Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 30, 2024

Can I show you what results you might realize…” Sometimes, the product pitches are thinly veiled by a problem: “Is lead/demand gen a problem for you? But unless the prospect is very late in their buying process, product/solution focused prospecting is unlikely to catch their attention.

Product 95

Product Sell Pitch B2B 95

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 6, 2024

Just as selling has evolved, buying has evolved–but differently. We seem to be on diverging paths, and this creates problems for both buyers and sellers. ” They don’t need us creating a deadline incentive, “If you buy by the end of the quarter, we can give you a discount.”

Education 125

Education Trust Sell Product 125

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 18, 2024

These are the discussions we strive to get since it is all about us and what we sell. When we look at the data on No Decision Made and Buyer Regret, we know how much our customers struggle with complex B2B change and buying initiatives. They don’t know how to buy. As we spoke, it struck me how we revel in these questions.

Customers 124

Customers Up-sell B2B Trust 124

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 9, 2024

Define and execute a selling process aligned with your customer buying process. We waste so much time by doing a random walk through opportunities, responding to customers random walk through their buying process. Instead, help your customer navigate their buying process.

CRM 122

CRM Technology Technology Pipeline 122

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 3, 2023

My friend, Hank Barnes, is rethinking the buying process with a fascinating concept he calls The Advantage Factor. One of the things he discusses in the concept of “Selling Possibility.” Too often, sellers catch customers who are very late in their buying cycle. Imagine engaging the customer much earlier.

Sell 123

Sell Up-sell Start-ups Customers 123

Understanding the Sales Force

MAY 29, 2024

In the sales process, there are six competencies used prior to closing and salespeople who are strong in those competencies don’t really experience a closing event. Prospects simply buy. In a jury trial, closing arguments can take several hours or even days! And then the jurors have to think it over. Closing is overrated.

Closing 81

Closing Consult Presentation Represent 81

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 21, 2023

As our conversations often go, we were talking about the state of selling and how we improve. I won’t bother revisiting all the data we see reinforcing the struggle customers experience in committing to and managing a change process. We are, often, so busy we may not recognize threats or opportunities to change, improve grow.

Customers 117

Customers Quota Up-sell Conversion 117

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 3, 2022

Yesterday, I published a rather long article on the Selling Process. It’s part of my series of articles about “Things We Thought We Understood About Selling But Really Didn’t.” ” Apologies, the article was rather long, but the selling process is so important.

Process 112

Process Manufacturing Legal Contract 112

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 22, 2024

“Discovery” has been an important part of the sales process ever since I started selling (Yes, that was back when we had first chipped a wheel out of stone.) Implicit in our thinking about the discovery process is that our customers know the answers, our job was to get ask questions to get those answers.

Technique 105

Technique B2B Start-ups Up-sell 105

Martech

MAY 24, 2024

When I talk with clients who are having deliverability problems, especially when sending into Gmail, I call it being in Google Jail. Because the sentences are tough, and the appeal process can be arbitrary. Because the sentences are tough, and the appeal process can be arbitrary. Instead, I owned up to my speeding.

Cross-sell 112

Cross-sell Promote Represent Technology 112

Force Management

DECEMBER 14, 2023

Increasing Channel Partner Productivity When it comes to channel sales, your ability to control the sales process is limited. What you can control is the tools you provide to help that partner sell your solution. How do we specifically solve these problems with your solution? • How do we do it differently from the competition?

Negotiate 137

Negotiate Education Market share Growth 137

Sales Gravy

JANUARY 23, 2024

Jeb and Ryan explore how buying is an emotional experience and sales pros that ask questions that get the story “why” behind the buyer’s “what” sell more. Curiosity is the unsung hero in the sales process. It's a step towards a solution that's not just a product but a tailored answer to their unique problem.

Sell 93

Sell Up-sell Engineering Conversion 93

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

Buying is something they do as an exception to their “day jobs.” ” Buying, if ever considered, might only be a part of a change initiative or problem solving initiative (and only a minority of those initiatives) involve buying. The first 15 pages, were all about the technology company.

