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Principle Based Selling

      Selling is all about listening, not talking. Principle based selling is about uncovering and meeting your customer’s real needs.
      Before learning about effective sales strategies, let’s spend a few minutes thinking about who needs to learn about principle based selling. Are you looking for a job? Do you want to build your business or improve the results in your department? Do you want to raise funds for your nonprofit or increase the membership in your church? Are you interested in finding a husband or wife? Do you want to teach your children to become successful, happy or to have certain values?
      Almost anything you do will require you to explore the needs of others and to share with them your products, services, ideas and beliefs. The strategies behind principle based selling can benefit everyone.

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Outserving the Competition

      Success in sales is about uncovering your customer’s needs, asking the right questions, really listening to their answers, hearing what is actually being said, then out serving the competition in the best interest of your customer.

  • Do you uncover and really meet your customer’s real needs?
  • Do you understand their hopes, their dreams, their goals, their vision?
  • Are you willing to share part of their load?
  • Do you help them get where they are going?
  • Do you retreat in the face of tough competition …
    … or do you stay with the customer to meet their real needs?
  • Do you calm your customer’s fears and solve their problems?

If you are a weak nice guy, the competition will eat you alive. If you are not afraid to enter the temple, drive out the money changers, confront your competition’s lies and genuinely meet your customer’s needs, you will always out serve the competition? You will reach down inside yourself, no longer a wimp, and find the strength to knock out the bully attacking your girl and she will become your wife. (George McGrath, Back to the Future II).

Your Destiny

        Inside each of us is a purpose, a destiny, a vision for our lives. You want to uncover and believe in your destiny. Your sales success will flow from your purpose in life. When your purpose is clear it can provide a driving force that extends down to planning for and completing each sales call. 
       Is your life’s purpose clear in your mind? If so, you will have greater success uncovering the needs and goals for those you serve. As your outstanding service meets the needs of your customers, you will have increasing success with your sales efforts. 

       This is true at home, on the job, in the competitive sales world or building your business.
      Your vision is to be an accountant serving small businesses. You see yourself doing taxes, answering questions, paying attention to the details and meeting your customers’ needs even before they are aware of the problems they face. The driving force inside you enables you to put in 14 hour days, to double check your calculations, to know about the regulations and to genuinely meet your customers’ needs.

Sales Success

        Much of your sales success will come from identifying the “good ground” prospects and spending your time cultivating them. Time spent with “wayside,” “stony ground” or “thorny ground” prospects is likely to bear little fruit. 
       Do you have a clear picture as to what a ‘good’ prospect looks like? What are their needs? Do you know how to meet these needs? What do the 20% of your customers who give you 80% of your business look like? What about your product or service satisfies their needs over what the competition offers? Target these prospects carefully. Plant seeds with smaller prospects, but spend most of your time targeting, tilling and watering the top 20%. 

       We will explore many strategies for success in selling. Right now let’s consider one of the most powerful strategies we know. After you have identified “good ground” prospects, pray for favor and wisdom with each prospect. Ask to discern their real needs and to present a compelling case. When a presentation isn’t going well, excuse yourself briefly. Turn the situation over to God in prayer. If you pray with a sincere heart, amazing things can happen.

Selling Among Wolves

        Much of the training in the next section has been adopted with permission (years ago, Brent Long) from Selling Among Wolves. For a more complete look at these dynamic, biblically based concepts, buy the book, including shipping and handling for $20, or at a Cooperative Effort meeting for $17.50. Call 614-885-0000. 
        Selling Among Wolves, now God’s Business Secrets, offers an audio coaching program, customized sales training, local support and career opportunities. Visit God’s Business Secrets to learn more. 

        For several years Warren participated in a Columbus chapter of Selling Among Wolves, attending 7:30 am meetings and a Boot Camp and meeting many great people. He continues to use the strategies he learned, now that his primary focus is on developing Chimorel. You are encouraged to explore this excellent sales training program.

