

Why is this the case? First let’s look at some history. Pitching a prospect was effective years ago when a potential customer learned about products and services mainly through the sales representative. They need some type of hook to get their attention. The prospect was reliant on the sales rep to education them and take them through the decision making process. This was also in the age before the prospect had a ton of information at their fingertips. With the advent of Google and other search engines the prospects in now control of their due diligence. 

In fact, CEB says your prospects are 57% of the way through their due diligence and decision making process before they ever speak to a rep. In other words, the prospect doesn’t need the sales rep for their research anymore. They can Google your pitch, view case studies and ask their network for a recommendation of someone who’s used your product/services. Sound like sales reps are becoming obsolete?

Yet, CEB also reports 53% of customer loyalty is driven by the sales experience. These are not contradictory reports. In fact, these stats show there is a major shift in how your prospects engage with you and how your sales strategy needs to change. Here are the first two steps to take:

1) Stop pitching. The second they feel they are being “sold” they can take control back by hanging up and start researching on their own.

2) Add value above and beyond what your prospects can find on Google or by asking their network, become a “problem solver”.

In order to add value above and beyond what a prospect can find on Google, you should become the trusted advisor. Here are two ways in which you can deliver and become the problem solver:

1) Think strategically with the prospect. In other words, put the sale of your product aside and try to give them suggestions on how to fix their problem with out your solution. My reps currently sell sales and marketing software. Before they ever demo the product they put together an entire sales and marketing plan for their prospects that can be executed without the solution we sell. The plan is customized based on the prospect’s goals and challenges. Why? Because it builds trust, we add value above what can be found on Google. This greatly increases or chances of the potential customer also trusting we have the right solution.

We also know we have a great product to execute the plan and if the implement the plan with out the right tools, they may eventually lean on us for help and lead to sale.

2) Help your prospect with suggestions beyond the area in which you sell. In other words, if they are looking at a CRM (assuming you don’t sell a CRM) give them guidance. You’re in sales and you’ve probably used several systems. Give them unbiased information. Another example is to use your past life and experiences. While I currently work at a sales and marketing software company, I spent 8 years working in the recruiting and job board space. Many times when speaking with current prospects I’m able to offer advice on their hiring (especially in the area of sales and marketing openings). I don’t sell them anything in regards to hiring, but my 8 years is valuable information. I’m building trusting and adding value above what they can find on their own. 

The Internet has changed the game for sales but this doesn’t mean sales reps are obsolete. In fact, there is huge opportunity for the first adapters. Those who are still pitching and selling will be left behind. The sales reps that become problem solvers will far out perform their colleagues and competitors.

Liking these tips? Follow @KADScrambledEgg on Twitter for wisdom on #sales and #salesmanagement.

Ever had a deal where the prospect loved what you were selling? They were really into it, you had a great relationship, they said they wanted it, they said they were going to buy and then….. the deal flat lines. The prospect disappears, you are now the stalker, calling, emailing, calling again, waiting, biting your nails, heart palpitations, maybe even offering discounts or something to help bring the deal back to life. 

So what happened? In some(not all) cases, this is a deal you should have never worked. You should have stopped the deal many steps or months ago.

Time management is a sales person’s greatest asset. Yes that’s right, sales reps, not everyone is a buyer. Not every prospect is worth your time. Even if they say they are a buyer – seller beware! How does one know where to spend their time especially if the prospect is so eager to purchase? Here are the two things in which a rep can use to determine if a prospect is worth additional time.

1) Able – is this person either the decision maker or do they have access to the decision maker(s). Most of the time you’ll be dealing with influencers, which is ok as long as they are the right influencers. There is nothing a sales person can do to give an influencer more internal power. Let me repeat – there is nothing you can do to make an influencer more powerful. You can ask such questions to determine an prospects internal power:

How often do you meet with ______(insert the name of the c-suite person)

Who do you report to?

What other solutions have you recommended in place today?

2) Willable (not willing – big difference) – has 4 elements. All must be met to qualify as willable.

A) Does the prospect have a problem?

B) Do they (not you, them) recognize the problem?

C) Is it a priority for them to fix.  Is there desire to fix it?

