Let’s start with “how valuable is the Discovery process”?  No matter what you sell and who you sell to, the discovery Process is the MOST critical stage of your sales process.  WHY? Because it will help you uncover the unknowns so you tailor your “Value Proposition” and it will help you build your Action Plan / Roadmap to close your sale.

Just a reminder, before I dive into the details of the discovery process, about the fundamental traits a sales professional needs to possess as a foundation in order to be successful.  Use those fundamental traits (Structure, Result-oriented, Goal-driven, Confidence …) to drive your discovery process as you’re going to need them.

What do you do during a discovery session?  It is critical, during discovery, to “ASK BEFORE YOU TELL”.  Asking is the actual discovery part and telling is when you present your tailored “Value Proposition” to your future Customer.  During the discovery process, it is ALL about your future Customer and NOT about you or your product / service so LISTEN very well.  Do NOT talk about the product / service you are selling during the discovery process, unless you’re asked but keep in mind NOT to dive into a lot of details and rather focus only on answering specific questions.

Now, let’s talk about Timing!  So when do you ask your future Customer to hold a discovery session?  It is really driven by the stage you’re at with the opportunity so you might hold the discovery session when the opportunity becomes a lead, or post an RFI (Request for Information), or through an RFP (Request for Proposal), etc.  It is important though if you could hold the discovery session post qualifying your lead which means, as early as possible.  But, there is nothing wrong with asking and pushing for a discovery session, at ANY time in the sales process, WHY?  Because it is important to present a tailored “VALUE Proposition” to address your prospect’s specific needs and not shoot in the dark and provide a “one-size-fit-all” presentation.  At times, I asked my prospects to hold a discovery post RFP / shortlist and I got rejections while other times, I got pretty much good acceptance from prospects because they wanted to capitalize on the best value possible (time, value, etc.)  Use your confidence to ask for a discovery session as the worst they could do say is “NO” if it is too late in the process but at least you try, so don’t be shy or think it is inappropriate.

In order to be successful and achieve the desired results in your discovery process, your discovery questions must focus on two specific areas:

• Product and/or Services you are selling – “Value Proposition”
• Roadmap for your sales success

Keep in mind that discovery is NOT about identifying the Knowns like:

• System in use
• How long it’s been used
• What interfaces needs to be built
• How many departments will be using your software
• How many users and their job function …

The above items are known and could be discovered through other means including your market analysis and understanding, some research, etc.  The intent behind the discovery process is very simple:

• Uncover the “unknown” so you could differentiate yourself from the competition
• Build a Trust relationship – Consultative Selling
• Show that your Company is professional, structured, and prepared and willing to invest valuable time that is important to both parties
• Position your product / service as the best option to your future Customer
• Tailor your “Value Proposition” based on the collected answers

BTW, I am assuming all along, when talking about discovery, that your “Value Message” is fully defined and you know how to pitch it very well.  So have your “Value Message” drive some of your discovery questions and based on the answers provided by your prospect, you can tailor your “Value Proposition” accordingly.

Now, what type of questions do you need to ask so you can uncover the unknown?  Definitely “open ended” & “provoking” questions as Keenan provided some examples of open ended and provoking questions.  Here’s another sample of discovery questions, provided by Kelley Robertson, and there are many more questions out there, but at the end make them yours.  Even though you use Structure to drive your discovery process, the order of using your questions needs to be dynamic so you could challenge your prospect and make him/her think when they provide a response to your questions – Always think of your “Value Message”.  These types of questions could help your prospect realize the impact of decision / action / “status quo” is having on their business.  These types of questions make the prospect feel the pains he/she is experiencing with their current system or business processes.

Time to talk about your Audience!  Do you drive your Value Proposition to IT only or do you drive it to End Users only?  Your Value Proposition must cater to ALL levels of stakeholders (IT, End Users, Supervisors, Managers, and Executives) and definitely to those that have impact on the purchasing decision process.

Once you guide your prospect through the discovery process, things become CLEAR to both of you and through Clarity, you can succeed.  The discovery outcome is your roadmap to a successful sale so make the best out of it to position your product and/or services as the best option for your future customer.

Do NOT let your competition discover their way to your prospects – Get ahead of them.

 

“What makes YOU fail or succeed as a Sales Professional?”

