Selling is beautiful

Whatever the size of the quota, your sales team can crush it, with these Sales Tarot cards, lived one at a time. 'How do you measure the activity of your sales team?' says Card 11 of 14. Here are the last 4

Card 11: How do you measure your sales team's activity? (Like in every other aspect of business, what gets measured is what gets done) Card 12: What Development Plan do you have for your sales team so they can achieve their objectives? ( You must invest for tomorrow’s results by developing team’s capabilities today) Card 13: What have been your decisions to identify key skill and knowledge your sales team needs to be successful in their market? (Gap analysis in skill and knowledge areas results and concrete plans to bridge them within a specific time frame) Card 14: What are your systems to constantly re-evaluate skills and knowledge in the sales team? (Continuous skill and knowledge evaluation can ensure that capabilities grow in step with business demands). Now collect all 14 Sales Tarot cards and work with them by turns. You will soon see your sales soar!

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Early bird catches the worm. A smart salesperson takes control early on. And steers Customer towards commitment. For a driver's seat in selling, ask yourself these 8 questions

Here are 8 questions you can ask yourself, to get behind the wheel in a sale and drive to a closure: (1) Do you create a need and get it accepted first? (2) Do you help the Customer to be clear on the meeting objectives? (3) Do you set the agenda right? (4) Can you conquer the inches (seek part acceptances) before reaching for the mile (the Big Yes)? (5) Do you demonstrate strong initiative in attitude and skill? (6) Can you create and maintain gentle but firm persuasive pressure? (7) Do you make regular use of the power of summaries? (8) Can you ASK for closure?

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Looking to raise your sales graph? Here's a Sales Tarot deck with questions to get you closer to your sales goals. Card 6 asks: Have strategic decisions been communicated to every level of the sales organisation? + 4 more of 14

Now, let's draw Cards 6 to 10. Work on the question in every card for 2 days till you finish and move on to the next one. Card 6: Strategy dissemination - Have the decisions been communicated to every level of the sales organisation? ( For sales strategy to succeed it should percolate to and be understood at all levels) Card 7: Sales organisation’s buy in - Does every level of the sales organisation know and understand why you have made these decisions? ( Understanding the purpose and logic behind strategic decision contributes to stronger commitment at all levels) Card 8: Alignment of sales goals with market policies - How is your policy towards the market place reflected in the objectives which are set for your sales team? ( Market policies can’t translate into tangible results unless they are reflected in the objectives of sales teams ) Card 9: Monitoring mechanism - What systems do you have for evaluating whether results correspond with your policies and objectives for customers and products? ( System for on-going evaluation is essential to ensure that results are consistent with the policies and objectives) Card 10: Goals on direction of sales activity - What specific objectives are given to your sales team regarding the direction of their activity? ( Sales team objectives should cover besides quantity and quality of effort, the direction as well). An earlier tweet has the first 5 cards. Complete 6 to 10 and 4 more will follow

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For a dramatic improvement in your sales situation, try this 14 card Sales Tarot. Draw one card at a time, work on it for 2 days till you finish. Here are the 1st 5 cards. Card 1 reads: What methods do you use to obtain market information ? + 4 more

Let's get started with the 1st 5 cards. Card 1: Methods used to obtain market information - What methods do you use to obtain information about your markets? (Because Your information will be reliable only if your collection methods are rigorous) Card 2: Structured information gathering - How structured is this procedure? (Because A haphazard and sporadic collection of information is of no help) Card 3: Future policies - What are your policies for the company’s future development? (Because Without a medium and long-term policy for market growth, sales efforts will lack direction) Card 4: Future Customer mix - What decisions have you made regarding future Customer Mix? (Because only this can help you focus on the most promising segments and relationships) Card 5: Future Product mix - What decisions have you made regarding future Product Mix? (Because this could be critical determinant of your sales profitability) Work on these and 9 more cards will follow

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'On the horse, but cannot ride' - That's what happens when a small sales team doing well selling standalone products, suddenly lands a mega opportunity it can't handle. To prevent that, prepare ahead for these 4 challenges

Here are 4 challenges you should prepare in advance if you're likely to get a large opportunity for the first time: 1) Needs and expectations will be fuzzy - They aren’t sharp and simple the way it is in traditional selling. So, be ready to do the homework needed to fully understand the dimensions of what the Customer needs. 2) Sales cycle would be way longer - We are dealing with a giant. This is going to guzzle time and resources. Let's be prepared for that 3) Sales process is likely to be complex - Gear up to interface with numerous stakeholders having varied backgrounds. Let your teamwork for it. 4) Cross-functional team selling may be necessary - Your sales team may have to work with other functions in developing and pitching a solution. Taking care of these 4 checkpoints can guarantee that your large opportunity will be a comfortable ride!

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Leads turn into deals. And salesperson's favourite tool to track this conversion is the Sales Funnel. Now, meet its less known cousin - The Conversational Funnel. This is the go-to tool to make that conversion happen. Here's how

Questions encourage conversations. The right questions can get your buyer to open up, share information and provide feedback. Questions can also help understand the buyer and his need. Start by building rapport with Open Neutral Questions (ONQs). Three ONQ topics proven to start a conversation are – Self, Family and Job. Once started, listen with empathy and care. Use the answers to ONQs to gather information and ask Open Leading Questions (OLQs). OLQs will help you identify the need. With some more OLQs you could narrow down and confirm the problem to be solved. Then all you need to do next is to clarify and seal the deal with Closed Questions (CQs). Often from the last OLQ (“Any other concerns?”) to CQ (“Can I send you the proforma invoice?”), it is one quick, smooth leap. This is the ‘Conversational Funnel Technique’ of asking questions, a powerful tool to encourage conversation flow and steer towards deal closure.

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Your soccer team may have Ronaldos to score at will. Still, to win matches, you should defend well too. The sales lesson? Sales will take care of topline. It takes skilled negotiation to grow bottom line. 5 benefits of preparing for it

You can crush the most audacious sales quota, if you close all your deals with discounts. But that's no victory because it is at the cost of margins. With skilled negotiation you can grow your bottom-line along with the sales numbers. And sound negotiation skills come with preparation and practice. Here are 5 clear benefits of preparing for negotiations: (1) You are mentally ready with the ‘go, no-go’ positions. So, you stay in control (2) Preparation ensures you don’t end up giving away too much. (3) Customers’ hard bargaining tactics won't unsettle you. You are armed with quick-response counter strategies. (4) Discussions can be steered to mutual benefit (5) Neuroscience shows that in tough negotiations, amygdala or our reptilian brain, kicks in, reducing chances of deciding rationally. When you are prepared beforehand, you can avoid emotions getting the better of you.

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You're meeting a large, lucrative prospect. Want to make an amazing impression? You can do it in 2 steps: First get accepted personally. Tougher Step 2 is: Get accepted as a business associate. Here are 6 ideas to help you with it

Use these 6 ideas to be accepted as a business associate: 1) Demonstrate knowledge – Be knowledgeable on what matters most to the Customer like Industry trends and drivers, Customer’s unique challenges and opportunities 2) Have a helpful personality – Customer perceives a keenness to help and support 3) Show capability to help – Bridge intention and promise with tangible action by way of support 4) Display right blend of confidence and humility - It's a charm prospects can't resist 5) Bring a winning mix to your dealings - Of agreeableness and sincerity 6) Showcase an impressive track record – To inspire Customer confidence

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Presenting to a B2B buyer group? Being grilled isn't the only worry. Do be ready for possible interruptions, mid-presentation questions, comments & talk. Knowing the 6 reasons why groups switch off before the last slide might help

Here are 6 reasons why buyer groups often switch off in a sales presentation: (1) Sales brief as understood by the seller isn’t well articulated (2) Need as identified by seller is not highlighted (3) Presentation doesn’t cover how the proposal addresses the current situation and needs (4) There’s no clarity on why your company is the best bet (5) Buyer questions aren’t anticipated (6) Next steps are not listed. Make sure your presentation avoids these possible pitfalls. You can then expect the buyer group to hang on to your every word!

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You are meeting a mega prospect. How can you make a great first impression? Ok, you've checked your pitch 10 times. You are in your favourite tie. What more? First gain acceptance at a person level. Here are 7 ideas to do that

To make an unforgettable first impression, you must gain Customer's acceptance at 2 levels - (a) At a person level and (b) As a business associate. Getting accepted at a person level is the easier part. All you need to do is to run through this list of 7 check points: 1. Are you appropriately dressed? – Suited for the occasion 2. Are you uninhibited? – Not self-conscious about age, gender or appearance 3. Are you willing to demonstrate constructive openness? – Free to mix and share thoughts with all 4. Are you self-aware? – You understand your own strengths, weaknesses, individual traits and how others respond to these 5. Is your personal hygiene impeccable? – Making you both presentable and personable 6. Do you understand others? - Cultivate the ability to analyse other’s personality and adapt to it 7. Do you show dependability? – Are you seen as reliable?

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A not-often-appreciated fact: Purpose of sales forecasting is not limited to fixing sales targets. Unreliable deal predictions can impact supply chain, production, logistics & other key functions. Here's an easy work around

When it comes to sales forecasting, ‘Many-enquiries-each-small’ is easy to handle. Factor ‘x’ percentage of closures based on past pipeline behavior and rest falls in place. Large value deals are more complex. They involve decisions on where you should invest your efforts to get the outcomes you want. For this, of course, you should have a good idea on the relative success probability of each deal. This is where the Tactical Checklist method can help you. A tactical checklist is simple to develop and easy to use. It can give you a good idea on the closure probability of each pipeline deal. Follow link below to learn how to create one

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If you are handling a large opportunity, be ready to deal with multiple decision makers and influencers with a differential approach to each. Winning the deal may totally rest on knowing who packs how much punch. Here's how

Large opportunities are set in complex sales environments and always involve numerous decision makers and influencers. So, it is important to identify the key players involved, both formally and informally, with the decision making process. The ‘power/interest’ grid used in project management literature could help understand relative impact of different stakeholders. A sound approach can be: 1) Low interest/low power stakeholders - Take them into confidence. 2) High interest/low power - Keep them in a consultative loop. 3) High power/low interest stakeholders - Monitor their reactions closely and constantly as they can upset the apple cart. 4) High power/high interest stakeholders - These are critical and wield massive influence over buying decision. Enlist and leverage their support

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Do you know that the plumb line (in picture) is a tool used by masons in construction since the time of Egyptian Pyramids? Masons use it to establish verticals and depth. You can use it to best manage your sales team. Here's how

To best manage your sales team, you can use the Plumbing Model. The model involves continuous assessment of the team's knowledge, skills and attitudes. You should pick one team member at a time, and decide the 'depth' of support required for that Salesperson. How deep you have to 'plumb' in terms of support, would depend on: (1) Quality of sales work (2) Self-management capabilities on quantity of efforts and (3) Current market environment – Favourable/not so favourable/adverse. These will vary from person to person. Even for a specific individual they will change over time. So, the secret of success in this model lies is finding the right depth to which to plumb

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Fine, you may be a product encyclopedia. But if that doesn’t create value for Customers, it could well make you lose sales without you knowing why. Here's a sure way to prevent that from happening

Expert product knowledge is great. But that alone may not deliver value for Customer. In fact if Customer can't see product value in usage, he won't feel inclined to buy. For instance, "Can help with the product but can't say how the packaging should be opened" isn't a response the Customer enjoys. So, how can you guard against this? Plan your sales visit with greater care and diligence. Map your product features and benefits with your Customer’s needs. That's the way to make the Customer feel good about your product and excited about buying from you. And that's what really clinches the sale!

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If you are in sales, you know it already. Not every pitch, results in a sale. So, how about a secret formula to put your selling process on auto pilot? Check out this 4 step approach

Don’t present till you have fully understood Customer’s requirements. And to do that, follow this 4 step process (1) Build an immersive understanding of Customer’s business situation and stated needs. Action: Use open ended questions. Summarize and confirm. (2) Identify unique needs Customer may have for your possible solutions Action: Reflect and probe for insights (3) Validate and enlarge your understanding of Customer’s requirements. Action: Research extensively. Meet key stakeholders and operations people (4) Stay in touch and keep relationship warm . Action: Use visits to build and maintain rapport. This approach will take your proposal forward with incremental agreements. Your sale will then be on an autopilot towards closure!

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Count from 1 to 1200. That's how many seconds you have in every sales visit to make a massive impact. But how? For starts, you must work to create a good contact climate. And there are 5 more things you can do

Here are 5 more things to do in the first 20 minutes of your sales call: (1) Build credibility for your company (2) Win the Customer’s trust in you (3) Heighten Customer’s awareness of your product/service line (4) Get to know the Customer and uncover his need (5) Trigger Customer’s interest in a specific offering. Prep the Customer this way and the sale will be all yours!

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The Customer is new. And you are eager to close. But please spare a moment to check the direction of your current sales efforts. Because, in your eagerness to close, are you missing the two elephants in the room?

To secure a new Customer, you must first recognize the direction of your sales effort. When on a call with a new Customer, pause for a minute and ask yourself – “Am I trying to sell or am I working on creating conditions for a future sale?” Knowing how to distinguish between sales facilitating efforts and selling efforts and what separates the two, can help you pick the right time to pitch and later, close. If you are still making sales facilitating efforts, it may take more than one visit to make a sale happen. Not seeing these two elephants in the room, is the root-cause of many failures to win a new Customer. Never get into a pitch (or close) till you have created enough rapport and confidence.