D) This problem is something your product or service can solve however the prospect might not yet know you’re the solution. In other words, is there desire to fix a problem the prospect is aware of that you can help. 

What if the prospect has a major problem that you don’t really have a solution for? Move on – not worth your time. What if the prospect wants your solution but doesn’t really have a pain? Not worth your time – it’s too risky other fires will become a priority.  Make sense?

Once you’ve determined a prospect is able and willable, this is where you spend your time. It’s the sales rep's job to turn the prospect from willable to willing. Willing is when the prospect now knows you’re the fix to their problem and they’re willing to purchase if they are the DM or bring you to them DM if they’re an influencer.

Spending time with a prospect because they say they love you is dangerous. Ever met a person who shares too much information too soon? You think “why?” or that’s too eager. You’re suspicious right? Well start asking, why do they love my solution? Why do they need it?

It seems counterintuitive to look for a “no” early and often in a sale. Haven’t we always been taught to look for a yes? Well with that said, you ever had a prospect “yes” you to death and then never buy? This is because yes is lazy. While a “yes” is confirming it can offer no detail or context into how the prospect is viewing your services or products. However a “no” can elicit much more.

Looking for “no” early and often is essentially trying to draw out objections. You want these early for several reasons:

1) Promptness: If they are not addressed right away, the prospect might not remember to bring them up and you don’t have the chance to handle the objection.  They will however, remember they’re not digging what you’re pitching.

2) Time Management: If you know early what the prospect is thinking you have the ability to determine if this deal is worth your time.

3) Forecasting: The prospect that “yeaps” you to death is sitting in your forecast (and usually for a long time), yet they never buy.

4) Closing Deals: you may find you’re able to provoke more pain and details when you look for no and that helps you ultimately close the deal faster.

Many reps have a hard time with this because no can feel like a punch in the gut. Think of a no as a positive and the opportunity to do all the above. Prospects also won’t anticipate a rep being ok with a no and actually seeking it out. They are used to sales people getting them to “buy in” or confirm with yeses. Here are two great ways to get no early and often:

1) At the end of each product and/or service you explain, ask the prospect a tie down question.  This is a question formatted in “How do you see yourself using ________ (insert product/service) to help with ________(insert the problem their trying to solve).  You want to ask this at the end of every tool to make sure they are on the same page every step of the way.

2) Ask the prospect to purchase. “Are you ready to get started today?” It’s crucial to include the word today. Otherwise they may say yes but their intent is to start at the end of the year. I love this question because sometimes you do get a yes – great sign them up! Other times I get a no and then I’ve earned the right to ask for more detail. I can find out anything from a hidden competitor, hidden purchasing steps, legal, a fake decision maker, etc. No matter what the answer is to this question I win.

There are times I ask the prospect to buy prematurely and I know they’re not ready. I do this to accelerate the process of finding out what’s left.  A bit of it is gut or instinct because I know while they might be yeaping me, if I ask them to buy, even if it’s too soon, that I’ll get the real answer. I’d rather have this than the deal sitting in my forecast for months on end without closing.

While no may seem counterintuitive to a sale, it’s actually quit productive. Don’t be afraid of no, it’s actually a great tool in your tool belt. Get used to it, get comfortable and start seeking it out! 

Liking these tips? Follow @KADScrambledEgg on Twitter for wisdom on #sales and #salesmanagement.

Open ended questions are the crux of a successful sale. So why aren’t questions such as these enough? Open ended questions are dangerous when you don’t know what you’re looking for. Reps that are taught to ask questions, but not shown what they are looking for will lose creditability with prospects and miss crucial pieces of information.  This is like giving reps a bat and not telling them where or what the piñata is. It is the manager’s responsibility to teach the other pieces of the puzzle. 

I’ve found success to first show reps what they are looking for before teaching them how to ask. In other words, tell them what and where the target is. Are we looking to find out if a prospect has internal power, do they have budget, is there desire and/or motivation to change, etc. If the manager can explain what information a rep is looking for, reps are pretty good at figuring out how to get it. As a manager, we can make the mistake of teaching reps endless amounts of questions. Mostly, reps will do what we ask and they’ll continue to ask unless questions to the prospects. Even after the answer has long since been given, passed and missed by the rep. The risk is the crucial information is squandered and the prospect will grow tired and feel as if they are in an interrogation.  In the prospect’s defense, they probably aren’t too far off!

