Seven Insights about Revenue Acceleration: A Sales 2.0 Conference Recap | Sales 2.0 Conference

Seven Insights about Revenue Acceleration: A Sales 2.0 Conference Recap | Sales 2.0 Conference

Consultative Selling vs Tin Shifting

If you could sustainably shift enough tin – you could earn a very nice living thank-you. So why is the term “Tin Shifter” so sneered at?

In the good old days of IT Sales – before say year 2000, Tin Shifting is something that many resellers were good at and indeed made a lot of money doing . Some would say too much money. Money earned due to being in the right place at the right time and being able to transact orders perhaps generated some jealousy in some quarters. The more significant reason that Tin Shifting passed its sell by date is that the “easy money” attracted competition – lots of it. So much so that Tin Shifting  became harder to achieve without giving margin away to win the business.

The obvious answer was to move away from selling tin (IT Hardware). Selling Services became the goal of many organisations who enthusiastically re-invented themselves as service providers. Many got this completely wrong. They discovered that their customer base could not consume enough services and that despite popular belief, the margins to be made were not as lucrative as they first thought. This was due to the fact that service delivery carries real costs and the world of service delivery is susceptible to market forces and competition just the same as the world of hardware.

The fact is customers need tin and services (not to mention software). So how can IT suppliers “shift” all of these things, win over the competition and make some money in the process? The answer is to focus on the customer – not on the product – whether this is tin, services or otherwise.

Focus on the customer, help him figure out his needs and explore solutions. Build strong relationships and increase your influence. Use your relationships to help determine the right technologies and services for your customer – and influence them to buy  from you.  This is the essence of Consultative Selling and if you do it right, you can shift some tin in the process and a lot more besides.

Before you start selling anything, you have got to get it. Start here www.2decipher.com

IT Sales – bit by bit

It’s a lot like the old adage about eating an elephant (one bite at a time). Selling is very similar in that it takes a number of steps to reach the end goal.

At each stage of the sales process you need to be clear about what you are trying to achieve. Invariably – the goal is to move the deal forwards – closing only comes at the end. So don’t get hung up about closing (although when you get there – don’t forget to ask for the PO!).

For example – if you are prospecting for new customers – offering products the first chance you get may be counter-productive. They have got to get to know you a little first. People buy from people – not from strangers.

As you build relationships, you also need to build trust. One good way of doing this is to ask questions and show that you want to know more about your customer and his situation. In IT Sales – the customer’s situation will include business and technical considerations – so build some knowledge and confidence in both these areas. You do not need to be a business or technical expert – but do need to hold credible conversations within these environments.

One great side effect of being clear about the next step in the sales process – is that you can track success even before you sell anything. Gaining commitment for a follow up call – that is success. Discovering an upcoming project – that is success. Finding new contacts – that is success. Once in the habit of success – great sales results are sure to follow.

Sales Superstardom – it’s all in the swing

You may think that your role in IT Sales is to sell more. This is not the case. It may well be your goal – but not your role. Let me explain.

Perhaps an analogy will help. It’s like in sport – let’s say golf. When you tee off on a long hole – you may think your role is to hit the ball hard so you can achieve the long distance. Wrong. If you focus on hitting the ball hard – you are likely to miss hit it and perhaps with embarrassing results. The key with golf – or indeed most sports – is to focus on using the right technique. With golf - it’s all in the swing.

So in sales, with a goal to sell more, where should you focus to maximise your results?

A good sales swing comes from focusing on buyers – not on selling products. No buyer means no sale. Or put another way – you cannot sell anything – unless you are engaged with a buyer who wishes to buy from you. It sounds obvious – but the implications are enormous. Your role is not to sell stuff – it is to firstly find a buyer – qualify that he has a real need and that you have products or services which address the need – then influence him to spend his money with you. If you succeed in this with enough customers – you will achieve your sales goals.

To improve your sales technique, think about the steps a customer goes through to make a purchase and figure out how to help him want to buy from you. Note that customers will follow this process with or without you. Your role is to make it with you.

We can break down the process as follows:

Need

Every purchase begins with a need. In order to increase your pipeline – you must identify more customers with a qualified need. The only way to do this is to talk to many customers. It is still a numbers game in sales! The key is to ask open questions about their situation and challenges they face. In the process, you will uncover needs which your products and services may be able to address.

Specify

The customer will be faced with many choices both in terms of technology and vendors to work with. Your role here is to help advise him. Get closer to him and build your relationships and trust. By introducing technical expertise and helping your customer narrow his options by making informed choices – you can increase your influence.

Choose

By the time your customer comes to choosing – technologies and supplier – the influence you have built will greatly increase your chances of winning the deal.

Buy

At this stage, the deal is hopefully yours . You will need to ensure everything is lined up in your favour – which includes the customers trust that you can deliver, the right products and services in place and of course – the right price. Don’t forget to ask for the PO!

There are many techniques and skills required to be a sales superstar – but unless you keep your customer and his needs at the centre of what you do – you’ll find your pipe-line turns into a pipe-dream.

What, Why, Who – the foundations for IT solution selling

If you are in IT sales, by definition you need to sell more technology (and probably services) to achieve your target.

