So how do you sell to your customer?  How can you close more deals?

How do you teach your sales team to accomplish both of these?

These are the age-old questions the companies ask over and over and challenge their salespeople on.  The problem is the questions themselves are based on the wrong premise.  And because they have the wrong premise you as a salesperson end up building an entire set of behaviors and patterns that are actually counterintuitive to growing your business.

Over 90% of all presentation and marketing materials that we review for corporations focus on who we are, what we do, and what we can do for you.  That's about as interesting to your prospect as asking if they would like a root canal.

You most likely have your company telling you to be a relationship builder and a solution provider for your clients.  Again this way of thinking causes problems.  It starts with the premise that you're on the opposite side of the fence as the client and that your goal is to get them to walk across the bridge to you.  It also assumes that your client understands the problem or issue that they face. When you think “I am a solution provider” your brain LISTENS to the client trying to find the spot where it says, “here is how my solution fits you”. This leads you to often stop at partial solutions, to uncover only symptoms and not the root of the problem, and to become a “problem solver” at the meeting.  Essentially you start giving your expertise away for free.

In today's market with limited amount of time what you really need is the ability to communicate transformationally even while your client is thinking transactionally.  You see it is not about providing a solution. It's about excavating to find the root of the problem so you're able to not just satisfy your customer but instead you become embedded in your customer’s success.

This requires that you're able to think from your customer’s perspective and not yours.  As an excellent salesperson you need to be able to present, negotiate, manage, and write in a compelling fashion that demonstrates your expertise and magnetically draws a customer to you. Four skills that are essential to each sales person’s success.

The problem is that in most corporations these four key skills are never taught in an approach that ties them solidly together in ONE integrated approach.  This is relevant because only when they are congruent can you see how they relate to each other, to the customer, and to your corporate culture.

When you have these skills learned through typical training your salespeople are taught the proper “behavior” to exhibit.  But this type of training never sticks and you end up spending lots of money on training, turn over, and lost opportunity.

Why does the typical training in these areas not work?

Because your behavior is driven by your beliefs.  You always behave in a manner that correlates with your own beliefs.  So if you do not examine what your beliefs are about the customer, about how to present to them, how to negotiate with them, about your corporate culture and your industry, then you will never learn how to think independently so that you speak in a congruent manner.

In this sense most training is much like dieting.  What is the latest fad and how fast can I lose the weight?  And it doesn't take too long before the weight slowly creeps back on because the beliefs about dieting and exercise were never addressed.

The Outcome Focus™ Approach is all about how to communicate so you draw people to action.  If you're to be successful in sales then everything from your marketing materials to your proposals need to be designed to make your customer successful, not to make your company look good.

You see if your sales team is truly operating at the highest level they are not only helping customers buy but they are also acting as a research branch by bringing back to you missed opportunities for products or services to meet client needs.  These lost opportunities alone can be costing you millions of dollars!

On top of that you have a lot of lost time where sales people are presenting when they shouldn’t be.  Essentially their sales presentation becomes a way to weed you out, not in. But how do you get past that?

As a sales manager having these skills wrapped in one approach means your entire sales force becomes aligned with one consistent message delivered in their own sincere character and integrity.  It means your sales force understands how to think independently. 

Utilizing the Outcome Focus™ Approach has helped corporations shorten their sales time by one third, increase their closing ratio by over 30%, and cross sell due to better listening skills and a stronger partnership with the client.

The question is what is the lack of a unified approach costing you?  LEARN MORE»»