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Sales Head to RM: 'Good job, you impressed the CTO. Met anyone else?' RM: 'No. It's the CTO who will okay the deal' SM: 'May be. But remember large deals are like chess. Know the big pieces from others. Will tell you why'

The Sales Head in the story has a good point: Large opportunities in complex sale environment, involve multiple decision makers and influencers. Those involved in purchase decisions have distinctive roles. Each has a different set of decision-making powers. They bring varying attitudes towards the seller and the competition. So, it's important to identify, both formally and informally, how each key player connects with the decision making process. You should then be ready with a differential approach towards each of them. To win large opportunities, always align your contact strategy to key players.

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“Customers don’t want trucks” said Lucas, CEO TT Trucks in our sales story. His audience of Sales Managers was stunned. “What they want is ...”,he said, and went on to give them a life-time tool for understanding Customer needs

“Customers don't want trucks" said Lucas, CEO TT Trucks in our sales story. "What they want is .. a reliable system that moves ore from their mines on time” How can you be sure you've identified the Customer's real need? A real need addresses a pain point or helps tap an opportunity. Fulfilling it creates true, tangible value for the Customer. The kind of value that builds loyalty and makes you a trusted advisor in Customer's eyes. How can we ensure we're not addressing an assumed need? Ask yourself, 3 simple questions. Is the need : 1. One recognized by Customer? 2. Not the need for a product, but need in usage of product? 3. Need as shaped by preferences of the Customer as an individual? Asking smart questions and developing good listening skills are the only ways to uncover real Customer needs.

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Eager to master price selling? Learn to make perfect green tea first. Water temperature matters a lot. Too hot and the tea will turn bitter. Too cool and flavor won't be extracted. That gives you the 1st of 3 secrets in price selling

The 1st of 3 secrets in price selling is this: Present price at just the right stage. Ensure first the Customer appreciates the benefits and value of the proposed purchase. Make sure this happens completely before you present the price. This is like confirming the water temperature is just right before you dip the tea bag into the cup. There are proven Mercuri techniques to identify the perfect time to present the price. The philosophy is ‘still later’, till the right psychological moment is reached. And with practice, you'll quickly discover, price selling is as easy as making perfect green tea!

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It's a response you hear all the time. Your Customer says 'Let's see. We'll think about it'. What can you do? Sometimes it's helpful to point out the risk of doing nothing

Is price weighing on the Customer’s mind? And holding up the buying decision? Then it might help to point out the risk of not buying from you. For instance, a Customer is considering purchase of a new heating plant from you to replace his old one. But he is hesitant and seems inclined to put off the decision. He feels the cost of replacement is too expensive. You show him numbers of the huge additional fuel cost incurred by continuing with the old plant. He relents and signs the deal. Learning? Occasionally, it helps to let the Customer know that if we stay where we are, we may risk getting run over

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Are you filling a leaking bucket? You go through gruelling, all-consuming efforts to convert prospects into buyers. So, here are 4 strategic questions you should ask to check and retain those hard-won buyers

Mercuri's Sales Platform™ concept looks at the aggregate of all your buying Customers as your Buying Platform™. Filling the Buying Platform™ bucket to the brim with Customers is a great feeling. But are you sure the bucket isn't leaking? Ask these 4 strategic questions to prevent it - (1) What is the annual dissipation rate of your Buying Platform? (2) What does this mean in turnover terms? (3) What systems do you use to quantify this? (4) How much of this year’s or next year’s business should come from the Buying Platform? Checking for buyer leakages can help you fix them before you lose sales!

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Not sure how to get the sales chemistry right with the Customer? A winning presentation is a reaction resulting from 2 active ingredients. First one is content. And the second one is made of these 3 components

Mention sales presentation, and there is a rush to marshall the content. But that's just one ingredient. Granted, well-structured content makes concepts and messages clear, dwelling on the ‘why frame’ It is the foundation for powerful deliveries. But the other ingredient that sets off the winning reaction is the salesperson's, Personal Projection. And that is made up of these 3 components, the connects built with the sales audience - 1. Energy Connect (through body language), 2. Emotional Connect (our feelings and people-centricity) and 3. Intellectual Connect (substance). Catalyzed together, the two ingredients create a chemistry that wins deals for you!

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Use a drone to gather market information? That may be a stretch. But, as a sales manager, using real-time trends to decide on targets is a proactive practice. That alone, however, isn't enough to achieve results. The 'X' factor is this

Using real time information to fix targets for Customer base, Product and Customer mix is the hallmark of a proactive sales manager. While that's good management, it’s only the first step in the right direction. It helps to remember there's also an 'X' factor at play - People. Results are never achieved alone but through a team of the Salespeople. The sales team is typically a diverse mix. You will have some who are experienced but set-in-their-ways, others new, enthusiastic and capable, still others who are slow yet consistent and hardworking. There could be a few perceived problem children too. Managing a diverse sales team by supporting them as per their needs could well be key to sales success

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Trying hard to push up sales in a challenging market? And sick of listening to the same old advice 'Sell more to existing Customers'? Here are 6 fresh milestones you can give yourself to help you really sell more

Use these 6 oven-fresh milestones to make your sales effort exciting. (1) Get your Customer to start buying 'X' product (not bought till now) (2) Make Customer consider you for new requirements other than for what you supply today (3) Influence Customer to accept something new in principle (Say, Importance of a quality parameter, unique to your products) (4) Persuade Customer to work in a special way, only with your company (Ex: Naming a staff member who can be informed in case of change in schedules) (5) Influence Customer to expand areas in which your products are used (6) Shift Customer attitude towards your company, your technology or your competitor. Cross these milestones frequently in increments and watch your sales grow!

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Troubled by 'Negotiationitis'? Your sales physician recommends a tactical pill. Pop it and see your negotiation blues vanish. The pill works like this

The tactical pill works at 2 levels - Your offer + Competitor's offer. On popping, here's how the kinetics work: The pill breaks down your offer into its component elements. It identifies the variable elements and decides on the leeway you have in cost and value. The pill then uses those strengths and opportunities to generate negotiation tactics. These tactics surround and overwhelm the competitor's offer. If the competitor's offer is found stronger, the pill locates your weaknesses and vulnerabilities. And it creates tactics to eliminate or mitigate risks. Take a tactical pill and your sales immune system will be stronger for it!

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Sales activity is no fun. It is always frenetic. The pressure is relentless and from multiple points. Amidst all this you can still master the Zen of Sales Activity Management. Here's how

Activity planning for the week ahead is a great habit. Ideal time for this is end of Fridays. Activities could be around: A) Contacting Customers for - (1) Cold calls & new enquiries (2) Making offers (3) Handling objections (4) Negotiating (5) Rapport building with decision makers B) Organising offers for fully crystallized enquiries C) Phone calls for taking appointments ahead. Best practice would be to list these activities, by Customer names and not as independent variables. Now you can prioritize these activities this way - (i) Pick Customers, existing and new, to whom offers have been made. These are top priority (ii) Next in line will be Customers with rebuy possibility (iii) Third in priority will be new prospects you feel are promising (iv) After allocating time for these 3 above, you can apportion time for collecting prospect information. As you will quickly discover, advance planning is the Zen of Sales Activity Management

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Q1 + Q2 + Q3 + Q4 = S, where Q = Question and S = Sale. That's the Conversational Funnel Theorem of Sales. Here's proof

Every Sale is built around conversations. And questions are the building blocks. Questions create a conversational funnel. A successful sales conversation goes like this - Q1) You start with an Open Neutral Question (ONQ) ("What are your thoughts on water wars breaking everywhere?"), listen with empathy and care, Q2) & Q3) Use the answers to ask Open Leading Questions (OLQs)and narrow the focus ("What about the water problems of our city?"" & ""What do you think are the best options for pure drinking water at home?") and Q4) Finally wrap up the sale with Closed Questions (CQs) – ("Wouldn't a solar powered water purifier be useful for your family?") The constant cycle of funneling works as follows: Build rapport -> Gather information -> Identify need -> Narrow confirmation -> Clarify -> Reconfirm -> Close -> Start all over. All, using ONQs, OLQs and CQs. Master the Conversational Funnel Sales Theorem. It will transform your sales math!

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Strategies, tactics, ideas, building blocks. You've lined them all up, to execute that giant sized sales deal. Great! Now, checking them against this simple 2-axis graph can help you calibrate your execution to perfection

All giant sized sales deals involve complex business relationships. And these straddle across pre-sales, sales and post sales phases. You could call this kind of deals, 'problem solving sales'. That's because complexity in business relationship arises out of 3 factors. 1) The Product sold - Can range from “stand-alone standard product” to “system selling” 2) Customer's Support needs - Post sales support can be for a brief 6 to 12 months. Or it can mean a full life-cycle relationship starting from design advice, participation in evaluation of alternatives, continued relationship after sales and sometimes, partnering with the buyer 3) Width of contact - This could go from a few (2 or 3) people from either side getting involved to a whole web of relationships. Imagine this complexity to be in the Y Axis. On the X axis is the level of sales efforts needed. This can be zero (for monopoly or captive sales) or enterprise wide mega effort when competition is fierce and there are multiple players. Figuring where your deal is located between the Y and X lines, can help make execution a breeze!

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Of course the Google CEB Study found that 56 percent of Customer’s buying is done without any serious conversation with any sales rep. But maybe such extreme measures aren't necessary. Here's an easier solution

Successive studies on B2B buyer behaviour have uncovered 3 mega trends: (1) More and more Customers are on social media (2) A bigger share of purchase decisions is being made earlier in the sales process (3) Salespeople should become available to Customers early in the buying journey. This doesn't call for extreme measures though. Easier solution is for salespeople to master the use of social media in selling. Social Selling builds relationships, using technologies and social platforms to facilitate real human interaction before the Buyer and Seller meet face to face, and also later. Buying follows almost as if on autopilot!

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Who is the sales champion in your team? There must be one. But if all salespeople are equally good and getting great results, it could be a red flag. Here's why

If all your salespeople are crushing their quotas and are equally good, it could mean one of two things - (A) Result targets are low or (B) Team’s motivation levels are close to becoming unstable sooner or later. Which is why, under the Mercuri Results-Activity-Competence (RAC) Framework, the Sales Manager (1) breaks down the marketing plan into smaller, manageable chunks that every team member can understand (objectives), (2) accordingly sets individual targets for each salesperson and (3) plumbs to the required depth of handholding needed by every team member. This is the Mercuri way of Sales Leadership by Objectives and Support.

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You're delighted! In a mood to celebrate. The prospect you met for a mega order called up. They're interested. Want you to take next steps. Before you decide to party, here are 6 questions for a reality check.

Before you get serious about any large opportunity, it's critical to do a check on winnability and doability. Here are 6 questions to help you run that check - 1) What makes you think that this opportunity is real and doable? 2) What are some objective criteria you follow to reach that conclusion? 3) What does an ‘attractive’ opportunity mean to your company? 4) How do you determine this? 5) Do you look at ‘winnability’ of an opportunity before investing resources into it? 6) Are there robust criteria on which you base this decision?

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Salesperson: “It’s wonderful you want to try equestrian sport. We can help with everything. Get you the best moorish and even find a farrier” Customer is lost. Lesson from story? Avoid this trap if you want your sales pitch to convert

Want to make a winning sales pitch? Avoid complexity and stay away from jargon. What the salesperson in our story meant was this - "It's wonderful you want to try horse riding. We can help you with everything. Get you the best saddle and even find a horseshoe maker" But jargon must have lost him that Customer. If using jargon is unavoidable, minimize it. Add a simple explanation to ensure Customer isn't confused. Use simple words and short sentences. Don't let jargon and complexity ruin an otherwise perfect sales pitch.

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Does handling price objection feel like this? That may be because you are trying to sell the t.o.t.a.l price. Here's a simple alternative that makes price objection a lot easier to handle

Handling price objection involves several steps, all leading to one result. They should help justify the EXTRA price as perceived by Customer. For this, you should show Customers the EXTRA benefits they will enjoy. Overcoming price objection is not so much about justifying the total price. The Customer must be comparing your offering with alternatives at lower prices. So, price objection handling is all about convincing the Customer that the EXTRA price is worth paying. It’s like the extra energy that wins you the arm-wrestle with a stronger opponent!

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Your garden is invited for a Plump Pumpkin Contest. 3 things to do to win it - (A) Have a plan (B) Decide, do what it takes (C) Check regularly if pumpkin growing well. How can you apply that to your sale team? Use these 3 questions

3questions you should ask yourself to help your sales team grow and crush their quotas - (1) What Development Plan do you have for your sales team for them to achieve their objectives? (2) Have you made the decisions necessary to identify the skill and knowledge areas your sales team needs to operate successfully in their markets? (3) What systems have you put in place to constantly re-evaluate the skill and knowledge levels in the team? Growing a good sales team is no different from raising a healthy garden patch. It calls for planning, care and frequent health checks.