Most of the time, achieving your sales target is going to be a stretch. If this is not the case for you – you can stop reading now. Mmm – I see you are still reading. Good. 

There are two main approaches to this challenge. The first is playing the numbers game – call more customers and ask them what they need. This does work but it will only get you so far. You will only skim the surface of the opportunity available to you. If you are early in your sales career – this may be a good start, but it’s not sustainable. Not if you have ambition to be a sales superstar.

The second approach is still a numbers game - you still need to speak to many customers – but it’s smarter because you take a more consultative approach. In consultative selling, you don’t focus on the products or services you would like to sell – instead, you focus on the customer.

Once you understand your customer’s situation more fully you will be in a better position to offer solutions to their problems comprising of your products and services. I will cover Consultative Selling in another post – but there is some groundwork you need to put in place first to maximise your chances of success. You need to understand the three W’s of the solutions you have to offer.

What , Why , Who - The Foundations for IT Solution selling

What

What is it? This refers to the technology or services in your portfolio. Step 1 is to understand what you have on offer. Of course, there will be many technologies that you are already successfully selling and I am sure you know at least a little about them. However, to grow your sales smartly, you need to broaden your personal portfolio. Learn about new technologies and services and so broaden your conversations with customers. The beauty of this is that you can have new conversations with existing customers. And we all know these are easier than with people that don’t know you at all.

2DeCipher.com is a great place to explore technologies which you can add to your personal portfolio.

Why

Why is it needed? This may vary depending on your target market. So if for instance you predominantly sell to mid-sized businesses, or schools, or hospitals or whatever – what are the hot buttons for these types of customer which means they will be interested in this technology area? The “why” of a solution links directly to business value, which means you need to find out about your customer’s business to make these links. Understanding why a particular technology will be of value to verticals or segments in your customer base naturally leads to the third W and dictates who you might start calling to look for new opportunities.

Who

Who needs it? At this level, we are not talking about market segments. You need to find out specifically if the customer you are about to speak to has a need for one of your solution offerings. The fact is you won’t know until you speak with them. The consultative approach is to find out about their situation and have a range of technologies in your personal portfolio which you can bring into conversation as and when appropriate.

In consultative selling it is always customer first – solution second (when appropriate).

www.2decipher.com will help you explore a growing range of technology solutions which you can add to your personal portfolio.

Head in the Cloud

Cloud Computing is a term which has come into fashion over the past few years. It means different things to different people and is used so broadly that it can be hard to make sense of exactly what it is. There is debate as to whether "Cloud" is even a new phenomenon or just a new name for a trend in IT which has been happening for many years - namely to think of IT as providing services - rather than consisting of a system of hardware and software solutions.

For the complete article - head for www.2decipher.com/cloud

To succeed in IT Sales – get more technical.

I know a lot of you reading this will be cringing at the idea that you need to become more technically proficient to succeed in IT Sales. I have heard it said many times – “I will never hire a techy for a sales role – it just never works”. I have also heard successful IT Sales people positively balk at the idea that they may have a technical streak in their character. “I don’t do technology – it’s dirty”. “People buy from people – I don’t need to be technical”.

So just what is going on – and why should you care anyway?

Well here is the thing. You cannot successfully sell to someone unless you can uncover some sort of need and therefore demonstrate that the solution you are offering provides some value. I will return to this in a future blog post. The point here is that you need to uncover a need – and in IT – this is likely to be couched in technology. It could be quite complex.

 So if you don’t have an appreciation of your customer’s environment and how the products and services at your disposal might help address the need – how would you spot there is an opportunity and know how to take it to the next stage?

Of course you say, I have technical pre-sales help for that sort of thing. Very true. But can you really afford to have pre-sales with you at every customer encounter?

When I speak to those successful IT sales folks who would rather die than admit technical knowledge – invariably, they actually do know their stuff. I firmly believe that to succeed in IT Sales (and I am referring to solution sales rather than simple commodity products) – an appreciation of technology and your customer’s situation can be a real help.

You don’t have to be a technical expert – but become a bit more tech savvy. Technology is changing all the time – and if you don’t get it – how can you sell it?

2DeCipher is an expanding and free resource to help you become a bit more tech savvy. Why not pay a visit now  http://www.2decipher.com/

IT Sales Blog - What is IT about?

Having worked in the IT Industry for over 20 years, I am still amazed by the rate of change as new technology emerges. However, if you look under the covers, there are also some constants. The first is that the fundamental role of information technology is to enable businesses - to do business. Whether you are in a commercial or public sector environment - this remains true.

The second constant is that the industry which supplies the technology is itself hungry to do business - to provide new IT to customers. In order to accelerate the consumption of technology there is a continuous cycle of refresh, of new technology and jargon, of finding and articulating better, smarter and faster ways of doing things. Some technologies, like server virtualisation, really have delivered on the promise. Others may not live up to the hype so well.

If you are in IT Sales and are baffled by some of the jargon or just struggling to keep up with technology - why not have a browse now? You can also access a range of instructional videos on the 2DeCipher YouTube channel - here.