Manufacturing 113

Manufacturing Finance Presentation Technology 113

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 16, 2021

We’ve long known (whether we use it or not) about the “sales process.” ” Virtually every organization has some variant of a sales process with stages we move through and, possibly, critical activities we should be executing within each stage. Then we go through some sort of discovery process.

Process 127

Process Customers Manufacturing Sales 127

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 4, 2023

If you don’t know/follow Brian, you should, he’s one of the best thinkers/practitioners I’ve met in selling. The customer/problem focused sellers always out perform the product focused sellers—enormously! All we have to do is “understand their problem,” and pitch our solutions. So why change?

Customers 110

Customers Pitch Meeting Sell 110

Membrain

FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Redefining salesmanship What if we defined salesmanship in terms that are more meaningful to the people/organizations we are selling to? When you look at these things we use to describe “salesmanship,” none of it is meaningful to the buyers – the people we have to engage to meet our quotas, achieve our goals, and earn our commissions.

Commission 124

Commission Quota Negotiate Pitch 124

Partners in Excellence

JUNE 2, 2023

Brent Adamson and I were having one of our normal conversations, by which I mean, it wanders all over the place, a good part of this discussion is making each other the victim of our bad jokes, and we go deep on 2-3 issues about selling, thinking about new ideas and approaches. I hadn’t heard that before, is that a ‘thing.'”

Engineering 101

Engineering Manufacturing Sales Process 101

PandaDoc

MAY 28, 2024

Consultative selling offers a less pushy, customer-centric approach to the buyer’s journey. Consultative selling requires empathy, active listening, and problem-solving. Solution selling is pitching products and solutions to leads. Consultative selling pitches education and authenticity. What is consultative sales?

Consult 52

Consult Process Sell Pitch 52

Partners in Excellence

JULY 28, 2023

When I sit down with sales organizations, we inevitably spend a lot of time talking about the Sales Process. But one of the most fundamental problems I see is these sales processes are internally focused, always looking at the things we Do To Our Customers. Find out who’s involved in the decision process.

Process 84

Process Customers Negotiate Sales 84

Martech

MARCH 1, 2024

As buying shifts online and marketing takes on some traditional sales roles, retaining existing customers is essential for driving growth and profits. I see three drivers behind this stunning change: COVID-19, where personal selling was crippled and “retention is the new acquisition” became the latest catchphrase.

B2B 112

B2B Cross-sell Pharmaceutical Account management 112

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 1, 2021

We’ve long known (whether we use it or not) about the “sales process.” ” Virtually every organization has some variant of a sales process with stages we move through and, possibly, critical activities we should be executing within each stage. Then we go through some sort of discovery process.

Process 118

Process Customers Manufacturing Pipeline 118

The 5% Institute

DECEMBER 8, 2022

In this article, we’ll explore what is permission based selling, as well as tips to help you close easier and more consistently. We’ll explore how this isn’t the case, and what you can do to improve your sales process , as well as your closing rate. What Is Permission Based Selling?

Technique 134

Technique Sell Presentation Clients 134

Partners in Excellence

MAY 8, 2024

Desperately, we try to find someone to talk to, something interesting to talk about, but…… It seems so much of “modern” selling looks like this. Customers are involving us later and later in the buying process. The most important stuff happens much earlier in the buying process!

Price 68

Price Up-sell Conversion Presentation 68

Partners in Excellence

MAY 1, 2023

I was talking to a colleague about the lost opportunity sellers have in helping customers focus on their business problems and challenges. It helps them commit to a change, to establish goals for that change, and to develop the plan for executing the process, identifying solutions, and implementing the changes.

Consult 101

Consult Trust Customers Clients 101

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 14, 2023

Every week, I am asked to participate in a number of interviews/webcast/discussions about the “Future of Selling.” ” My feed is filled with prognostications about the future of selling–and a surprising number of “gurus” with death wishes proclaiming selling is dead.