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Your pipeline may overflow with large opportunities. But do you have the right solution strategy to convert them all? Because every opportunity could be in 1of 6 sales situations, each needs a differentiated approach. Here's the list

Defining the right solution strategy is a decision made on the basis of (i) your competitive strategy and (ii) identifying the selling situation correctly. The selling situation could one of six below, depending on Customer reactions to your offer: 1) I have no need for your solution 2) I need it but not now 3) I need it and will buy, but most likely not from you 4) I need it and will buy, and you are one of the vendors I am considering 5) I need it and will buy, and most likely from you 6) I need it and will buy, and only from you. Each one of these selling situations requires a differentiated approach. And this quite often is the critical piece missed by most salespeople. Put that piece in and your sales jigsaw is complete!

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Wish to get the sales genie working for you in your very first Customer meeting? Then, don't push the Customer too hard in the first 1 or 2 visits. That will stymie all future contacts. And there's one more thing you shouldn’t do

The other thing you shouldn't do is this - Don't use Customer's time for gathering the information you can collect beforehand. It’s always important to prepare thoroughly for your first visit. That will help you have a meaningful sales conversation. And it’ll also ensure you close your first call with a warm handshake and not a cold shoulder!

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Spread sheets. Calculator. Contract draft. Coffee. Customer's pen uncapped and ready for signing. Have a moment? Because here are 2 checkpoints to help you get the best out of your negotiations

2 preparation checkpoints to get the best out of negotiations (1) Analyse master information on Customer. Find out how Customer’s profile matches with your offer's component elements. Spot strengths and opportunities that come up. Use them to line up your negotiation tactics. (2) What are some modifications Customer may want? What are your offer's variable components? How flexible can you get on them? What weaknesses do you see? So, what are the risks of buyer pressure and our vulnerability? How ready are we to counter Customer's tactics? These checkpoints will help you optimize negotiations for a win-win. Quality of preparation is half the battle in sales negotiations. And that is the winning half!

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Presenting to a buyer group? And wish your pitch takes off like a rocket? Here are 6 strategic questions you should prepare for. Start by asking 'What really is the meeting objective?' Then 5 more.

5 other strategic questions on the meeting objective that you should be asking - 1) What arguments and appeals will help? 2) How should these be used? 3) What are some key questions to get ready for? 4) What support material should you line up and share? 5) What references, case histories, tests etc. do you need to carry and produce if needed? Get these 6 strategic pieces in position and watch your pitch take off and zoom!

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Of course, you should let go, if your little one should cycle without support. But, 'when' is the question? Depends on your confidence and hers. It's no different, managing your sales people. In Mercuri, we call it the Plumbing Model.

Good Sales Managers assess their Salespersons' abilities all the time. They track how well each of them knows the products, how systematic in maintaining Customer information, how up to date on competitor information and how good at their skill levels. They identify critical gaps and craft development plans to close those gaps. Then they support the salespersons in achieving the expected results. The degree of support needed would vary with the individual. Even with the same salesperson it will change with time. Factors to consider would include (a) quality of sales work (b) how self-managed in relation to quantity of effort & (c) market environment. In effect, a Sales Manager should plumb to the right depth to decide how much support is required. That's the Plumbing Model. Not very different from teaching your little one to bike!

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Oops! Did you hit 'Send' by mistake? Wish you could recall the mail? A giant trap in forming sales messages is impulsiveness. It can cost you more than the deal - Your hard-won reputation. Here's a process to avoid such errors.

Sales emails need careful crafting. Done well, they can win deals. But poorly written mails can break deals and erode all goodwill . Common but costly errors include - Careless typos, shoddy drafting, copy-paste mistakes, missing attachments and saying things you didn't mean. All of which leave a negative impression. Prevention? Follow a set process - Resist the urge to click on the ‘send’, the minute you think message is ready. Save the draft. Do something else for a while. Come back to the draft and read it afresh. Get someone else to read. Correct errors if any. Then send. Do this with all your critical sales mails.

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Low phone battery? Time for a dash recharge. Else you are disconnected from the world. Is there a similar check for your sales pipeline battery as well? Here's one. Plus a sure way to recharge it.

Traditionally, salespeople are used to managing opportunities that come their way. But creating those opportunities should also be part of a salesperson’s job. That’s because, opportunities are the battery that powers the sales pipeline. Creating opportunities also offers the possibility to identify service potential to add value to the Customer. So, sales management should be focused on building Customer base for future results. And not merely on serving enquiries received that were fully firmed up by Customers. Recharge your opportunity-battery regularly. That will keep your sales register ticking.

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"Great" the Procurement Head had said, after your presentation. It's a new, large lead you've chased up for months. Now, it's ‘finger on the button’ time. No matter which button he hits, here's one thing you shouldn't do.

With new Customers, you never know which button will be hit - Yes/May be/No. But deal or no deal, there's one thing you just can't afford. Which is, losing the Customer altogether. So, what should you do? You should remember, there's usually no built-up confidence and positive attitude you can bank on, with a new Customer. You need to work carefully and consciously to build that goodwill. It's critical therefore, to differentiate between selling a product per se and creating conditions for future sales. Not seeing this difference is at the root of many failures to win over new Customers. Even as you work to create a reserve of confidence and positive attitude, it's best not to get into the offer-mode too fast. Keep the relationship going first, deals can always be won later!

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'Just 4 vegetables for 150? And no fruits? Not your usual bill Sir' 'We are driving to Chennai in 2 days' 'Can I pack some watermelons & cucumbers? Nice to nibble on a summer drive' What's the sabziwala's sales lesson?

The sabzi seller demonstrated a timeless sales lesson. Selling should never be limited to understanding just the stated need. Sales champions always probe to generate latent needs. They are creative in spotting unaddressed requirements in a Customer situation. They bring it up and influence it suitably. When that suggestion sets the Customer thinking "How did I miss it? Such a helpful suggestion", the salesperson transforms into a trusted advisor. So, how do you think the sabzi story ended? Did the Customer buy watermelons and cucumbers? You bet! And this works in B2B sales too.

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Here's a preschool puzzle with a sales twist. Pick the odd one, but first, decide which image (Sunshine/Rainbow/Cloud/Red chilli) stands for the 4 discussion points of a sales call (Price/Customer needs/Product value/Customer concerns)

Possible answers can be - (1) Sunshine = Customer needs (2) Rainbow = Product value in use (3) Cloud = Customer concerns and (you got it ...) (4) Red chilli pepper = Price (also the odd one out). The power of a good meeting objective is to hold the Customer’s focus on value and keep it away from price. Too many salespeople pleasantly greet the Customer and then just wait for the Customer to say something. And the only thing the Customer can talk about is, well, price. Moral? Why let the talk turn to red chilli peppers when you can discuss sunshine, clouds and rainbows? So, arm yourself with good meeting objectives and watch your sales calls go like a breeze!

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Social platforms are the new soil for seeding fresh business. When your social relationships sprout leaves and branches, here are 3 ultra-simple rules to sustain and grow them

3 ultra-simple rules for sustaining social relationships: (a) Share consistently - Erratic sharing erodes credibility (b) Master social recovery - In the course of social activity, mistakes can happen. Learn to recover quickly when there are slip ups. (c) Switch to off-line at the earliest - Once a relationship is mature for business engagement, get off line to interact directly. It helps to remember that all business, in the end is, H2H (human to human). Good luck with social selling!

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Ready to take on a problem solving sale? Every sale, of course solves Customer problems. But a 'problem solving sale' is different. It involves a complex business relationship and scores high on these 3 parameters

A typical 'problem solving sale' involves a complex business relationship. It touches all 3 phases of selling - pre-sales, sales and post sales. And the complexity in business relationship is a function of three parameters. (1) The product sold - This could range from “stand-alone standard product” to “system selling” (2) Customer's support needs - Aftersales support could go from just 6 to 12 months, all the way to design advice, participation in evaluation of alternatives, continued post sales relationship or even a partner status. (3) Width of contact -There could be just a few people (2 or 3) from either side. Or there could be a web of relationships across levels and functions on both sides. A 'problem solving sale' is easier to crack, once you identify it as one, early on.

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'My pipeline value estimates are very simple. Our past strike rate was 40 to 70%. So I apply a flat a 60% on all pipeline enquiries. That's my crystal ball' Here's why this approach is flawed.

Never confuse possibility with probability of success in an opportunity/enquiry. Possibility is whether or not the enquiry will get converted. But probability is - how likely it is, that conversion will happen in case there is a possibility of success. Design a system of norms to assess pipeline probability as a one-time exercise. Ideally this is done companywide. Apply probability for each enquiry in the pipeline and total the expected result accordingly. Do this in a table with list of enquiries in left column and month by month columns on the right. Write the multiplication product of (Enquiry value) x (Probability %) in the relevant month column as per your expectation of fruition of the order. You will now have a reliable pipeline estimate. And you can discard the crystal ball!

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It feels lonely at the top. And in sales presentations to stakeholder groups. Isolation, deficient feedback and fear of loss of initiative all contribute to discomfort. There are 4 guaranteed ways to beat it. Here they are

Sales presentations to stakeholder groups can feel like a 'one against many' battle. What can you do to beat the discomfort and seeming isolation? Plan ahead for the meeting but stay flexible once you are in it. 4 strategies that certainly help are (1) Work towards an informal meeting atmosphere. Loosen up formal structures in seating and controlled discussions. (2) Reduce isolation by integrating into the group. Both before and during the meeting. (3) Adopt a 'Problem solving’ over a ’sales meeting’ approach. That turns the ‘outsider’ salesperson into an ‘insider’ (4) Try and lead the discussions, carefully drawing on support of potential allies. Group selling can be a breeze!

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While setting sales goals, who do you see as your 'New Customers'? Are you sure you are including all types? Here are 2 types of 'new' you may be missing. And working on them can dramatically increase your sales figures

New Customer' can mean 3 types. First, Customers who have never bought from you (The completely new). This you will be counting anyway. Then there are 2 other types of 'new', you might be missing. And those are - (i) Customers who used to buy from you but have stopped for long now (ii) Customers who buy far too little in comparison with their purchase potential. Including them in your 'New Customer' can do wonders to your sales figures!

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A 5% rise in customer retention is said to mean a 25 - 95% increase in profits. Does your business experience it too? Here are 4 thumbs up signs your Customer relationship is strong and rebuy chances are high

4 positive signs signalling strong rebuy chances include: 1) You are involved in training Customer's personnel 2) You involve the Customer in your product development efforts 3) There is data sharing between you and Customer 4) You have internal coordination in place for your people who are in touch with the Customer. If you could ensure these with all high revenue Customers, your bottom line is sure to get a thumbs up!

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What's your view? (A) "A sale without meeting Customer face to face? Impossible" (B) "To make a sale happen, you simply sell. Hardly matters whether it’s on phone, video or face to face". Either way, here's the one factor that counts

Traditionally, Sales Communication meant face-to-face, written and telephone communication. Technology brought in ‘presentations’. Today’s digital world includes formats like email, texting, chat and web meetings. Adoption of these multiple formats is varied across Customer groups. While millennial Customers are adept with the latest formats, senior Customers are seen to adopt technology selectively. Because a salesperson has to interact with all age groups, he has to be good at all formats. The catch, then, is this. Being good at all formats by itself may not guarantee better sales skills. What matters is mastery of sales communication, regardless of formats!

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Off for a sales visit? Great. Pause a moment for this pop quiz. A sales visit would typically have 1 of 4 objectives. Name them using these 2-letter prompts - (First 2 letters): SE, NE, IN, IN

Visit objectives could be in one of the following 4 categories: (1) Selling -It could be to take the sales to the next stage in the sales process (2) Negotiating – This happens after basic buy in is achieved. That's in case price objection handling does not succeed (3) Influencing - Win over key persons, and cultivate the contact (4) Informing – Inform customer on something as a value-add. Which of these is your today's visit coming under?

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You have a power outage. You search in the dark and locate a candle. But there's a problem. You've just 4 matches. You're not sure which one will light up. Getting ready for sales negotiations is often like that. Here's how

When it comes to sales negotiations, preparation is often the half that wins the battle. To prepare well, take a careful look at your own offer. Analyse it. Ask yourself these questions - What are the component elements of our offer? What are the variable components? Do they give me negotiation leeway? By how much? In value terms ? And in terms of cost? Being ready with the answers to these questions is like having dry and ready matches in the dark. You will strike light on the first try and close the negotiation. Good luck!

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Of course, the prize for the most dreaded sales objection goes to Price. What's the second most frequently encountered objection in B2B, large opportunity selling? The clue is this - It's a ‘No’ wrapped in a ‘Yes’

It is a large, real large opportunity. Convert that and 3/4ths of the annual target is done. You've worked on it for weeks. Carefully assessed win probabilities. Studied Customer's needs, met multiple stakeholders and made a sales presentation, customized just for them. Procurement calls you for a meeting. You have visions of returning with the order. You get there. Only to be told “Yes, we want to buy from you, but not now!" Reason? Budget constraints. Do you have a ready, tactical response for all such ‘yes-but-not-now’ responses? Having one, will help you overcome the ‘No’ wrapped in a ‘Yes’!