TRUST ME, it starts & ends with ONLY YOU as sales failures could be due to many reasons / factors / etc. (We WIN some & LOSE some – It’s life) but YOU, as a Sales Professional, can ONLY fail because of YOU so “LOOK WITHIN” as a starting point.  Evaluate whether you have the foundation, YES, I am talking here about the “Traits” first and above all.  Let’s review the Traits in a different manner to assess if they attribute to your personal success or failure:

• Being Coach-able

What if you consider your Manager’s input as interference in your way of doing things and you never listen to their advice?  What if when you fail to close a deal, you never learn from the reasons why you lost the deal?  What if you do NOT learn from the mistakes you have done on some of the deals?  What if you do not learn from others’ mistakes?  …

Regardless of the stage of your sales career, you MUST be open for new ideas, new thoughts, and new approaches to help you succeed in climbing that success pole that never ends.  Never limit yourself – “Limitations live ONLY in our minds but if we use our imagination, Possibilities become Limitless”, Jamie Paolinetti.  Understanding, learning, and adapting is the foundation for anyone’s success.

• Structured (Thinking / Process / Focus / Habits …)

What if you do not have a structure when approaching your sales approach and each opportunity individually?  What if you wait for things to fall on your desk and only act in a reactive mode to sales opportunities?  What if you wait for prospects to call you?  What if you do not have a structured follow-up process post your meetings, presentations, conferences, calls, etc.?  …

When you’re not structured and unorganized, you not only have a problem closing new sale, but you will end up losing business because of poor follow-up, structure and opportunity-based planning.  This is at best, sales complacency that will KILL you as a Sales Professional.

• Hard working

Imagine you ONLY work from 9:00 to 5:00!  What if you do not have the drive to close deals and be successful?  Imagine you wait for opportunities to land on your desk!  What if you fill your pipeline with unrealistic leads and opportunities?  …

Not sure if I will call it hard working but rather hardly working or poor time management or poor work ethics but as a Sales Professional, you should never be driven by a set of work timeframe.  Put every effort possible to make it real for you and your company as a lot of jobs depend on the sale being successful.

• Confident

What if you’re afraid to make cold calls within your territory?  What if you take rejection on deals personal against you?  What if you do NOT have the confidence to ask for the sale?  What if you not have the confidence to have your prospect’s commitment to a sale? …

If you do NOT believe in yourself then prospect will also have difficulties believing in you and they will see through you with every interaction you have with them.  Prospects will only buy from people they TRUST.  Confidence is a fundamental trait to help you deal with rejections and obstacles and drive stronger commitments from your prospects.

• Result-Driven / Goal-Oriented = Takes responsibility for their Results

Imagine you do not know where your opportunity is in the sales cycle!  What if you cannot prioritize your opportunities and fish where the fish truly are?  Imagine you do not know what you want to accomplish and how to accomplish it opportunity-wise or territory-wise!  What if you do NOT ask for the sale/business, would you ever know where you stand against the competition or would you ever learn how to adjust your sales approach to close the sale? …

Make sure your goals are clear, measurable, achievable, and based on set timeframes.  Be realistic with every opportunity so you can close on time.  As a Sales Professional, you need to visualize your target, determine how you will achieve your goal, and take actions with specific mini-results in mind.

• Empathetic

What if you do not address your prospect’s specific needs by throwing the same stuff you throw at everyone else?  What if you do not understand your prospect’s pains and potential gains with your proposed solution? …

It’s ALL about your “Value Proposition” and how it will meet your prospect’s immediate and long term needs.  With empathy, you show that listening is more important than talking as it reflects a genuine care for others.  The lifetime value of an ideal Customer is much more important than the quick sale.

• Honest

What if you keep telling your prospect “Let me be honest with you”?  What if you focus on the quick sale and lack the truth and honesty? …

Not a lot to say about this trait – It only comes from WITHIN.

• Passionate

Imagine you do not have the passion for the product / service you’re selling?  What if you do not believe in what you’re selling?  What if you do not know very well the product / service you are selling?  What if you do not have the passion to meet and exceed your goals? …

Your prospects will see through if you do not have the passion for what you are selling.  Your Manger will see through as well if you do not have the passion for the job.  Go find your passion.

Every time I write an article, I focus on the “LOOK WITHIN” area, but I say it a bit differently, as it is so important for you as a Sales Professional.  Once you have the foundation, learning the REST (tools and techniques) becomes an easy process.

Now, if you let your Traits drive your sales interactions where you have done everything in your power to incorporate the Tools & Techniques, and you still face loses then it might be time for you to move on as the grass might be greener somewhere else.

What makes some Sales Reps so successful time in and time out while other Sales Reps keep on failing?