Sell 89

Sell Negotiate Technology Technology 89

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 22, 2021

From my earliest days as a salesperson, I’ve been taught the “sales process,” and have tried to execute that process as effectively as possible. It’s always a structured approach to engaging the customer, working with them to make a buying decision. All perfectly linear and logical.

Process 126

Process Sell Customers Up-sell 126

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 12, 2024

As I look at selling, today, it requires far too much effort—far more than I’m willing to do. They throw their preference for a Rep Free buying experience into our faces. They don’t care about what we sell, they don’t want to go through our demos-at least until they have no other alternative.

Sell 111

Sell Commission Up-sell Quota 111

Partners in Excellence

MAY 10, 2024

When I was selling mainframe computers (back around the time when the wheel was invented), I could only offer a subscription payment. The problem with the way we look at “As A Service,” is we tend to conflate an business strategies, financial, cashflow, revenue recognition strategies; and GTM/sales strategies.

Service 62

Service GTM Contract Price 62

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

Normally, she can install these apps with no problems, but she needed help. Ideally a simple upgrade and not needing to buy a new device.) (Ideally a simple upgrade and not needing to buy a new device.) The way they work is from an out of date version of selling. The methods, tools, processes have changed dramatically.

Technology 95

Technology Technology Up-sell Meeting 95

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 28, 2023

The only constant is change—-everything about selling has changed and will continue to change. How we engage our customers, our processes, methodologies, tools, systems, programs continue to change. Despite all these changes, the fundamental principles of selling remain constant.

Sell 99

Sell Trust Growth Technology 99

Partners in Excellence

MAY 30, 2023

The world has changed, but we are still doing the stuff we’ve always done–at least in selling. We engage in linear selling processes–Prospecting, Qualifying, Discovering, Proposing, Closing. It hasn’t changed since I started selling, despite all the data showing us customers don’t buy that way.

Objection handling 109

Objection handling Quota Entertainment Up-sell 109

Partners in Excellence

APRIL 24, 2024

I just couldn’t think of a better description of something that dominates too many selling conversations. We and our customer forget about why they are buying in the first place. They are buying to solve a problem or address an opportunity. Yeah, some of you will be offended by the crude title of this post.

Price 77

Price Contract Presentation Consult 77

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 9, 2022

For highly transactional, inbound buying. And the data shows increasing preference by customers for eliminating these interactions, engaging sellers near the end of the buying process. Prospecting is, probably, the most difficult part of selling. We need to build credibility and trust in that initial engagement process.

Cold Call 123

Cold Call B2B Prospecting Up-sell 123

Partners in Excellence

MAY 25, 2024

A fundamental underpinning of SaaS is the concept of Predictable Revenue. I’ve always been confused about this thinking, “Why is SaaS based revenue any more predictable than any other revenue model?” ” As I pose that question, I get a lot of pushback, “Dave, you don’t understand. And I get frustrated. predictable.

Assembly Line 73

Assembly Line Manufacturing Contract Represent 73

Partners in Excellence

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Buyers struggle doing their “jobs” ……buying! We poor sellers struggle, if it weren’t for these inept buyers, selling would be so much easier. We know 60% of committed buying processes end in no decision made. Sellers are selling as hard as they can! Just reflect for a moment.

Up-sell 97

Up-sell Sell B2B Process 97

Partners in Excellence

JUNE 9, 2021

Buying is changing profoundly. This impacts everything we do to try to engage our customers, creating value through their buying and usage journey. ” Customers increasingly choose to minimize sales involvement in their buying process, seeking digital and other sources to support their buying journeys.

Manufacturing 141

Manufacturing Up-sell Technology Technology 141

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Introduction: Several weeks ago, I wrote, “ Sellers, Are You Really Interested In Selling? ” My good friend, Christian Mauer , challenged me, “Dave, why are you so interested in selling?” ” It was a great question and he caused me to reflect, I wrote, “ Why I Am Obsessed With Selling.

Customers 108

Customers Contract Consult Electrical Engineering 108