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Freewheeling sales conversations are like a long rallies in tennis. They open up the game and you feel great. But won't you like to hit a winner finally? Closed questions do it for you in sales

Questions seeking a decision, confirmation or both, of what we believe we know, are Closed Questions (CQs). Why are they 'Closed'? Because in asking CQs, we are 'closed' to further information. CQs would typically start with 'Is', 'Am', 'Are', 'Do', 'Can', 'Have'. Good sales conversations begin with Open Neutral Questions (ONQs). They encourage the Customer to talk and get you unbiased information. You then build momentum with Open Leading Questions (OLQs). They let you probe the Customer's needs in a deeper way. Then it's time for CQs to pin point and pick out precise Customer requirements. Summarise them, get Customer acceptance. And now you’re ready to close. In tennis terms, if ONQs and OLQs help you start and sustain a rally, CQs score the winner!

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You are constructing your home. What comes first? The bricks? Or the building plans? Of course the drawings will come first. Then why should it be different when you create a sales presentation? Here’s the story

When creating a sales presentation, the easy option is to dive, head first, into the content. That's understandable because content is a comfort zone. But then, content is like the bricks that go to make a building. Before reaching for the bricks, we should have a construction plan in place. In a sales presentation that plan is the presentation structure. And structure should be defined by the objective and audience profile. This needs to be carefully thought through. Then you would have a logical sequence and a seamless flow. Structure addresses the ‘why frame’ first - why we need to do what we need to do and how. Structure makes concepts clear and messages memorable. Structured content is the foundation for powerful sales presentations!

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Defining a Customer's need for your product or service is sometimes like eating a multi flavoured ice cream. There are 4 goals that go into it and each has a different work flavour. Here's how

4 likely goals in Customer need definition are - (1) Understand Customer’s current situation (Work to do : Ask open questions. Absorb all about Customer's business situation. Understand requirements as stated by Customer. Summarize and confirm) (2) Identify Customer’s possible usage needs for your solutions (Work to do: Reflect and decide on areas to probe for further information) (3) Supplement your understanding fully (Work to do: Meet with Customer's Operations staff. Study Customer's Customers and their situations. Do any other research you need) (4) Visit to maintain rapport (Work to do: Stay in touch, build rapport and keep relationship warm). Do all of this, and need definition becomes as enjoyable as slurping on a multi flavoured ice cream!

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It's crunch time. Year end. Company X uses a questionnaire to test deal win probability. A sales veteran says: The question on importance of post-sales support isn't useful in all cases. What's your take?

As often happens, the veteran is right. "Is after-sales service important to this Customer?" may not help assess winnability of all deals. It may be true of some product lines. But there will always be other products for which extensive after sales service may not be necessary. So, tactical checklists used to assess deal win probabilities should be reviewed periodically to check whether the questions fit the deal types. The key to developing a reliable tactical checklist is to formulate the right questions and design a scoring system that effectively captures win probability. Otherwise, it will be no better than gazing hopefully into a crystal ball.

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"We've negotiated hard and long, and it hasn't worked. So, let's hand wrestle to settle this". Sounds ridiculous? But that's what happens often in sales calls too. Check out this familiar story

Salesperson meets Customer. Effusive smile, friendly handshake, pleasant greeting. All done, waits for Customer to say something. Anything. And the Customer, as you guessed it, goes for the jugular - "What's your price/rate/fee/subscription?” All elaborate call preparation demolished in seconds. So, how do you avoid this? Simple: Have a meaningful agenda for every Customer meet. Examples include: |"I want to use this meeting to understand your needs in depth" |"I will today explain how our product will work in usage" |"Keen to use this meeting only to learn all your concerns. We shouldn't proceed without addressing them well" |Any similar point of strong value to Customer. The power of a good meeting objective is take Customer's mind away from price, till value is firmly established. Else, we end up hand-wrestling the Customer over price!

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What's your sales management style? Do you keep tabs on salesperson wise visit numbers, how many were to which Customers and what products were discussed in these visits? Great for you. But here's the catch to it.

Yes, it is a fabulous idea to collect all that data. And using it, to tell your salespeople all they need to know - How many visits to make, which Customers to go to, what products to focus on. There's catch to that approach however. When salespeople are so closely directed, they will do deals they've been tasked, whether or not they're equipped for them. Result? After all that minute micromanagement, the team could still end up with a disaster! So the right question to ask on sales management is this: Am I supporting my team to become independent and self-driven? Or am I just supervising? It's management by support that can guarantee long term sustainable sales success.

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Picture this: Your sales pitch was mouthwatering. Customer just loves your proposal. But there’s a spoil sport - PRICE! And the Customer's wallet seems locked. What do you do now? Here's a possible strategy

Facing price resistance? Here's a possible answer. Present price positively. Be sincere and truthful but don't miss highlighting positive aspects of your price. How do you do that? Use positive language. Chunk the price to a smaller number, showing benefits in usage. Example: "For all these benefits, your per day/per hour cost in usage works out to just ......." So, if Customer is reluctant to part with currency, speak the language of coins.

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If you are using social media to spot, nurture & grow business relationships, do you look for prospects in the right places? One good idea is to spend time in groups where your prospects are. Here are 3 more

Within a social media platform, people can be hard to find. So, spending time in the groups where your Customers are, is a smart idea. Otherwise, you could risk missing your Customers. Here are 3 more ideas for prospect spotting : (1) Follow companies reported to be evaluating your product line (2) Post content likely to be helpful in procurement decisions and (3) Become active in online interactions with key decision makers and influencers. Go ahead, discover the power of the digital marketplace!

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In the Trojan Horse story, Greeks pretend to abandon war on Troy leaving a wooden horse behind. Trojans take it as a trophy. Greeks hiding inside defeat Troy. That complex deal you just bagged, is it a gift or a Trojan horse?

Large deals usually involve complex business relationships in pre-sale, sale and post-sale phases. So, they need to be carefully assessed in advance for the sales effort and resources needed. Large, complex deals have 2 dimensions – (a) The Selling Dimension where the sales situation could be anywhere between monopoly, captive sales to intense, white-hot competition (b) The Problem Solving Dimension, which can range from offering plain vanilla solutions to specially crafted, tailor made solutions. In any large deal, you should study competition-intensity to appreciate likely impact on pricing and offer terms. Then you must understand solution complexity to get clues on the organisational resources required for the deal. Studying these 2 dimensions can help you decide whether the deal is a gift or a Trojan horse!

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Did you check that drill before starting work? That can save you loads of time and help you do a perfect job. This works for sales as well. Here are 3 sales areas to plan ahead.

A salesperson’s job spans 3 areas. Make a habit of planning ahead in all 3. Area 1 - Sales Talk: Or exchanges between a Customer and salesperson leading to an action or a reaction. If you plan Sales Talk well, you can comfortably generate and influence a need, and get better conversions. And all your Customer contacts will become way more efficient. Area 2 - Strategy: There can be 2 types of preparation here. One is to improve the way you work with each customer (especially large ones) for better success. The other is to review your entire enquiry pipeline and decide HOW to (No 'IF's allowed here) (i) Ensure more enquiries and widen your customer base, (ii) Improve conversion rate & (iii) Select enquiry mix in ways that make the average order size bigger. Area 3 - Total planning: - How balanced are you in giving attention to all activities required to achieve the above.

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'In a dense, dark jungle lived a wolf. He was big, bad, crafty. He set his eyes on a little white lamb' And then? 'The lamb tricked him. Listen how' Structure & preview create excitement - in stories & sales presentations.

From 'once upon a time' to 'happily ever after', all well-told tales follow a structure. There is context, conflict, rising action and resolution. This makes the story memorable. Sales presentations need a structure too. Specially those made to a buyer group. Of course your structure must suit your objective. But a helpful general structure could be: | Buyer's brief (Or situation as you understand it) | Customer's needs (Or how you view them) | How your proposal will meet the situation and needs |Why (you).... ? (Seller's Company) | Questions | Next steps. Offer a preview of this structure. It generates anticipation, like a movie trailer. Plus sharing structure upfront preempts questions till you are ready to take them. So, next time you present to a buyer group, add structure and preview. Magic will happen. Guaranteed

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Will you reach for a second slice? We know, you will, if you close your eyes in ecstasy after the first bite. Does that give you a clue into whether or not your expected B2B rebuy will happen?

Here are tell-tale signs that your B2B Customer will buy from you again: | High share of orders in the Customer's purchase pie - Higher the share, greater the chances | Customer's purchase trend line is rising - Up indicates high rebuy chances Plateaued/Down ae red flags | Stable order behaviour – Not Fluctuating | Good width in product mix bought by the Customer - Wider the better |You are the main supplier - Not one among 'x' number or approved suppliers | You are on Customer's list for all enquiries | Customer speaks your language - Adopting your jargon and terminology points to loyalty. Do you see these signs in your existing Customers? If you are spotting many or all of them, prospects are bright that the Customer will come back to you for rebuy.

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Ace of Spades, Clubs, Hearts and Diamonds. That gives you an almost unbeatable hand. Now if you want to be a sales winner, what's your Ace of Sales Skills?

Each profession has its set of definitive skills. For Sales, the core skill is Sales communication. Getting Customers to open up, understanding their needs, asking questions, practising active listening, gaining Customer’s attention, building rapport and trust - these are central to good sales communication. Seemingly easy and simple skills. But actually rare to find, because they demand relentless practice. There's a yawning chasm between the fortunes of ‘sales winners' and their ‘also ran’ peers. That's the direct impact of sales communication. No surprise, it is seen as the Ace of Sales Skills. And the good news is, sales communication skills are learnable!

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You are all set for a mountain trek. Mission? To collect medicinal herbs - Some in lower slopes and rare ones higher up. If weather gets bad, you'll return with whatever you picked. Can you spot the sales-visit parallels in this?

If your trek is to collect, say, 4 varieties of herbs at different altitudes, each collection is a stage in your mission. We can call them Stage Goals. Ultimate goal is to collect all 4 varieties. If weather forces you to return mid-way, you will still have collected some varieties. Those are your Retreat Aims. A sales visit plan too, must similarly identify sequential events (or Stage Goals) to complete. If you encounter problems or resistance, your plan should have successively lower, yet acceptable objectives or Retreat Aims to achieve. For example, your aim for a visit is to close a sale via incremental Customer acceptances. Each acceptance is a stage goal. If sale can't be closed in one visit, some retreat aims can be: part order, trial order, approval, generating interest, re-tendering and so on. So, every sales visit must have one main aim, several stage goals and at least 3 retreat aims in order of priority. Then sales visits become as much fun as a mountain trek!

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What's your audacious sales goal for the year? Are you done, doing small deals? Feeling the hunger to hunt big and scale the summit? Wonderful! Here are some tips to help you in your climb.

If you are looking to shift to a higher gear, start by converting large opportunities into orders. Large opportunities involve large volumes. There might also be large margins at stake. It could also mean selling a strategic product or picking up a strategic client. This calls for both ‘strategic thinking’ and ‘tactical actioning’. You should make wise and appropriate use of all available resources. Strategy is often defined as ‘which door to open'. But if you want to maximise your win in a large complex sale, it is equally important to know ‘which door to close!’. Most times, it is all about selling the right solution, to the right people, the right way. Good luck to you in your climb to the sales summit!

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Mining for diamonds. That's what uncovering a need is. How? Listen in to this: 'I'm from Lactotech. What's your view of dairy industry?' Customer shares views. 'Very insightful Sir. What may be your expansion requirements?'

Customer's need is like a diamond. Mining for it, takes digging. For that you should swing an axe. Dexterously. Each axe swing is a question. You start swinging with Open questions. They start with the words: What, Where, Why, How, Who, When, Which. Salesperson asking this, is open to information. With Open questions you can define a Customer’s requirements. There are 2 types of Open questions. 1) Open questions that don't steer a Customer's response towards any specific outcome, are Open Neutral Questions (ONQ). The Lactotech salesperson used a ONQ first. 2) Open questions aiming to influence Customer's response in a particular direction are Open Leading Questions (OLQ). Example: The 2nd question in our story. Asking good OLQs requires great listening skills. Because you must frame it quickly from Customer's response to an ONQ. And often that swing strikes diamonds!

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When you make a sales presentation, is your audience fully with you? You can enchant your listeners and bind them in a spell, if you have these 3 compelling connects

Enchanting presentations are the result of 3 Connects you establish with your audience. 1) Energy Connect - What you create with your body language. That includes your posture, eye contact, expression, hand movements and energy you show, all of which contribute to your impact. 2) Emotional Connect - Emotions mirror thoughts and beliefs. So when your voice expresses your emotions, it engages listeners and makes them inclined to be persuaded. The right volume, a positive tone, varied speed and smart pauses make listening a pleasure. 3) Intellectual Connect - Beyond style is the substance, the content that you present. Well researched content crafted to unique audience needs completes the magic. Go ahead, prepare to mesmerize your audience!

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What would you give to become a sales magnet? Popular myth is, it's something only the exceptionally gifted achieve. Truth, however, is that it's learnable. Here's how

Behind the genius of a wizard, is often a robust process. And that process, practised repeatedly, becomes excellence. To apply that to sales, consider the first step in a sale - Understanding Customer requirements. That’s an incredible opportunity. You can use that to come across as an expert advisor. Or you could be just another salesperson eager to close the deal. The difference is in the process you follow. Here's what Mercuri International's 4 step DAPA™ process suggests for that critical 1st step - 1) Use open ended questions and desk research to know all you can about Customer's business 2) Reflect and decide on direction to probe further to shore up your insights 3) Meet the Customer's operations staff. Do this to build rapport and get a deeper appreciation 4) Maintain rapport to dig further till you get the total picture. You are now ready with a need understanding that will make you a sales magnet!