There is another issue with only teaching open ended questions. Even if the rep understands what they are looking for, they don’t know how to reuse the information. They are great at asking questions and quickly obtaining the answer, but that information never resurfaces again when in fact the answers from the prospect should become the reps vernacular for every conversation thereafter. 

When coaching my reps I use what I call the 3Rs:

Recognize:

First teach reps what is it you want the rep to get. Be specific. For example, if you want the rep to find out if the company has urgency. Does the prospect already have a line item on their budget for such a service/product? If not, are there compelling events they should look for which can be used to build a case (I’ll discuss that under the “reuse” section).  Exactly what type of events do you want them to find, give the rep specific examples. Maybe you want them to find all of the above applicable.

Request:

Give the reps suggested open ended questions they can use to get what you want them to get. I’ve found reps are great at getting what they need once they know where the target is.

Reuse:

What do they do with the information once they have it? Teach them take the buying process customized to the prospect. Show reps how they weave the prospect’s terminology into the solution. If you’ve taught the rep to look for the prospect’s top priority, how do they then reuse this information to drive urgency. Prior to a closing call, ask your rep what the priority for the prospect is. Role play why the deal might delay or what objections they can anticipate. Show them how to use the prospect’s top priority to build urgency or to overcome the objections. This way when the rep is the phone they have all the ammunition and they’re prepared. Bullseye!

While open ended questions are an essential part of sales, they are dangerous on their own. Reps are most efficient when they can see the entire picture and they can sell more when they re-use the information and make the buying process about their prospects.  Give the reps the bat, point them in the right direction of the piñata and let them swing. When they are showered with candy show them how to open it and enjoy the fruits of their labor. 

Liking these tips? Follow @KADScrambledEgg on Twitter for wisdom on #sales and #salesmanagement.

I’ve interviewed lots of sales professionals in my career. I’ve already written about my 7 pet peeves when interviewing candidates. I thought on the alternative side I should write about some of the best questions I’ve heard from candidates. 

First and for most, it’s important for a sales candidate to remember the interview is just as much a discovery process for you as it for the interviewer. Regardless of how much you might need or want the job, an interview is your opportunity to make sure the company is the right match for you. If the interviewer treats the meeting as an interrogation then this might be your first sign it might not be a match. If a sales candidate has some control of the interview (by asking strong questions), this indicates this is how you run your sales meetings as well.

Here is a list of some of the best questions I’ve heard from sales candidates in an interview:

What does it take to be a top performer here?

This tells the interviewer you’re curious about top performs and emulates you view yourself as one as well. The interviewer’s answers will tell you what it takes to succeed in the job.

What characteristics do your top performers have in common?

Again, you’re telling the interviewer you have curiosity around top performers. If the interviewer doesn’t know the characteristics of their top performers - candidates beware. If they don’t know these traits, how can they facilitate the replication of them?

What’s the most common reason a sales rep doesn’t make it?

This tells the interviewer you’re not afraid of asking difficult questions. As the candidate, this will tell you if they know why reps don’t succeed. If they don’t know the reasons or traits a rep fails, how can they facilitate avoiding this in the future?

Tell me about your career path at the company.

We all love to talk about ourselves, even the interviewer. I love this because it tells me the candidate is good at getting me to talk and they will do this in their sales process too. It can also tell the candidate the path to management if this is what you’re interested in.

What is the most common objection you run into?

This is another example of displaying you can ask hard questions. It will also tell you a bit of what the job like on a day to day basis.

Tell me in detail about the training and resources available to the sales reps?

This tells me the sales rep has intellectual curiosity and is coachable. This will also give the candidate an idea of how well the sales team is supported.

What’s your management style?

This demonstrates you’re also looking for something that is a match for you. You’re not looking for just any old job. Top performers have their pick of opportunities and this demonstrates you’re feeling out the position as well.