Personally I have few traits that I believe differentiate an extraordinary sales rep from a moderate one but I would like to definitely focus on what industry experts say first.  Here are some characteristics of good sales representatives:

• Set big goals
• Enthusiastic
• Hard workers
• Persistent
• Great listeners
• Lots of passion
• Empathy
• Focus
• Collaborate
• Responsible
• Optimism
• Ego-driven
• Goal setters
• Planning before cold calling
• Ask quality questions
• Keep in touch with their clients
• Tenacity
• Confidence
• And many more

When I look at any individual, I always try to separate the traits / skills, which you can NEVER be taught, from the tools and techniques.  The Traits / Skills are typically the foundation for everything you do as they reflect the “LOOK WITHIN” motto that I keep talking about.

Sales Reps MUST possess the traits in order to be successful and they should have the most important characteristic of ALL: “Be COACH-ABLE”, Yes coach-able because if they’re not then there is nothing that could help them get out of their bad habits, learn from their mistake and earn the $ they want every year.  Coach-able goes hand-in-hand with TRUE listening skills.

Coach-ability reflects your ability to listen, learn and evolve so you could be more successful. During my career, I have met an extraordinary gentlemen who is the Executive Vice President of Sales where he brought the Value Selling Proposition and new selling techniques to the Sales Team.  Some of us kept joking about drinking his “Kool-Aid” and if you don’t enjoy drinking it then you will not be around forever.  The “Kool-Aid” for us, funny guys, was truly our reference to being coach-able and have the ability to learn new processes so we could get better consistently.  NOT drinking the “Kool-Aid” gave him a clearer indication that you’re potentially an uncoachable individual.  If he ever faced some resistance from some Sales Reps, he did let them do what they believed is right but the monthly, quarterly, and annual achievements spoke to the expected end results.

Learning is important to any individual, don’t you agree? Without learning, you would have been doing something totally different in life and not reading this article!

I am NOT talking about tools and techniques here but I personally believe that the fundamental Traits a Sales Rep MUST possess are:

• Being Coach-able;
• Structured (Thinking / Process / Focus / Habits …);
• Hard working;
• Confident;
• Result-Driven / Goal-Oriented = Takes responsibility for their Results;
• Empathetic;
• Honest; and
• Passionate.

The above Traits somewhat remind me of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) definition of a Project Manager as they define a Project Manager as an individual that is “organized, passionate and goal-oriented“. Now, let us look at the above Traits of a successful Sales Rep:

• Coach-able
  Why did I list coach-able as the number one? Unless you are PERFECT, which does not exist in any profession, learning is vital to your improvement and success.  Being coach-able starts from WITHIN first as you MUST evaluate every win, loss, and stall you come across during a sales process to learn from it so you could repeat the good and adjust the things that are not working.

Learning and mastering the tools of techniques and adjusting the behavior are driven by how coach-able we are as individuals.  When you possess the foundation, the rest is nothing but a learning process.  Look at it from a different angle, do you think you could learn how to:

1. Set big, realistic, and accurate goals through lessons learned, through trial and error, with guidance from your peers or manager, …
2. Be persistent so when your sale reaches a stall you become persistently creative in your approach.
3. Qualify your opportunities harder so you could spend your time where your fish are and not spending hours in the same spot with no fish around.
4. Be a Great Listener since sometime we get carried away / excited and we talk more than we ever listen.
5. Ask quality questions by taking the discovery model to your meetings and uncover the unknown rather than the known and basic stuff …

Of course you can, if you are coach-able.

Being coach-able is to do something different than you’ve ever done it before – It’s the “Kool-Aid”.  If you are asked to do something in a certain way, do it that way even if you have always done in a different way.

• Structured

You have to have a structured mind and process in every step of your sales process while building your sales strategy, to establishing your overall action plan, to individualizing your strategy for each opportunity, etc. Successful Sales Reps are very well organized.

Structure, organization, and efficiency drive a Sales Rep to be more conscientious about their work and take pride in what they do. Through structure, you can systematically lead your prospects through YOUR sales process and follow through.

• Hard Working & NOT Hardly Working

There is NO TIME LIMIT for a Sales Rep as it is NOT a 9 to 5 job – It’s a career, your compensation and your future.  Successful Sales Reps have a strong work ethic and do what it takes to get the job done, regardless of whether they are on vacation or at night or the weekend.  They should be willing to roll up their sleeves and work long hours to reach and surpass their goals.  When you are Goal-oriented & Result-driven the hard work is given.