Strategy, Skill, Motivation, Principles

      You are beginning to build the foundation for your ability to sell. This foundation will be based on strategy, skill, motivation and principles. 
        Your Strategy will be based on your knowledge of your product/service, your competition, your industry, the skills of your trade and your customers/prospects. Are you an expert regarding your product/service? Do you know your competition’s strategies and how to neutralize them? Do you understand the trends and issues of your industry? As a salesperson do you have a well-planned questioning strategy? Do you know how to create a climate of trust and how to close? How much do you really know about your customers? 
      Your Skill goes beyond what you know to how you use what you know. Your skill will include planning; your ability to spark interest, develop rapport, establish respect and create trust; your questioning, listening and negotiating skills; your ability to solve problems, to close and more. You want to study, practice and develop these skills until they are second nature. 
     Motivation is the raw energy that drives you. Most likely it will flow from the passion of your life’s purpose. Are you passionate about your company’s ability to compete in the marketplace? Do you believe in the products or service you offer? Are you intimidated by the competition? If you are not passionate about and believe in what you do, find something that flows from a deep commitment to your life’s purpose or find a way to tie your life’s purpose completely to what you do. 
       Principles give meaning to your strategy, skill and motivation. Principles affect your mind and your beliefs. Principles within trust, justice, love, mercy, respect, humility, honesty and integrity guide your reactions in the marketplace. As you consciously incorporate principles into practical, deliberate selling practices, you will see an immediate impact on your sales results

Preparation: Plan and R.E.S.T.

        Success in selling will have a lot to do with how well you prepare for each sales call. You want to develop and execute a plan based on your research, evaluation, strategizing and testing (R.E.S.T.) Your plan should start with the end in mind and focus on quality. Spend significant, meaningful time with fewer, real prospects to achieve better results. 
      Research: Have you reviewed your company’s existing records for and talked with others within your company about a customer/prospect? Have you asked former customers why they are no longer a customer? Have you explored the internet regarding a customer’s product and industry? Have you talked with vendors and acquaintances who have a favorable relationship with the customer? 
      Evaluate the information you have gathered. What is missing? What needs/objectives are likely? Who can fill in the gaps or help you interpret what you know? 
     Strategize: What resources will open doors to the account? How will you get enough interest to obtain an appointment and proceed with your message? What questions will you ask? What support evidence do you need? What is your minimum goal? How will you respond to likely objections? What might be the best possible outcome? 
     Test: Role play with yourself, a coworker, friend or family member. Do you know your questions, answers, evidence and objectives well? Do you have stories, word pictures and analogies to clearly communicate important points? Are you deserving of a professional’s income?

What Is the Level of Pain?

      As you begin to evaluate your prospects and customers, it will be helpful to establish a matrix to assess their level of pain and willingness to plan to meet their needs with solutions you can provide. We suggest a ten point plan. Something like the picture to the right. 

       You may want to construct your own matrix based on your experience with your prospects and customers. Below we use the matrix above to illustrate. 
      1&2 No Pain, No Need, No Plan: This ‘suspect’ has no need for your product or service. Spend your time elsewhere. 
      3&4 Suppressed Pain, No Plan Likely: Your questions should be designed to help this customer get in touch with their pain. Until they admit their pain don’t provide a solution. 
      5 Neutral: Move customer up or down the matrix. 
   6&7 Admit Pain, Seeking a Solution: Once a customer admits their pain, your questions should help you and the prospect fully understand the pain. Agree on the cause of the pain before prescribing a treatment plan. 
     8-10 Have Pain, Have Plan:
     At 8 you and the customer are working together on a plan to treat the pain. 
     At 9 an you have reached an agreement, but you may not have the check yet. Or you have the check, but the customer is not yet planning for future sales.
    At 10 you have the check. The customer is planning for future sales with you. Future sales include both sales with the customer and making strong referrals.

What is the real need?

       Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Are you prepared to uncover a prospect’s real need? Once your prospect admits pain, dig deeper. Are production schedules affected? Does inefficiency cause excess scrap or cost overruns? Are there job security issues? What is the economic impact of your solution? Until the customer realizes they are facing a fire breathing dragon, don’t pick up a fire extinguisher. 