Why are you hiring for this position?

This is another great example of a hard question. This will also tell you if the company is hiring because of growth or because they have a revolving door.

How did the sales team finish this past month/quarter?

This question tells the interviewer you too are looking for the company’s performance, just as they’ve asked for yours. Don’t be afraid to ask for specifics. How many reps were over 100%? How did the top rep finish?

An interview can be a nerve racking and exciting meeting. Make sure you’re prepared, bring a note book. Read up on the company and get curious. Start asking questions, take notes and think of the interviewer as a prospect you’re qualifying. Happy job hunting….

Liking these tips? Follow @KADScrambledEgg on Twitter for wisdom on #sales and #salesmanagement.

Many of us have been trained for years in sales that calling to the top is the right approach. I’d argue this tactic is now out dated and as sales people we need to change with the times. 

C-level execs have become skilled at blocking out unsolicited calls and emails. They have spam filters, caller IDs and gatekeepers to keep unwanted solicitations out. C-levels also have influencers which they will delegate projects to when they need something researched. Those influencers now have an abundance of information available to them when they want to look. For example, they have Google and their social networks to do their due diligence. C-level prospects are no longer finding out about tools and solutions by a cold call. This is why having an inbound marketing strategy is imperative to any company needing to generate leads.

This is not to say inbound marketing is the only way to penetrate a new account. If a rep is cold calling, it’s still best to call the C-suite and the next level below, essentially the influencer. The influencer below tends to have more flexibility with their calendar than the C-level and can make time for sales calls. If you can get the influencer bought-in they can more easily access and book the C-suites calendar than you can.

I’ve actually tested this theory. At my company, we deal exclusively with inbound leads. Most of frequently these leads originate from some type of whitepaper download or webinar registration. I took one rep, Alexndra Curtiss, as the experimental group. Every lead delivered to her, she didn’t call the influencer. Instead she called right to the C-suite.  In this instance, we know the company is looking to solve some type of pain (it’s an inbound lead so they found us by design when they were looking). We figured since the company was looking, we’d have a good connect and close rate with the c-suite. The control group was the rest of the team who continued to call the influencers who download content.

The results were dramatic. After just 3 weeks and about 100 leads we had to shut the experiment down. The experimental rep had set 1 appointment and nothing in her pipeline. The control group averaged about 18 appointments in the same time frame. While our sales cycle is about 60-90 long, longer than the experiment ran, we tracked to see if any revenue closed. Alexandra won 0 deals by calling exclusively to the top. Some could argue the rep and her sales technique may have played a factor. This could be true, however once back to calling the influencer she finished the next two months over 200%.

One thing we’ve found effective with inbound leads is to ask the following question, “Who asked you to gather information?” The ones who answer their boss, the CEO, the president, etc. are worth your time. If they say they are just looking, be suspicious but also be prepared they might not trust you enough to disclose details. If after several conversations you determine this is truly someone that is a tire kicker, move on.

I’m not arguing one should ignore the C-suite all together. Instead, realize an influencer is now a massive contributor to getting a deal closed. Here are the steps you should take to update how you work the C-suite and influencer in tandem.

1) Call the C-suite first.

2) Then the influencer. Tell the influencer “Oh coincidently enough, I just reached out to _____ this morning”.  Since you’ve already reached out to the C-suite, the influencer can’t play gatekeeper.

3) Work with the influencer through the sales process.

4) Update the C-suite on each step of the sales process regardless if you do or do not receive a response. This builds a relationship with them even if you’re not able to connect directly. You can do this through voicemails and emails.

5) Compliment the influencer in each update to the C-level. This avoids the influencer being upset or feeling you’ve gone around them.

6) By the time the influencer brings you to the C-suite, the exec should be well aware of you.

7) If the deal is to stall, gets side tracked, etc. it won’t be the first time you reach out to the C-suite.

Regardless of what you’ve been told about calling to the top, the technique is old. You can still sell by calling to the c-suite however you’ll need an unsustainable amount of leads to do so. Learn to work with influencers. Learn their job role, make them your partner in crime and turn them into champions. This is the most effective way to increase your closing percentage.