Hard working Sales Rep relates to being independent and focused on knowing what they want to over-achieve.  Hard working Sales Reps will take all measures, available to them, to make their job a successful reality.  Successful Sales Reps are self-motivators as they can build themselves up to do a lot more then what has been set by others for them.  Independent Sales Reps do not have to be thanked for success as they feel the satisfaction from “WITHIN”.

Sales Reps should over commit and over deliver every time so they reap the benefits of their hard work.

• Confident

Sales is not a stroll in the park as you will be faced with continuous rejections and you must possess the confidence to know that it is NEVER personal.

As a Sales Rep, you cannot have thin skin because rejection is a common place in sales.  Sales Reps hear the word “NO” all the time, but successful Sales Reps have the confidence to take “NO” as a challenge and not as a personal rejection.

With confidence, walk into every meeting whether internal or external.  With confidence, walk into every presentation.  With confidence, make your calls. With confidence talk to people.  Notice, I have said “Confidence” & NOT arrogance!

• Result-Driven / Goal-Oriented

How can you be in sales without Goals and Results?  You know you have quota to meet, every quarter and every year, but I would actually say “you know you have quota to exceed as people set your quota and you need to aim for higher targets! unless their quota setting is totally unrealistic based on many factors”.

Successful Sales Reps know what they want to accomplish and they plan to achieve their goals through result-driven steps and action plans.  They make sure their goals are clear, measurable, achievable, and based on set timeframes. Results & goals, go hand-in-hand with structure as successful Sales Reps visualize their target, determine how they will achieve their goal through structure, and take actions to meet there goal.

Maintain your focus on achieving your goals by reaching smaller results every step of the way.

• Empathetic

Empathy is the ability to identify with prospects, to feel what they are feeling and make them feel respected.  You have to relate to the prospects on a personal level and support them through their selection process.  Personal empathy is an essential quality for a Sales Rep.  Through empathy, you can gain trust and establish rapport with your prospects.  Empathy allows a Sales Rep to read the prospects very well, show concern, and clearly demonstrate interest in providing them with the right solution.

With empathy, you show that listening is more important than talking as it reflects a genuine care for others.  The lifetime value of an ideal Customer is much more important than the quick sale, so empathy is crucial.

• Honesty & Integrity

Honesty & integrity are fundamental to your sales process.  No one can teach you how to be honest as it has to come from “WITHIN”, bring integrity to your process and build the trust with the prospect.  Do NOT mislead a prospect because of a quick sale as you will pay the consequences in the LONG haul.  You will be haunted forever, as peers do talk on many occasions, and you will never get another sale in the industry if you are dishonest.  Sales is NOT about the immediate win but the LONG TERM value of having references so use your Honesty & Integrity in everything you do.

Bring integrity and honesty to the sales process and you will build the TRUST needed to offer a consultative model and go to the next steps.  Wouldn’t it make you feel so good and proud of your actions and achievements when a prospect, now a customer, talks about you and your sales process in the following manner?

“Richard represents the company in an exceptional manner.  He is quite the expert and he really has the respect of those he works with … – Julie”

“The sales portion of our project was outstanding … – Neal”

That makes me feel so proud of ME and what I bring to my prospects.  It is ALL about ETHICS, my friend so TRULY live by your values.

• Passion

Successful Sales Reps actually enjoy their sales job and if they hate it, they should take on another career.  Keep in mind that passion is NOT ONLY about your job, whether you like it or not, and the passion to be successful, it is also about the passion for what you are selling.

When you’re talking to your prospects and during your presentations, it will clearly show whether you have the passion for what you’re selling or not.  Sales Rep should be passionate about the products or services they’re selling.  If they’re on board with the Value Message then they can excitedly share that vision with their prospects.

Passion should be clear in your voice during a telephone call, in your responses to proposals, in your presentations and definitely, in your regular communication with your prospects.

Passion is like creativity – It cannot be faked so it has to come from “WITHIN” and resonate with your prospects.

Summary
How can you be successful as a Sales Rep?  Just look at the traits I have listed and evaluate whether you have them or not then use the tools and techniques by learning them through many means based on the foundation of being coach-able.

VALUE SELLING

What is Value Selling?

Value Selling is the promise of value to be delivered through the product or service you are selling.  It represents the primary reason WHY a prospect should buy from you.

What is a Value Message?