      Your customer does not need your product. She needs what your product does for her. Your customer is the person you are talking to, not the company she works for. Uncover her needs. Make her needs your concern. Earn her respect and trust. She wants the promotion she can earn with greater efficiency, not a new computer. She wants the prestige your marketing campaign will create for her and her company, not a TV ad. She wants the money she can earn by implementing your service, not a stock broker. She wants what you can do for her, not your product or service. Do you understand her needs? Make her believe this, then she may be willing to understand what you can do for her

Respect and Trust

       Give respect, then earn respect. Respect and honor foster trust, which is the highest form of motivation. Do you keep your word, arrive on time, listen with interest and give eye contact? Do you exude confidence? Are you a knowledgeable resource for your customer providing information she needs? Do you sell only what your customers need, want and can afford? Do you tell the whole truth and make sure your customers understand the whole truth. Do you promise well and deliver more? Do you do what you say you will do? Are you responsible in the small things? Do you consistently complete reports, return phone calls promptly, send thank you cards, provide written (vs verbal) quotes? 

       Trust is like a drawbridge over which you transport your products and services to your customers. If they trust you, they let the bridge down and welcome you in. Without trust you may never find a way to enter. Trust is initially subjective. People “read” your body language, your evading eye contact, your tone of voice. They pay less attention to the words you say and more attention to what you do. Preconceived ideas impact trust levels. If a customer believes most sales people are liars, recognize where they are. Then help them move to a higher level of trust. Trust your customers before they trust you.

Trust Step by Step

       She’s beautiful !!! Your blind date says hello. You tell her and her parents your name, who you work for and a little about yourself. [Step1; Provide low trust information.] 
      Her parents ask you some questions and consent for you to date their daughter. [Step 2: Get consent to proceed.] 
      You ask her about courses she is taking and other “safe” questions. [Step 3: Ask low trust questions.] 

      She says she is a biology major and the conversation continues. [Step 4: Response with low trust answers.] 
      As you get to know each other, you move to higher and higher levels of trust. Eventually, she says she’ll marry you. Perhaps you made one of the most important sales of your life.

       Getting a promotion !!! You have been working for the company for two years. Your performance is excellent. You are the only rep who consistently turns in your weekly reports. [Step 5: Demonstrate the ability to be trusted over time.]      
      Despite the fact that other sales reps have been there longer, you are promoted to sales manager. Perhaps another important sale.

       Your First Sale !!! You are nervous. You have moved through introductions. The customer asked you for pricing information. You not only provide the information requested, you also show the customer several ways to save money (even though you won’t earn as high a commission). [Step 6: Provide higher trust information.]
      You ask to complete a credit application and needs analysis. [Step 7: Ask higher trust questions.] 
      The customer provides an in-depth analysis of their needs and the credit information. [Step 8: Receive higher trust answers.] 
      The process continues and you make your first sale.

Creating a Climate of Trust

       Are you confident? When people ask about your product or service, can you tell them with genuine confidence that their search is over. Do they believe that they can relax now you are involved and will take care of them. 
       Are you vulnerable? Do you tell the truth, freely admitting weakness, or does your customer sense that you are hiding something? If you are new, can you say so? 

     Do you excel in service? Do you discover and serve the real needs of your customers? 
       Do you identify with the buyer? What do you have in common? 
       Are you humble? 
       Do you possess integrity even when it hurts? 
      Can you trade places with your customer? Do you talk your customer out of a sale when it is the right thing to do? Can you carry their burden as your own?

Asking Good Questions

      Sales is all about listening. Ask a good question, then really listen to the answer. Questions unlock motivation, motivation reveals need, need is why they buy. Sales is a process you do with the buyer. Do you believe a stranger’s fantastic claims or conclusions you reach based on facts you uncover? My questions can help you uncover the facts. 