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A school wants 100 hostel bunker beds. In the race - A large furniture chain and local fabricators quoting 1/2 of chain's price. Chain's RM wins order. No price reduction. Her secret? 'Salesperson's stethoscope!' What's that?

In our mini case, the furniture chain's RM asked smart questions. She probed and listened. She found out something that wasn't there in the tender information. The school had plans to expand. So, the furniture chain's easy-to-assemble bed bunker stands won over the fabricated and fixed alternatives. School didn't mind the price. It could avoid retendering hassles. Need was more IN the product than FOR the product. The RM was right. Questioning is the salesperson’s stethoscope. It helps you listen to your Customer’s heart and diagnose his need with precision. And often wins you orders on your terms!

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Tasseography refers to: A) Reading tea leaves B) Projecting sales C) Forecasting business What's your pick?

Tasseography is reading the tea leaves. As per Wiki, it is fortune-telling that interprets patterns in tea leaves. So if you picked (A), you were bang on. But if you chose (B) or (C), you wouldn't be completely wrong. Because forecasting sales or business is often reduced to little more than fortune telling. Reason? Each pipeline enquiry is at a different milestone in its journey from an enquiry to a confirmed order. Simply totalling potential probable enquiry values isn't forecasting. If sales planning shouldn't become tasseography, consciously monitor the pipeline, take proactive actions on each enquiry and review to check for possible dropouts and failures. Then you truly forecast!

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Ad for a sales position: 'Our sea food business is looking for sales managers who can create opportunities and land big a/cs on their own. Compensation won't be a constraint for the right fit ' Does that describe you?

Most salespeople are great at managing identified opportunities. But creating opportunities? That isn't every one's cup of tea. If you don't work on creating opportunities, how will you find ways to add value with your products and services? So good sales management is not just about serving enquiries received. It's about building Customer base for future results. Clearly, opportunity creation should be part of the Salesperson’s job. “To make a sale happen when there would have been none without him or her” is how legendary Heinz Goldmann put it. So, can you apply for that position? Are your fishing rod and bait box ready?

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A charming Christmas story: Rudolph, the reindeer is teased & shunned for his shiny red nose. But when Christmas arrives with impenetrable fog, it's Rudolf's red nose that becomes the fog lamp for Santa's sleigh. A sales lesson here?

The sales lesson from Rudolf's story is this. Selling high quality, high priced products is often seen as a sales challenge. The price, to the salesperson, then becomes Rudolf's red nose - a handicap. Truth, however, is that the premium paid for a top quality product is the lamp that guides the Customer through the fog of mediocrity. It helps him arrive at true value for the money he pays. Obsessing on value for the Customer, unmindful of the price tag, makes the salesperson the rescuer Rudolf. No surprise, it transforms his Customer into a Santa!

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When market changes suddenly, who sets the speed on how quickly your sales team can adapt? (i) Fastest team member (ii) Slowest team member (iii) No one in particular (The flying geese have the answer)

Sudden shifts in market trends quickly render redundant a salesperson’s knowledge and skills garnered over decades. So the Sales Manager has his job cut out - Effectively use current resources to achieve today's results while grooming them for tomorrow. To do this, continuously assess your sales team's knowledge, skills and attitudes. Do this not for the team as a whole but for each sales person. To find the secret of raising your team's pace, learn the lesson of the flying geese -Support the weakest to come up to speed

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Sunlight + Soil create brilliant flowers. Use that to solve this social media equation. Share of mind + Desire to add value = ? (Clue: - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ships)

It takes just those 2 magic ingredients to create high quality social relationships. But 5 caveats: 1. Remember social relationships are neither conventional nor casual 2. Stay focused on helping Customers achieve their goals 3. Recognise the ultra-thin line between being supportive and becoming intrusive 4. Support the Customer on his buying journey 5. Engage in active Social Listening to spot Customer concerns.

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Is your sale solving a Customer problem? A hi-five to you! But have you assessed how heavy is the effort? You should, before you freeze your quote. This 5 point effort rating scale should help you with that.

Problem solving effort varies with different types of selling. Here's a rating to measure effort level on an ascending scale a) Plain vanilla products e.g. a shrink wrapped software (Effort level 1) b) Combination of standard products with Customer deciding on combination (Effort level 2) c) System Integrators – Seller designs and executes the combination (Effort level 3) d) Tailored solutions (Effort level 4) e) Drawing board solution co-created with Customer involvement (Effort level 5)

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The secret formula to bring a golden touch to your sales? The alchemy is in improving your effort quality. And here are 3 levers you should keep your eyes on, to make that happen.

If you are looking to transform your sales effort quality, here are 3 levers you should watch: 1) Sales Talk - When this is done well, it helps generate a need and influence it, improving conversions 2) Effort Strategy - Be mindful about (i) How you work with each customer (especially large ones) for better success (ii) Reviewing total pipeline to decide without exception, how to ensure more enquiries and increase conversions. The trick is to pick the enquiry mix in a way that ensures a bigger average order size 3) Total planning - How balanced are you in giving attention to these activities?

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You have a great pipeline. But which sales opportunities should you pursue? Algorithms can now help you pick opportunities with highest potential for closure. So what’s left for the sales person?

Here's why sales skills still make a critical difference. Size and winnability alone cannot be the sole criteria to rank opportunities. For large opportunities, you have to invest considerable time and effort. So, weighing the costs involved is a valuable skill to pick the best deals to pursue. And such skillful opportunity assessment calls for real sales expertise

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To win at CXO level sales presentations, it is good to remember that the view from top is very different

It's easy to forget how big deals are strategic to buyer-companies too. Large value purchases are CXO level decisions. So, for your pitch to click, you should understand CXO concerns first. You must ensure your proposal covers strategic elements like - | Profitability impact | Incremental cost & business | Speed | Responsiveness |Technical services | Ease of buying | Reliability. When sales get king size, be prepared to think like a king.

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Granted, AI and big data will change the world of sales. But consummate sales skills will still be in big demand. Selling price in a B2B deal, for instance, calls for much more than a bot predicting winnable price

AI can of course, suggest a winnable price. But that’s about all it can do. Customer-centric selling, however, is really not about the price. It is about creating value for Customers. It is the ability to convince the Customer about the justness of the price of a product and service given the superior value delivered. That calls for consummate sales skills only a finely trained salesperson can bring.

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Will the content you're hosting be a hit or a miss? Drop the 'Selling' out of Social Selling, if you are looking to share content that can become a hit with your Customers. Here's how

Attempts to sell on social is a definite turn off for Customers. So, before you post a piece of content or put forward your views in an online thread, check it against two criteria - Social Shareability and Brand Alignment. That will help you know if the post comes under - | Sweet spot | Hard work | Waste of time or | Spam. Leaving selling out of social helps you pick content that is relevant and valuable to your Customers. That’s the way to score a hit with your content posts.

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One on one selling is a sprint. It's just one straight dash to closure. Selling to a group is a different sport. You should be ready to jump over these 3 hurdles to cross the finish line and land the deal

B2B buyers have a complex purchase function. It involves multiple stakeholders. So, the easy, one-on-one meetings to pitch, negotiate and close don't work anymore. You must be ready to jump over 3 hurdles of discomfort in group selling - 1. Isolation (One salesperson having to handle several stakeholders) 2. Lack of feedback (People respond little, or respond in a non-genuine way when in a group) 3. Risk of losing initiative (In groups, any one participant can derail the focus). But no worries. Plan the content and form of your presentation well ahead. And you can master group selling

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Do you make sure your toast is done crisp and golden brown before you pick it? The 'toast' principle may explain why many new prospects don't become Customers

When you deal with an existing Customer, you can draw on the bank of confidence and positive bias you have built with him. That's a luxury which isn't there with a new Customer. You have to work towards building it from scratch. This is where it's critical to see the difference between making a sale and creating conditions for future sales. Failing to do this, is at the root of many failures to win over new Customers. Never get to the sales pitch too quickly when you are still building the new Customer's confidence. Doing that would be like picking a toast before it's crisp, golden brown and ready.

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Aiming for a larger slice of your Customers' purchase cake? Determined to improve rebuy rates? Here's a surprisingly simple first step that works all the time.

The first step in a good rebuy strategy is astonishingly straightforward - Write out your aim. Seems like a no-brainer? But it can help you pick the right activities required and decide how to do them. For instance, your rebuy aim could be: "To increase our sales value from Customer X to 10, 00,000 per year @ 40% share for us and 60% going to others” This innocuous one-liner can infuse a common direction to all the different activities needed to reach your rebuy goal. And win you a larger piece of the repurchase cake.

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Are you really engaged in social selling? Or is social media draining your professional time and efforts? And, the devil is not in the device or the apps inside. It is in the details of how it is used. There are 3 pitfalls to avoid.

To get the best out of your social selling, stay out of these 3 pitfalls (1) Watch quantity of Social Time spent - An easy 30 minute-a-day social time routine is regarded a sweet spot. Neither too much, nor too little (2) Track your Social Effort quality - It's easy to get pulled into wasteful social media activity. Mercuri's 4S Model can help you stay on course (3) See where your Social Efforts are taking you -Ask yourself: Am I leveraging my professional brand and social network? Are we gathering insights, make connections? Does that intelligence help us discover new opportunities, sell, and do business?

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Great salespeople are great listeners. Are you an active listener? Complete the assessment of your listening skills with this second set of 6 Yes/No questions

Answer this second set of 6 questions (No.7 to 12) with a Yes or No. Do you - 7 Become too busy to listen? 8 Feel too tired to listen? 9 Find people boring and repetitive and feel tuned out? 10 Easily get impatient? 11 Nurse an ego, though not consciously? 12 Day dream and allow your mind to wander? Now, give yourself 1 points for every ‘No’. Higher the ‘No’s the better, your active listening profile. Score - 10 or more = You are a truly active listener. Score 6 or less = You need to work on your listening skills. Listen better. It can mean the world to your sales success!

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What do you want from your sales call? Please, the Customer? Make a closure? Seed a relationship? You can do all this & more if you listen–raptly and with empathy. Are you an active listener? Assess your listening skills with a Yes/No to these 12 questions

Do you have great listening skills? Here are 6 of 12 questions to help you find out. Do you - 1. Make assumptions about the person you’re listening to? 2. Have prejudices (may be occasional) regarding certain personality types? 3. Find yourself inwardly criticizing/commenting on what the other person has to say? 4. Feel compelled to prove your point (especially when the other person is wrong on facts or ideas) 5. At times become ‘hyper’ (over stimulated/over enthusiastic)? 6. Frequently have something else on your mind? Answer each with a Yes/No and await the next 6 questions Selling is beautiful

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Off to see a Customer? Great! Hope you have your product tactics, all polished and ready for use. Based on what you know about the Customer, answer these 6 strategic product focused questions

6 strategic pre-visit questions to answer are: 1.What's the synergy between our product strategy and the Customer's situation? 2.Are we meeting a well-known Customer? Some products may then sell automatically, leaving you free to focus on others 3. If it's a new Customer, should we use an attractive product to gain entry? 4. Is it a high influence Customer with a strong referral value? 5. Are we selling an exact alternative product or an indirect substitute? 6. What's the total cost of ownership for different possible products? All 6 answered? Your product tactics for the visit are now in place.

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Game for a sales quiz? Here is one - Sales negotiations are unpredictable. So, the best strategy is (1) Handle them as they happen (2) Be ready for surprises (3) Check which phase they are in and prepare accordingly

Any sales negotiation is usually in one of three phases - (a) Discussion phase - When positions are exchanged, interests are revealed and common ground is found (b) Proposing phase - Where positions move to explore a win-win outcome (c) Bargaining phase - In which you reach a firm and specific agreement. The negotiation process can move from one phase to another between meetings and within a meeting too. Recognise which phase you are in and prepare accordingly. So, if you picked option (3) as your answer, you know the secret of negotiation success.

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Hardworking sales team - Prospects big Customer - Lands mega deal - Lives happily ever after. That's a fairy tale script. But real-life selling doesn’t follow the script always. Especially, when the opportunities are large. Here's why

Large opportunities guzzle time and effort. Often, a sales team throws loads of costly resources on what seems a dream opportunity. Only to discover, it shouldn't have been touched. Ever. So, large opportunities need careful assessment. 4 questions to ask are - 1) Is the opportunity realistic? 2) Attractive enough? 3) Is it winnable? 4) Do we have a structured ‘Go/No Go’ process in place? The answers can help you cherry pick right opportunities to pursue

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How can you prevent your sales questions from sounding like ‘questioning’? Here are 4 tools to build great sales conversations using questions

4 tools to use questions to create constructive sales conversations - 1. Awareness: Ensure your questions make the Customer feel you are continuously aware of his ideas, views and feelings. Question prompts like "Yes, yes" , "Interesting" "Please go on" and reframing key words keep conversation flowing 2. Nonverbal cues: Use eye contact, smiles and positive body language to encourage opening up 3. Making notes: Show Customer you take him seriously. That will make him more willing to answer questions 4. Steering: Gently guide the conversation to a beneficial outcome with well-placed open questions.

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Prepping to make a powerful sales presentation? Begin your preparations with the person you know best

Self-awareness is the key to building great presentations. Understand your personality. Build winning strategies around your strengths. Ask yourself – Am I people-centric? Am I open and generous, sharing information? Am I game to being challenged? Am I mindful? Am I fully present in the moment? 'Know thyself' is not just a great life lesson. It is the secret of a winning sales presentations too!