A Value Message is NOT a slogan but rather a CLEAR statement that is:

• Relevant – It clearly explains how your product or service solves your prospects’ problems or improves their operation.
• Quantifiable – It delivers specific benefits and value to your prospects.
• Unique – It outlines to your prospects why they should buy from you and not from the competition.

As a first step, evaluate the product or service you are selling and determine if you can create the “Value Message”.  To define your “Value Message”, start by answering the following questions:

• What product or service are you selling and who is your competition?
• What makes your product or service unique in your industry?
• What are the values and benefits of using your product or service?

Keep in mind that a great Value Message:

• Is CLEAR.
• Is EASY to understand in about 30 seconds or less.
• Can quantify the results from buying your product or service.
• Outlines the differentiator(s) against your competitors’ offerings.
• Resonates with your prospects.

What is a Value Proposition?

A Value Proposition is a promise of value that is based on a collection of reasons as to why a prospect should buy your offerings.  The Value Proposition should convince a prospect that your solution or service will add more value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings in the industry and brings unique quantifiable value to your prospects.  If you believe that Value Proposition is just a statement, then you have a lot of work ahead to do.

So the “Value Proposition” is to take the “Value Message” and deliver it using the “Ethos, Logos, Pathos” method, as defined by the Greek Philosopher Aristotle, where your goal is to persuade your audience that the product or service you are selling bring value than your competitors in the industry.

Where do you Pitch Your Value Proposition?

Once your “Value Message” and “Value Proposition” are defined, it is time to know who your target market is.  For example, you CANNOT sell a Mercedes McLaren to somebody who makes $25,000 a year nor can you sell a VW Beetle to someone who wants a Mercedes McLaren – It just does not make sense so FIND your sweet spot and ideal customer.  The Message and Proposition in your territory have to be founded on:

• Target Market; and
• Competitive landscape.

So, the first step is to tart with a complete analysis of your Territory so you could have a “360 View” of where, when, and how to pitch your Value Proposition.

Should your Value Message & Value Proposition CHANGE?

Yes, ONLY if your product or service evolve and bring more values to your prospects otherwise; I believe your “Value Message” should NEVER change as it is about who you are, what you offer, and what value you bring to your prospects.

Your “Value Proposition”, on the other hand, should evolve based on specific prospects’ needs as one-size-fits-all approach will NEVER work in every instance and therefore you must evolve your Value Proposition to make it successful.  Make your “Value Proposition” configurable to each and every opportunity.  Now, how do you that?

Could Consultative Selling & Value Proposition Relate?

Let’s us first examine the definition of Consultative Selling.  Consultative Selling is an exchange of value between two parties as it includes one-on-one interaction between the Sales Rep and a prospect where the Sales Rep acts as consultant and not an aggressive and disorganized Rep with poor knowledge of the industry and the product he or she is selling.  Through Consultative Selling, a Sales Representative, acting as a consultant, MUST:

• Have expertise in the industry and related discussion subject.
• Ask the right questions to fully understand the prospect’s values, factors, fears, and needs while a Business Consultant asks more of direct questions to help them understand processes, existing environment, etc.
• Build the TRUST as you must always maintain your prospect’s best interest first. Do NOT talk about your offering during this process as it NOT about you but rather it is ALL about your prospect.
• Formulate solutions / propositions that can help your prospect see the value your product or service brings to them.

Through Consultative Selling, a Sales Representative must use a discovery-style approach to asking consultative questions to help them uncover not only the known but also the unknown.  Many times, the known are gathered through research so there is nothing wrong with asking open-ended and provocative questions during your Consultative Selling process to help you uncover the unknowns you desperately need to know to help you build a proper and successful Value Proposition.

The unknowns, you find in the discovery process, will help you configure and position your Value Proposition to your prospect’s specific needs.  So now you see that Consultative Selling and Value Proposition go hand-in-hand together.

In any process, there are multiple steps that get you to the end result.  Each step is somewhat independent of the others, yet they are linked and dependent on the completion of prior steps.  It reminds me of the Waterfall Methodology in Project Management.

Many people talk about the “Sales Process”, and they frame it as it is independent of ALL other processes a company goes through – In my humble opinion, that is NOT TRUE.  “Sales” depends on ALL other departments (R&D, Implementation, Support …) to be successful as there will be no “Sale” without strong product, successful implementations, happy Customers and references while ALL other departments depend on Sales so businesses can survive and grow.

As a Sales Rep, is “your sale done when a contract is executed”?  The answer may vary depending on the type of sales approach you use as a Sales Rep.

I personally believe the sales process should never ends with an executed contract.

Richard