      A good question is salty: Simple, Aimed, Leading and Timely (S.A.L.T.) Is your question easy to understand, thus making your prospect feel valued and at ease? Is your question precise, targeted, focused and purposeful? Does it shine through the cracks in a prospect’s mental armor in a simple, disarming way? Before you ask a question, do you know where you are going? Does your question uncover your prospect’s real needs at this precise moment? Does your question reveal something that will motivate your prospect to take immediate action? 
       Making a SALE is a result of Serving, Asking, Listening and Excelling. Is your service an attitude of your heart or a hope for a reward? Your prospect can pick up on your motivation. Do you have a quality questioning strategy? Do you ask with a servant’s motivation? Are you a good listener? Do you seek to understand what your prospect is really saying? Do you deliver your promise with the intention to exceed your prospect’s expectations?

Tips to Compassionate Listening

Moses Questioning Strategy

       You are learning about a principle based system for succeeding in sales. This strategy flows from biblical principles. Throughout most of this section we have not directly referred to the bible, although if you are paying attention you will see evidence of biblical principles and reliance on God as a powerful source of support. Now we are going to take you to Numbers 13:17-20. Moses is about to send spies into the land of Cannon and asks seven questions, which you can apply to developing your questioning strategy

After asking his questions, Moses told his spies to bring back some fruit of the land. He was saying every appointment should yield results. Set a follow up appointment. Find out the prospect bought from a competitor. Get a purchase order or a down payment. Get an agreement to do a needs analysis. Complete a credit application. Find out some useful information. We believe principle based selling is the most effective selling system you can learn.

Uncovering the Pain

      Here is a simple model to uncover the pain your customer has which you may help them relieve.

Your questioning strategy should be designed to uncover areas of pain or concern. Once the prospect admits pain, your questions should help assess what the cause and effect of the problems are. Then your questions should determine what the implications of the problems might be and ask for a specific example of a painful episode. Get an idea as to what they see as a solution while leaving the responsibility on their shoulders by asking “What would you like to do now?”

Handling Objections

       If a prospect isn’t interested, they probably won’t bother to object. You should see objections as a request by the prospect to “help me over these problems so I can buy your product.” There are valid objections and invalid objections. The process for handling both types is similar with slight changes.

Example 1
      Clarify: If I understand you correctly, you are concerned about the amount of the initial investment. Is that correct?
      Empathize: Price is a very important part of any purchase. I certainly understand your concern. My hope is that you will select a partner who will give you the greatest value.
      Minimize: When you spread the price difference over the life of the equipment you are talking about less than two cents per day. Many of my customers have found that price is only one part of the total value decision. Their real concern is Return on Investment and calculations of Risk Reward.
      Validate: A strong company with an excellent record of timely delivery and industry leadership will seldom be the lowest bidder. If your decision is based on ROI, you will find that our no cost overruns contract and the long term quality of our equipment will be the best value in the marketplace.

Example 2
Clarify: If I understand you correctly, your concern is our inability to deliver to your offices nationwide. Is that correct?
Empathize: I certainly understand why nationwide delivery would be important to you.
Minimize: Apparently there has been a misunderstanding. Once of our strongest competitive advantages is our ability to deliver anywhere in the nation, actually anywhere in the world. Our on time delivery at a very competitive price is second to none. 
Validate: We provide nationwide delivery to these 500 companies every day. What locations would you like us to deliver to? When would you like us to begin delivering our equipment to you?

Seven Common Objections

 In handling objections treat each customer with dignity. Answer the objection directly. Be sure the customer is satisfied with the answer.