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A blue tie lesson for B2B sales: You are shopping for a blazer 'Special occasion Sir?' 'Daughter's graduation' 'Grey would do great Sir. Style guide suggests a turquoise blue tie and white shirt with it. Neither formal nor casual' 'Interesting'

A start up calls a bank to manage salary accounts. Visiting RM suggests a service bouquet that includes cash management solutions. Customer is delighted. Selling should always go beyond stated need. Creatively spot latent needs, bring them up and influence them suitably. When the generated need is owned by the Customer, the sale gets elevated to a “service”. And that a can be a very real differentiator in B2B. The way it was with the blue tie!

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Sales pipeline = Enquiries generated + Enquiries received + Offers made. Elementary, right? So what's the big deal about pipeline forecasting?

The catch in sales pipeline forecasting is this: Each enquiry is at a different milestone in its journey from a mere enquiry to a confirmed order. So, it's best to look at ‘sales pipeline’ as the potential probable total value of all such enquiries, allowing for a few inevitable failures. Operative words are 'Potential' & 'Probable'. Mechanically totalling the pipeline without proactive actions, can never amount to forecasting.

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Getting into social selling? Good luck! And remember, to succeed at it, selling is the last thing you should think about.

Social Selling is all about building relationships. It is the use of technologies and channels to facilitate real human interaction. Both before the Buyer meets Seller face to face, and also later. The mantra is to ‘Give’. Giving builds trust. When you offer value - something that enriches lives, Customers will discover you when they are ready. Your job is to find the Customer on her/his journey and become a part of that journey.

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It pays to keep an ear to the ground. Here are 3 ways you can use social media to listen, pick up cues and become invaluable to Customers

Make smart use of Social listening in 3 ways - (1) Monitor online feedback on the brand – Both good and negative and follow through (2) Use dashboards in media aggregation apps as monitoring tools (3) Have a protocol in place to deal with negative commentary.

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Social media is increasingly the new market place where your buyers and prospects meet you. Now what does your profile tell them about you?

Want a quick assessment of your professional profile on social media? Here's a helpful 3 point checklist -(1) Does your professional profile target the right audience?: Your prospective Customers, influencers and key decision makers? (2) Does it establish you as a credible expert in your field? (3) Does the profile highlight the value you can add? Showcase these points and you are perfectly groomed for a 'social handshake'

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Ok, you are all ready and eager to connect with prospects on social platforms. Here are 3 hacks to help you get off to a flying start

The 3 not-to-forget hacks are: (1) Master the skill of searching out the right people to connect with (2) Identify decision-makers to connect and nurture. Be cautious when connecting with people you don’t know (3) Aim to follow and win followers among opinion leaders and influencers. That will give a great start to your social selling efforts.

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The "Well begun= Half done" rule works in Social Selling too. Here are two tips to make a good start with your Social Selling initiative

Two tips for a great start with your Social Selling initiative - (1) Configure your privacy settings to allow visibility of your profile as seen in your Outlook Signature line. Do it in ways that reflect the exact nature of your engagement with the company you represent (2) Protect yourself and your privacy but be discreet about it. Now you are all set to begin showcasing your expertise!

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People buy from People. Agree? Then, why would anyone care to connect with an alias?

When you engage in social selling, use your real name. You should do nothing that looks like you are masking your real identity. So, make sure your official mail id is put out . Also identify unambiguously the organisation or company you work for. Such transparency builds credibility and promotes trust. It creates healthy relationships that can be nurtured for business growth.

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Your Customers are looking for solutions online. Where are you?

58% of the buying journey is done online, say buyer behavior stats. This means more than half the purchase journey is done before the Prospect has a serious conversation with a salesperson. So, the earlier you search out such Prospects and join them online in their buying journey, the faster you create more opportunities to be of mutual value. Are you there?

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Nothing works better than on-the-job coaching. No one can coach sales people better than their managers

5 key resources are used in managing sales – Product, pricing, promotion, network and salespeople. Of these salespeople make the biggest difference. So, outstanding sales leaders assess their team's knowledge, skills and attitudes continuously. They develop their people long before the output is expected. They coach their teams, sharing hands-on learnings, gained from experience. Only a manager-coach can provide such priceless takeaways

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Surely, you've heard of "Sales tactics". But 'tactics for every sales visit'? Here are 5 examples of tactical objectives for a sales visit.

To set tactical goals for a sales visit, raise strategic questions on product and contact tactics. Example - (1) Should we consider a price concession to gain entry? (2) Is our product a precise alternative or an indirect substitute for the Customer? (3) Who do we meet and in what sequence? (4) Who can give us maximum information? (5) At what level of the Customer’s hierarchy should we pitch? Answering these questions will make you 'visit-ready'

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From a Sales Fresher's diary: "I love sales. Power dress. Make impressions. Talk. Sell. Help clients. But negotiations??? Gimme a break!"

There is no running away from negotiations. All sales come wrapped in them. Here's the fresher lesson for those who love sales but hate negotiations –(1) Prepare long and hard. (2) Recognize which phase of selling you are at - Discussion phase? Proposal phase? Bargaining phase? (3) Act on this understanding to optimize the outcomes you want. Over time you will come to love negotiations as much as selling.

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If you want a zero-attrition sales cycle, look at sales as a train journey.

The Sales Metro runs from Station P (Universe of prospects) to Station C (Customers who buy). There will be 2 stops enroute. One at Station M - Your Market of defined prospects you are yet to work on & next at Station W - Worked on Prospects, yet to buy. Your job? Maximize the number of people who travel from Station P to Station C, without losing passengers enroute. Seeing sales this way can help you work towards a zero-attrition sales cycle.

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To get your sales kitchen to serve you sales of a delightful quantity and flavour, try this recipe of 7 more success ingredients.

Here are the sales success ingredients No. 8 to 14 - 8) Alignment of sales goals with market policies 9) Monitoring mechanism to confirm alignment 10) Goals on Direction of sales activity 11) Measurement of sales activity 12) Development plans for sales team 13) Fixing skill and knowledge goals to target 14) Systems for measuring skill and knowledge gaps. These, used together with the earlier 7 can make you a sales super chef!

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If what your sales kitchen serves lacks both flavour and quantity, It's time to check your recipe. Here are first 7 of 14 success ingredients.

The first 7 of 14 sales success ingredients are - 1. Rigorous methods to get market information 2. Structured information gathering 3. Future policies for market growth 4. Future Customer mix (to help focus on profitable segments) 5. Future product mix for profitable sales 6. Communication of sales strategy to all levels & 7. Sales organisation's buy in for the strategy. Watch out next for the remaining 7 sales success ingredients!

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Do you fervently wish you had more time for core sales activity? Then, try this cool time management tool that nobody talks about

Here's how the tool works. End of every week, list your Customer wise activities for the week or 2 ahead. Include |Cold calls |Offers |Objections |Negotiations |Rapport building | Closing fully crystallized enquiries | Phone calls for meetings. Prioritize activities on deals nearing closure. This way a humble 'Things to Do' (TTD) list becomes a powerful time management tool to allocate time and effort. Try it. Results will surprise you!

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All you need is to do this one thing well and your sale is guaranteed (Hint: It's a C word)

If the secrets of super salespeople can be distilled into just one ‘must-have’ skill, it will be the famous C word. This critical skill has 4 building blocks – (1) Creating a good contact climate, (2) Sharing information (3) Receiving feedback (4) Steering the Customer to a decision that adds value. Use that skill well and you charm your Customers and become a sales wizard! If you haven't got it already, it's 13 letters and it ends with a 'N'

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Mid-sized accounts can do magic for your company's sales. But, for that to happen, you should know this 5 letter spell.

2 factors make mid-sized accounts a powerhouse of sales - 1) Per Customer margins are easier to defend as most Customers work with a one-year time horizon 2) It isn't too hard to protect and improve current volumes. That's because mid-sized Customers typically distribute their purchases across a pool of vendors. And here is the clue to your 5-letter spell to unlock mid-size sales magic : R _ _ _ Y

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In an ‘always-on’ world, sales is no longer only face to face or over phone. So, will mastering new media guarantee sales success? No way

As Customers and salespeople take rapidly to digital media, selling gets real time. That means you should get your sales messaging right the first time, all the time! Regardless of devices and media, it is effective sales communication that clinches closures. Rising digital adoption simply reinforces that need. It is mastery in sales communication that can win sales success. Always!

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Couldn’t get a deal closure on your first call? No worries. Here are 5 secrets of seeding future sales in your very first Customer call.

And the secrets are - (1) Plan the first visit as part of the total strategy (2) “Don’t take a ‘no’ from someone who cannot say ‘yes’” (3) Avoid the push for a hard close (4) Value Customer time and let him know that you do (5) Aim to end the first visit with a concrete acceptance on clearly identified next steps. Put these secrets to work and you may not have to fly around looking for sales to swoop on.

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Are you losing sales without even knowing why? Here's how you can guard against that chink in you sales armour.

You could be a product encyclopedia. But you may still end up losing sales if you don't use it to create Customer value. So, plan your sales visit with great care and diligence. Put in a special effort to meticulously map your product features and benefits with your Customer’s needs. Make your Customer feel good about your product and excited about buying from you. That's the way to stop losing sales without knowing why.

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Does sales negotiation intimidate you? You can 'phase' and ace any negotiation challenge. You just have to do it the sales wizards' way.

Regardless of twists, turns and high drama that sometimes go with negotiations, the negotiation process has 3 phases - Discussion phase to exchange each other’s position to find common ground, Proposing phase to move positions and explore a win-win outcome and Bargaining phase to reach a firm and specific agreement. Recognize which phase you are in. Strategize for it. That's the secret of negotiation success used by sales wizards.

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'Can winning make you anxious? Consider this. A great volume selling team, lands a mega deal. Champagne, party and then ... it's worry time.

Needs and expectations are fuzzy in large sales opportunities. Sales cycles are way longer and sales process is complex. Interfaces are with numerous stakeholders of diverse backgrounds. So Sales will have to work with other functions in developing and pitching a solution. With large deals be ready to handle complexities. Can you shoot at sales targets hidden by a brick wall of complexity? If you can, you are ready to close large opportunities.

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The well-kept secret of great sales conversations begins with a Q. If there is one thing that encourages sales conversation, it is Questions

Questions help understand the buyer and his need. A conversational funnel steers the Customer journey towards closure. It works like this - Build rapport with Open Neutral Questions (ONQs) -> Gather information with more ONQs -> Identify need with Open Leading Questions (OLQs) -> Narrow confirmation using OLQs again -> Clarify with Closed Questions (CQs) -> Reconfirm (CQs) -> Close. First arrows are all around the target. Then it's Bull's Eye!

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Your sales presentation may score a 'Perfect 10' on content. But it might still flop if this secret sauce is missing.

Besides content, many elements of style and substance, go into making a winning sales presentation. Of these, personal projection is regarded the most impactful. You stamp your personal brand, with a deep, resonant, emotion-laden voice, a positive tone, variations in delivery speed, pauses for impact and a confident body language. These are essential ingredients of the secret sauce that make a block buster presentation.

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For your most valuable sales lesson, watch football. Here's how

A goal is no goal till it is ruled as one by the match referee. So too, in sales, a need cannot be treated as defined till it is accepted by the Customer. As a salesperson you may speak to the Customer or mail the Customer with details of the need as understood. But unless you have the Customer’s confirmation you cannot take the next step. Else all you will have, in football language, will be a ‘ghost goal’ or ‘phantom goal’

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Here is the 'surpricing' truth about the most dreaded sales objection: Forget the buyer, have you checked your price psychology first?

Does selling feel like rappelling across rapids exploding with 'price-objection sharks'? If so, Hack No.1 - Stop obsessing about price. Learn to present price like it's a filling between the buns of benefits. Price becomes Customer’s weapon of choice, only when value isn't clear. Therefore, Hack No.2 - Focus on value. That will make price secondary to the deal. Use these two hacks to sell price like a champion!

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To get awesome at sales leadership, perfect your sales management style first.

Cold, unforgiving numbers. That’s how success is measured for sales teams. So how well you assign individual targets and how many of them are achieved could spell the difference between leading a pack of target-smashing champs and herding a bunch of also-rans. Mercuri's RAC Framework (Results-Activity-Competence) Model can help you perfect your sales management style and transform your sales teams.

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To get the best out of a complex sale, toggle between hunting and farming.

Sales marked by low complexity/high dominance conditions are ideal for a pack of hunters. But as complexity rises and/or competition increases, high empathy selling with an account-based focus is required. This can be managed only by ‘farmers’. Therefore, knowing where you are on the complexity/selling effort dimensions can help you smartly toggle between hunting and farming strategies to get the best out of complex sales.

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When eight days a week is not enough for sales, here is what you should do.

A salesperson’s time usually goes into 5 kinds of activities. 1. Direct selling time 2. Indirect selling time 3. Enabling time - (for 1 + 2) 4. Administrative time 5. Personal time. Examine each element of 3, 4 & 5 and do less of, delegate or invest less time on them. Make meetings more productive. Plan ahead to optimize personal time. Follow a process to shrink administrative time. Do this and you can stop wishing for the 25th hour.