  1. Lack of Need: No pain. No Need. Don’t sell.
  2. Lack of Trust: No basis of trust established yet. Find out what the trust issue is. Create a climate of trust. Melt the resistance. Win their loyalty.
  3. Lack of Respect: You may not have established a professional image because of poor product knowledge, limited familiarity with the account, weak communication skills or another reason. You can change these things. You must earn respect. Make the changes needed to become a professional and in fact earn the respect you deserve.
  4. Lack of Relationship: Is there a personality clash? Team up with someone who can help you. Could you ask a technician to handle a service issue under your direction, then come back and establish the relationship?
  5. Lack of Ability: A prospect may not admit he doesn’t have the authority to buy. Dig deeper. Keep your prospect involved. Get the authority you need.
  6. Lack in Product: Make what you have match what the customer needs when you can do so with integrity. This may take some real creativity.
  7. Lack of Funds: Create a legitimate sense of urgency. Perhaps sell a lesser model that fits their budget.

The three best times to answer an objection are (1) Proactively, before the concern is raised. (2) Immediately, when the concern is raised. (3) Later. Agree to postpone the answer until the end of the presentation.

Avoid Price Tensions

        Battle not over price. It will be helpful to keep in mind and communicate to the prospect the following: (1) Almost anything can be made a little worse and sold a little cheaper. (2) Price is not the only factor. (3) Price is relative. Your focus should be on value. If it is “over my budget” find a way to make it affordable (leasing, payments, etc.) or move on. If it is “not worth it” revisit pain issues then call an existing customer to establish value on the spot. If it is “more than I need” consider offering a lesser version. 
        Cost justification and price negotiation are two different things. A buyer wants to know he is getting good value for his money, thus justifying the cost. Price negotiation stops when you stop negotiating price. If your price is fair, stop while you can still make a reasonable profit. Be prepared to walk away if necessary.

The Sales Process

       The sales process follows these steps: (1) You see the need. (2) Prospect sees the need. (3) You see a solution. (4) Prospect sees the solution. (5) Close the sale by agreeing on the solution. 
       First ask questions and establish a genuine need. There is no point in making a presentation until there is a clear need. Once a need is established your presentation might follow this example:

  • Review Findings: Edna, you are concerned that your equipment is aging and no longer giving you maximum productivity. You were concerned that it might stop in the middle of a production run. Your operators express significant difficulty maintaining quality making your precision parts which is resulting in waste and cost overruns. You are considering upgrading to our intelligent laser technology.
  • Review Conclusions: If your equipment were to fail unexpectedly the economic impact of stopping an entire production line might exceed $250,000. You mentioned that if it was determined that the equipment failure was preventable it could have a negative effect on your job. We determined that current productivity is only 45% of what it could be if our intelligent laser technology were installed. Mr Boss, the President, has indicated that failure rates is already eroding your customer base and that one large customer is now asking for bids on future orders. You estimated that the potential loss of business could easily exceed $2 million. We have strong reasons to pursue alternatives to your present system.
  • Pre-Commitment: Edna, if we can demonstrate to your satisfaction that our intelligent laser technology will produce real savings and consistent reliability and that the resulting savings and quality improvements will provide you with a significant return on your investment, will we have a basis for doing business?

       Below are critical elements through which you can demonstrate your ability to meet your prospects needs.

  • Investment: Your investment for the Salem ILT will be $78,659. You can pay for it over the next five-seven years through any of these plans.
  • Value Justification: You have indicated that retrofitting your existing system would cost at least $74,999 which might keep you going at current production levels for another three years. You weren’t sure about the reliability of the retrofit. The Salem ILT will keep producing consistent quality day after day for at least eight year and our preventive maintenance program will keep production consistently running. Can you afford about $1.25/day to assure yourself you won’t loose any of the $2.5 million in current sales that might be in jeopardy?
  • Close / Confirm the Sale: Don’t close sales. Open relationships. If Edna has come to respect and trust you, all you might need to do at this point is to say,

Conclusion

       Everybody should discover the need to learn how to sell. Principle based selling goes beyond the sales pitch to discover the client’s, wife’s, boss’s, investor’s, person’s real needs. Then you seek to meet those needs letting your integrity, responsibility and desire shine through.
       The other side of making the sale is marketing. Selling is one on one or person based. Marketing is broader, designed to tell the world about your products and services through media and other venues.

 This area deserves a significant discussion, which is currently more than we have time to develop. More coming as soon as possible.