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Are pin pricks derailing your Group Selling Presentations? Plug into uninterrupted power with these 3 secrets.

If you love questions but can't stand interruptions, here are 3 secrets, guaranteed to get you break-free attention in groups. 1) Form - Excel in presenting and weave a spell. With attention all on you there'll be no distractions 2) Structure – Follow a structure. Maximize impact and minimize interruptions 3) Awareness – Share upfront, what you plan to say to preempt questions. Crack this and say goodbye to group presentation pin pricks.

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7 seconds is all you have, it's said, to make a 1st impression A sales call is better & gives you at least 20 minutes Do you use them well?

You could use the first 15 - 20 minutes to create a good contact climate and secure the Customer’s confidence. You can then uncover his need and pique his interest for knowing more. Those are smart moves and they can prep your Customer for a big decision in your favour.

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Make Customers come back to you. Again. And again. Here is the second and final set of 8 keys that can help you do that.

Key no.s 9 to 16: 9. Decision makers & influencers known to you 10 .Your position with Customer (Main supplier? Approved vendor?) 11.How does Customer evaluate you (Given present Product+Service+Price matrix) 12. Possible product-wise buying changes 13. Key Stakeholders' attitude 14.Anyone who cooperates most? 15. Practices unique to Customer 16. Customer’s finances. In case you missed key no.s 1 to 8, you can find them in the earlier tweet.

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Do your Customers keep coming back to you? They should! Here is the first of 2 sets of keys that can open rebuy doors for you.

The keys to unlock rebuy doors are yours if you check where you are with your key accounts. Here's your 1st set of keys - 1 Value of your sales to Customer 2 Your share in total purchases 3 Trendline of share – Up/Down/Flat? 4 Buying pattern - Stable/Volatile? 5 Width of product range bought 6 Product-wise share 7 Factors driving Customer’s buying frequency 8 Which levels matter in Customer’s organization? Try these, your second set is coming.

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To get your sales emails 'write', avoid these 2 traps.

The 2 traps to watch out for are - 1) Complexity - 3 simple rules on this a) Avoid jargon. It's like an unknown language and irritates recipient b) Use simple words Customer can relate to c) Keep sentences short and beware of unending "and's" 2) Impulsiveness - This includes careless typos, copy/paste errors, missing attachments, saying things you don't mean and hitting 'Send' without checking. Take care of this and your mails can win you deals.

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What do sales calls do to you? Pep you up? Or bog you down? Try this approach if your calls are an energy-drain.

Slice the big win into a series of small wins. Closure is our ‘big win. Intermediate ‘small wins’ or ‘stage goals’ can be: A) Sharing information of value to Customer B) Influencing C)Moving from basic buy into negotiation. If closure doesn't happen, ‘retreat aims’ or lower yet acceptable objectives, can be: 1) Part order 2) Trial order 3) Product approval 4) Re-tendering. This way we get better every time and feel energized to move ahead.

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Sales negotiations are notorious for taking unexpected turns. Is there a way to ‘surprise-proof’ yourself? The answer will surprise you!

The surprise answer is this - Good old homework works! The benefits of good homework on sales negotiations are immediate and tangible. You know in advance what and where you can concede and what will be a walk-away position. So, chances are that you will not give away too much. You can also compile a comprehensive negotiation checklist specific to your requirements. This way you'll be completely ‘surprise-proofed’!

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Are you playing for a big win in a large deal? Here's an endgame move to swing it - Align your contact strategy to key players.

Large, complex sales opportunities involve dealing with ‘a Decision Making Unit' of multiple decision makers and influencers. The way to win them over is to work on a differential approach to influence each of them. Such influencing may involve a cross-functional approach to decide: whom to meet and who from our side can influence whom. The ‘Chess’ of aligning Customer's DMU members with vendor's people gives you the end-game strategy for winning.

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You can get from ‘May be’ to ‘Yes’ with this one simple tip.

You are in a store, looking up perfumes. And the store assistant is trying to be helpful. “Looking for perfumes? What price range? Imported? Standard? Organic?” And you think: She doesn't know how I'll use it - If it's for gifting or for own use. So why is she asking. The sales lesson? Never present a feature unless the need is clear. Perfect the simple art of questioning and listening. In that lies the shortest road from ‘May be’ to a ‘Yes’.

Selling is Beautiful!

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Telling isn't selling. Yes.. except when there's a story in it.

Story telling is an ancient art. Stories engage, convince and transform. And do stories sell? You bet! You can use stories to discover needs. Stories can help you create value too. Sales gives you exciting stories to share. Of how you solved a Customer's critical problem. Or helped another one uncover an incredible opportunity. If you have a big supply of such helpful sales stories, there's a red carpet waiting for you everywhere.

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If you are in sales, you know this already. Not every pitch, will result in a bite. But here is a tool that can put your sale on autopilot.

Don’t pitch or present till you have fully understood Customer’s requirements. That will help you take the proposal forward with incremental agreements. As you move ahead with agreement at each stage, your sale will be on an autopilot towards closure. This is the essence of DAPA©, a simple yet powerful personal sales process tool evolved by Mercuri International.

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Does your sales pipeline often turn into a pipedream? Use a 3 component approach for a reality check.

A sales pipeline is generally taken as = Enquiries generated/received + Offers made. That isn't realistic. The journey from enquiry to order is never a single straight leap. It's a series of milestones. A pipeline has 3 components (A) Several small size deals in the works (B) A few large size deals under process (C) Combination of A & B. A pipeline review with a close, hard look at these components will prevent it from becoming pipedream.

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Are your sales efforts going good? Get on the Platform™ to take them from good to great.

Deal closures often take hard and heartbreaking effort. But to optimize results, your efforts need channeling and direction. Mercuri's Platform™ tool can you help with this. It divides prospect/Customer pipeline into 6 blocks basis their interest in us - 1)Never heard of us 2)Heard of us 3)Visited by us 4)Inclined to buy 5)Loyal Customers 6) Past Customers. Manage these blocks proactively and set your sales register ringing!

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Here is a sales hot tip. And for this tip to work, you don't have to remember anything. But please get ready to FORGET just one thing.

The super-secret is this: To sell price successfully, whatever that is, forget the price. Sounds paradoxical? Not really. Successful price selling begins with forgetting price and obsessing instead on value for Customer. Once that is firmly established, price takes care of itself. The Customer then perceives such immense value that price seems secondary to the decision. And magic happens.

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Game for a sales quiz? Name two things in sales with the shortest shelf life (Hint: Two words beginning with letters picked from ASK)

Okay, that was easy. Vast and constant market changes are quick to render Sales Knowledge and Skills obsolete. No surprise that Mercuri’s Global Sales Excellence Survey 2017 found sales teams in top performing organizations receiving 69% more training and 72% more coaching than their bottom performing peers. Clearly, if a sales team has to excel, the Sales Manager has to see himself as a coach.

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Getting your sales projections right isn't all that tough. For the right call on projected sales numbers, just mind the gap.

The gap is equal to - Target numbers minus Expected numbers for the period. To estimate expected numbers better, stop confusing possibility with probability of success in a sales opportunity. Assess probability for each pipeline enquiry, using internally designed norms. Total for expected results. Now compare that with projection numbers to arrive at gap. That should decide the quality, quantity and direction of your future sales efforts.

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That big, fat deal didn't go through even after everyone agreed? Hang on, group selling is like juggling. One at a time, but all in play.

Convincing every single stakeholder is one thing. But have you influenced their 'group think' collectively? Plan your strategy around | Who will take part? What do they think and know? | What do they expect? | What is their attitude? | What are their interests & motivation? | Who might be an Ally? Opponent? Neutral or indifferent? | How can these people be steered, influenced or guided? Can you now go back and swing that deal?

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Should you 'Always Be Closing' as sales school taught you? Yes and no. Be closing always but not before you have a conducive contact climate.

Fruits on a tree are there for picking. But not till they are ripe. A sale ripens for closure when contact climate is good. Here are 6 things you can do for this 1) Build mutual trust 2) Establish your company's credibility 3) Win Customer's trust 4) Heighten Customer's product awareness 5) Get to know the Customer and uncover precise need 6) Trigger Customer's interest in your offering. All done? Now your closure is ready for picking!

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Does your plate overflow with a large number of not so large accounts? Congratulations, you are on a sales gold mine. Here's how

Ask these 4 questions to make a big impact with mid-sized accounts. 1) What is our present status with the Customer 2) How do we usually deal with the Customer 3) Where do we want to be with this Customer in the next 3 - 5 months? 4) What will we do to get there? What competitive tactics will we use? Answer them diligently and see your re-buy and range-sales soar!

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Granted, if you are in sales, conversation is in your DNA. But watch out for those 4Ds that could derail formal sales talk.

Here are 4 potential derailers and tips to ace them. D1: Disturbance. Pause till it's over, check where you were and resume. D2: Distracted Customer. Gently get conversation back on track. D3: Distracted salesperson. Get over distractions like urge to check mail or phone. Stay focused. D4: Dysfunctional conversation habits. Conversation-killers like interrupting the Customer or faking an accent are just bad habits. Become self-aware and drop them.

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Winning big ticket closures at the cost of margins can be pyrrhic. Don't turn your sales victory into a defeat

Sales is never just about closing. It is about closing for mutual benefit. Negotiation is the middle name of sales success. Sales will take care of the top line. Period. It takes negotiation skills to nurture the bottom line. You can crush the most audacious of quotas if you close all your deals with discounts. But that will be a defeat disguised as a victory

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In sales, Cloud number 9 is often just a step away. But the ticket to that trip, is in the kind of questions you ask.

If "May be later" is all you hear all the time, hit pause and check your pitch. Is your cart before the horse? Are you presenting features even before the need is clear? Uncover first, the real product need, the way the Customer sees it. Figure out how he will use the product, what preferences drive the need. To do this, ask intelligent, engaging questions and listen raptly. That's the shortest route from ‘May be’ to a ‘Yes’

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Here's a challenge. Can you make sales happen without selling? You can, provided you follow the sales champions' way.

When selling travel management solutions to a consulting firm, average Salespeople may talk cost optimization.. add to that flexibility, responsiveness. But a champion's pitch wouldn't stop there. It would uncover even unarticulated needs. Like travel planning - that reads consultants' calendar, optimizes travel/life balance and keeps them fresh. Such brilliant need analysis makes sales almost automatic. The flower blooms so enchantingly, the bees come on their own!

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Looking for a super coach to prime your sales team? Start with their sales manager!

Often it is the Sales Manager who is best equipped to coach his people. No one understands what drives them and what challenges them better than he can. Hands-on learning from sales mentors is a priceless takeaway that sales veterans remember with gratitude. Such a ‘manage-by-support’ approach lays the foundation for sustainable sales excellence
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What's a 'problem-solving sale'? No, it's not that old lesson - Find Customer's pain point, offer a solution and make it go away. Here's more

Let's say a hospital is scaling up and wants to replace its air conditioning. Procurement wants lower energy costs. But Maintenance worries about harmonics fouling up IT systems. Now this sale will create a complex business relationship involving multiple stakeholders and across pre-sales, sales and post sales phases going beyond installing a few airconditioners. That's what is a 'problem-solving sale'. And it is beautiful!

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Catch yourself checking time on an empty wrist? Wish your week comes with 8 days? Then it's time for some serious sales time planning.

A salesperson's time goes into: 1) Direct selling - Customer visits and sales cycle activities 2) Indirect selling - Prospecting and pitching 3) Enabling (1) & (2) - Travel, waiting, prepping are examples 4) Administrative stuff - Meetings, report writing etc 5) Personal time for family, health and other priorities. Ensure enough time is invested in (1 + 2) and (3 + 4 + 5) does not eat into selling time. Selling will then be beautiful!

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If you are working on a large deal from a big prospect who is speaking to your competitors, then it's time for some military type strategy.

When there is a large deal cooking, before you roll out the heavy artillery, prepare on 4 areas. | Analyse the Customer to spot any decision making patterns |Analyse your own offer to pick negotiable and non-negotiable components | Do a SWOT on the most significant competitor | Simulate to arrive at possible tactics and counter tactics. Now that you are fully armed, you can breeze into negotiation. And the deal will be yours. Isn't selling beautiful?

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Just sourced/discovered a complex, jumbo deal? Wonderful! Before you dive right in, do assess the sales effort involved. You'll be glad you did.

To assess the selling effort in a deal, figure out how much work goes into: | Creating and presenting the package of benefits to Customer | Convincing how our product can meet requirements better than competition | Uncovering all objections and addressing them fully. It can also range from minimal to humungous basis market conditions: monopoly or captive sales to fierce competition from many players. Even complex sales are beautiful!

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Is your order book overflowing with fully firmed up enquiries? Lucky you! Now, are you also making efforts to create future results?

Traditionally, salespeople are used to managing opportunities that come their way. Not enough. For sales to reach the next level, opportunity creation should become part of the salesperson’s job. That's how the salesperson evolves too, Building the Customer base for future results, must be on the radar of good sales management. A strategic framework to help do this is Mercuri's Sales Platform™. Such proactive effort makes selling beautiful!

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Bigger is better in sales? Not every time. Sometimes it pays to get your foot out of the door, when dealing with large opportunities

To convert a large opportunity, you should 1) Go and 'find' a solution 2) Invest time and money on it 3) Deal with a longer sales cycle 4) Manage a large number of varied contacts & 5) Have team level negotiations. No surprise that large complex deals guzzle seller's resources. The secret is to cherrypick deals with maximum payoff and drop less attractive ones. So sometimes it's smart to get your foot out of the door.

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To stop your pipeline from turning into a pipedream, remember that enquiry to order is never one straight leap but a series of milestones

Each order in the sales pipeline is at a different milestone on its sales journey. If this isn't recognised, the pipeline assessment is bound to go awry. Express the pipeline as the potential total value of all enquiries. Make allowance for some inevitable failures that don’t translate into orders. That will give you a fairly reliable forecast. Your pipeline won't be a pipedream any more.

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You've got a complex deal on hand. Now, what do you do? Call the technical expert? Wait, maybe you could close it yourself

Three things determine complexity in a sale – Nature of product + Degree of support needs + Width of contact or people involved. To crack complex sales, technical qualifications would be a big help. But if the solution is offered is 1) Functionally right 2) Attractive to Customer and 3) Right for seller, even non-technical salespeople can excel in complex or problem solving sales. That's what makes

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Sales don't happen in all Customer visits. You can inch closer to closure every time. There is no such thing as a 'courtesy call'

‘Courtesy call' is a giant delusion. A visit with no objective drains the Customer's and the salesperson's time. A visit can have 1 of 4 objectives: Selling, Negotiating, Influencing and Informing. Even the so-called 'courtesy call' can be used to share valuable information or learn all about Customer's current business challenges. A call without any objective devalues the salesperson. Always arm your visit with an objective.

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Who is a sales rock star? One who closes on first call or the other who takes 'no-not now' in his stride? The answer could surprise you.

Got a deal on your very first call? Check under your pillow. May be you'll find a lucky charm hiding there. Closures on first calls aren’t very common. But a smart sales person can turn a first visit into a gold mine of future opportunities. Sales is not only about quick closures. It is also about nurturing relationships that deliver high value to Customers and create the ground for selling more in future.

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Big clients, big orders, big rebuys mean big, fat sales. Not always. Mid-sized accounts hold a mine of gold too!

Selling to mid-sized accounts brings 2 big benefits: One, most mid-sized Customers work with a one year time horizon. Easier, therefore, to take care of per customer margins. Two, mid-sized Customers usually split annual buying needs over a pool of vendors. This means current volumes aren't hard to defend and improve. So go ahead, make your mid-sized clients come back to you. Leverage them for growth and revenues.

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If you should pick the one 'must excel' skill for all salespeople, what would that be? Clue: It's a C word

To pick the one 'must-excel' sales skill let’s look at what tops a salesperson’s 'To Do' list: Get Customer XYZ to open up | Ask right questions | Listen actively | Build rapport, trust | Figure out exact need | Pitch offer | Close. Now you got it – It is Sales Communication! What separates champions from also-rans in sales is most often their formidable communication skills. And the good news is they are learnable.

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Where a reactive manager sees data, a proactive manager sees opportunity

Where we see just another object, an artiste sees a portrait. What to us is a string of words , is lyric to a poet. Like beauty, opportunity too, is in the eye of the beholder. It takes the skillful 'third eye' of a Sales Manager to look beneath the mundane data, to uncover valuable opportunities. Such insight breathes inspiration into sales activity.

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Is selling fun and negotiation a nightmare? Work on these 4 easy to use preparation check points to beat the blues. You can!

Here are 4 checkpoints for busting negotiation blues. One, analyse Customer's decision making patterns and sequences. Two, deconstruct our offer into its component parts, their value to Customer, cost to you and how much you can push each. Three, do a SWOT on the most formidable competitor. Four, pick your tactics and possible counter moves based on points one to three. You are now battle ready.

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Sales negotiation is no big challenge if you know how to 'phase' it

Negotiations present nightmares. Not for the champions. They thrive on them. They know negotiation isn't a sprint. It's infact a marathon in 3 phases - Discussion phase to exchange positions, proposing phase to move positons and explore win-win and bargaining phase to reach a firm and specific agreement. Recognizing the phase they are in and acting mindfully helps the champs 'phase' up to the stiffest of negotiation challenges.

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Questions are passwords to sales magic. If Customer-need is still vague and you itch to pitch, it's time for some Open Neutral Questions

Open questions start with What, Where, Why, How, Who, When, Which. They are great to build rapport and kickstart a nice, warm conversation. They also invite long, uninfluenced responses. Not everything in the response may be relevant to the sale on hand. The master salesperson looks for the pearl in the oyster. And gently steers the conversation to refocus it back on the sale. How does he acquire such mastery?

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Here's a sales mystery - What turns sweet and supportive stakeholders into unreasonable opponents or helpless spectators in a group selling pitch?

People in a group sense being 'watched' say psychologists. They feel compelled to prove they have no bias. Factors like status, position, specialist skills or personality create 'role expectations' that participants are driven to fulfill in a group. That explains the black magic of supportive stakeholders turning opponents or weak spectators. Managing 'role expectations' is the key to a successful group pitch. It can be learned!

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Hold feature presentation till need is clear. That isn't all. Need must be for usage not just the product. As seen by Customer, not by Seller.

A good driver doesn’t give up when the weather is foggy. He turns on his fog lights. So too, when a Customer says "Not sure we need this now" Should you give up? Don't. Now's the time to invoke the power of questions. Ask open neutral questions for unbiased information, open leading questions to probe deeply & closed questions to pinpoint requirements. Soon the Customer sees the need & use. You have a sales on hand? Of course yes!

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It's ok not to get a sale out of every Customer call. The question to ask is: Did it add value in some way to the Customer?

You are new to induction cooking. You're looking out for an induction plate. No intention to buy today of course. But a ten minute shop visit transforms you. Electro magnetic fields, heating element, cool to touch and the do's and don'ts. You know it all now. The salesperson was brilliant. And passionate. Next visit will be to buy, you resolve. Only from this outlet. How come this salesperson is impressive??!

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Agreed, telling isn't selling. Except of course when there is a story in it

"Stories engage, convince and transform. Ancient seers used parables and fables to transform societies. Stories make ideas unforgettable. Stories sell too. Use stories to discover needs and create value. Sales veterans always have exciting stories. Of how their products solved another Customer's critical problem. Or uncovered an incredible opportunity for him. Any wonder they are welcome everywhere?"

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Sales wizards don't pitch if Customer need is fuzzy.They wait till picture is clear. And Aracadabra they pull a deal out of their hat!

Shopping for shoes gives me cold feet. I can't try, buy, wear and walk-out like most people. I have a long list of concerns. Are my arches cradled? Outsole support for posture? Breathable soles? The average salesperson has no time for all that rattling off brand, design and price details. Not so the sales wizard. He listens with care to help me locate the perfect fit. And sells me an expensive pair. How did he do it?!

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A sales negotiation isn't too different from cricket after all - the first twenty minutes at the crease could make all the difference

"An inspired painter creates a perfect backdrop with his initial brush strokes. He then weaves together a magic of colour, rhythm and flow for the masterpiece to emerge. Batting maestros always use the first few minutes to settle in and middle the ball. Then flow all their distinctive strokes. Sales Negotiations aren't any different. Taking the time to finding your sustainable competitive advantage early on, is foundational."

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It is undeniably easier and cheaper to chase old customers. But then again, every brand advocate was merely a lead once

To a gardener, picking flowers from the plants in bloom is the pinnacle of happiness. Equal is the exhilaration of touching and feeling plants that flower and buds that blossom. Gardeners know that the vibrant garden of today was once, no more than a handful of innocuous seeds. Not every seed sown germinated nor grew to full potential. Yet, all seeds had to be sown and nurtured. So is it with selling. Well begun is more than half done.

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Technology has eased communication in most walks of life. Then again, 'Sales' is anything but 'most walks of life'

A mother whispering love to her new born. Your wordless conversation on your first date. What place does technology have in such communication? All tech can do is to transmit text, voice and gesture from sender to receiver. Then it's up to the recipient to make sense of the message. So too, in selling, the sale happens in the Customer's mind. Like the process a physician follows which triggers healing within the patient, communication is integral to a seller's process, that influences a Customer from within.

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The average sales communicator informs. The best sales communicators influence!

It is 8 PM. Ram is just back after a long, grueling day at work. His older, teen daughter is on her way out .. "Ma, am going out with Divya for an hour. Tell papa". Ram is irritated. Just then, in walks his younger 5 year old, with a glass of water for him.. "Super tired, papa?" His wife watches the drama unfold. Irritation gone, Ram wraps up the little one in his arms and gulps down the water. And then comes the little one’s pitch. She holds him by his cheeks and looks into his eyes "Can we go to McDonalds? Please?". "Chalo" is all Ram can mumble, smiling at his wife admiringly.
Influence is beautiful.

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Purchase isn't just payment of money. It's investment of a client's trust. So, selling isn't product delivery. It's cultivation of trust.

The pearly glow of Taj by moonlight takes our breath away. Hidden below it, is a complex sub structure of foundation and plinth that holds up the wonder. Selling is not about flamboyant product delivery. It is all about painstaking establishment of credibility, before the product even gets mentioned. Real beauty is never ephemeral. It is forever and that's why it is such a joy. It radiates from deep within.. not just from the surface.

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Dont look to score runs right from the first ball. In that tough early phase defense may be the best form of attack

"Young batsmen, regardless of format, are advised to first get their 'eye in' . To a great batsman, batting is an inner game when one becomes a 'wall' before opening up for shots. In that rythm, the runs and applause follow. So too, masters of selling take the time to create a total connect with the buyer and his need. The sale then becomes a consequence of the ensuing resonance."

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To get the Customer to appreciate the value he gets, is the true value a Salesperson brings to selling

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. So is value. To bring the viewer to see beauty in the sculpture is the skill of the sculptor. So too, to bring the prospect to see value in what is being offered is the skill of a salesperson. Imagine a world where people fail to see beauty in sculptures, and similarly, value in what is offered. That's the difference Salespeople make.

Selling is beautiful.

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The challenge of exploring new clients every day is perhaps the most beautiful art in selling

What's life, if there is no adventure? The adrenalin rush of pursuing the unknown is a thrill we shouldn't miss. The surge in self esteem that follows each such conquest is the stuff heroes are built from. Salespeople are privileged to be challenged to explore such opportunities. It is in meeting those challenges that master salespersons break ranks from the ordinary. In reaching and keeping the heights of their art, they add to the mystique of selling.

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Price isn't always the only objective concern of the Customer. It is often the subjective obstacle in a salesperson's mind

How often do we overspend on a purchase and still feel good about it? At the moment of purchase, it is not just logic at play. Feelings count as much. And feelings are spontaneous. Most often, swinging such influence is the expertise of a salesperson, born from deep faith in the unique value his product stands to deliver to every customer. Take that away and the art of salesmanship falls apart.

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Value is nothing but an amorphous lump of clay, until articulated well by an adroit salesperson

I bring a lump of china clay for my grandson to play with. That's what it is. Just a lump of clay. He gets to work on it with his tiny hands. Minutes pass by and he exclaimes "Grandpa! Here is your tea cup". I quickly snap that moment for future. We together put that little tea cup in the showcase, next to the photgraph I just clicked. Priceless! Outstanding salespeople do just this. Their product is no more than a lump of matter, until they articulate its value to the Customer. And then magic happens.

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The pool of old customers will dry out as sure as the oil wells will. Expansion is key to survival.

I see a farmer working on many patches of land, all at once. It is a delight to see him till one patch, seed the next one, nurture the third and harvest in one other. His adroit switch across such a wide repetoire of skills is almost magical. Sustainable sales success is no different. Developing a rich repetoire of skills across the entire Customer life cycle, from prospecting to acquisition to nurturing to retention is the secret. Watching such sales expertise in action is sheer joy.

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Transformative effect of good sales management is nothing short of alchemy

Challenge & Support' is the mantra of super Sales Managers. Because challenge backed by support unleashes energy & excitement to create champions in the team. And that energy is infectious, sweeping across the sales ecosystem...colleagues, customers, and salespeoples' families. Positive energy produces powerful results. And that positive spiral builds, to transform lives on this beautiful planet.

Yes, selling is beautiful.

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3C's of Managing Sales by Support: CREATE an ability-anchored strategy. COMMUNICATE the strategy effectively. CULTIVATE skills & systems for tomorrow.

To support people is to help them blossom to their full potential. To hold their hand as they toddle through their learning phase. To be their beacon when they need direction. The wind under their wings to get them fly higher. As Sales Managers who manage by support, how exhilirating it is when we see our people succeed!

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Never let price dictate customer value. Remember value almost always beats price

Nature is beautiful. Bees know they have to fly far and wide for the honey they seek. And they do. Plants know their leaves and flowers have to turn to the sun to grow. And they do. Buyers know they have to pay a price for the benefit they seek from a product or service. And they do. What you seek determines how much effort you bring to the search. Value determines price.

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Once you place customer value at the forefront of the discussion, the price objection evaporates.... like morning dew after sunrise.

The sun rises in the morning and the dew evaporates. When a painting is exquisite, the canvas, the individual colors and brush strokes all disappear. What stands out is the unforgettable visual experience, that seems priceless. When selling expertise is at work, the nitty gritties of features and price fade away, in the dazzling brilliance of the value perception.

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