Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Derek,

Likely you haven't hit on the one or two hot buttons your prospects have. If you're selling a competing product to what they have, you want to make sure you've identified their "pain".
If you selling something new to them, you have to identify the benefit.
There's also the issue of whether or not you're dealing with the true decision maker.
See if you can identify one sticking item. Then trial close on that: Example "If we can resolve the delivery date issue are you read to move forward?"

Hope this helps.
Michael

Can you clarify exactly what is happening in your sales process?

When you say you are having trouble with the closing, what do you mean? Do you present the product to a qualified prospect who then looks at you blankly when you ask for an order? (I doubt it...)

Where exactly in the process do you feel it's coming unhinged?

Can you describe your process? If not, maybe your sales process is not very clear in your own mind, or in your organisation.

And if your process is vague or non-existent, how do you expect to lead the prospect through it?

Give us some more details and we'll try to work through this with you.

ChrisB

I agree with Randall that a dialogue could be a good next step. There are many issues to consider, for example, how many deals are in the pipeline, how do you know the prospects are qualified, how many are you losing to competitors, what level are you selling to, how much sales training have you had, what is the quality of your proposals, are you selling in person or by phone...

... if you and Randall do that conference call, I'd be more than happy to join in and offer what advice I can.

If you have not already done so, I'd also like to suggest that you buy and read at least three top books on selling.

Hi, Derek,

This is a marketing forum and we have given you a lot of good information from a marketing standpoint and we have a few generalities from a sales perspective. You haven't given much to go on from the perspective of the product or market, but from what you have, this seems like a B2B type situation. Let me break the problem into two parts: First, I'll recap the marketing side because if this isn't right, you will never make the sale:

MARKET AND CUSTOMER
For the product, who are likely to buy it? When I was an engineering manager, I had reps come into me and try to sell me memory (SRAMs) - a hot commodity back then. And they had a great line with some good prices. Only problem: My company DIDN'T USE MEMORY! I think it's a safe assumption that since you have been at it for 10 months and you know the product, these customers do indeed use your product so, with this note, we can move on.

NEEDS
So you know the customer. What are his needs? To arrive at needs, you may have to start with your customers' customers. What does your customers provide their customers to solve their problems? How does your product play into that solution? What aspects of your product allow your customer to have a competitive edge with his competition and a compelling solution for his customers? In other words, how can your product make your customer a winner? And beyond the product, is there a service offering that you can provide with your product that will make your customer a winner? So, look at your customers' needs in terms of what he is in business to do and then POSITION (one of the 4Ps) your product and service offerings IN HIS MIND so that you are helping make him a winner.

BENEFITS
Some of the others have talked already about the tendency for us to concentrate on features and light step the benefits. Think about what your product does for your customer in dollars and cents. Does it save him money? How much? This could be simply PRICE, or the features could allow him to eliminate manufacturing time or additional components. Does your product allow him to sell more? How many? This could be that your product enables him to increase the performance of his product so he can sell into new markets or it could make his product superior to the competition and he can sell more to existing customers. Benefits need to be stated in concrete terms - not generalities such as better, more, etc.

COMPETITION
In looking at the competition, look first at their companies. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your comps' companies? STRENGTHS: Do they have a longstanding relationship with your customers? Do they have a portfolio that is broader than yours? Can they crank out new products faster than your company? WEAKNESSES: Have they let your customer down with quality/delivery/service? Are they so big that they don't give your customer "specialized attention?"

Now, do the same with their products - strengths and weaknesses.

When you have done this, do the same (honestly) for your company and product.

Now comes the marketing: Find the WEAKNESSES in your competition's strengths and then the STRENGTHS in your weakness. Lead with the sale with your weaknesses and demonstrate (strongly) the strengths in your weaknesses and aim at the competitors' strenghts and point out the weaknesses

One more point about competition: If the customer already has three or more suppliers, chances are he doesn't have a NEED for another supplier. This means you will have to supplant one of the incumbants. This means identifying "The Weakest Link" and exploiting the areas where he let the customer down.

Finally, we can move to the SELLING side of things - your original inquiry:

DECISION MAKERS AND INFLUENCERS
The first thing you need to understand is how the buying decision goes down. Ultimately, a purchasing person writes a PO. But rarely is he the sole person in the decision. And in some cases, he is simply a "clerk" and although he signs his name on the PO, he isn't the one who decides which vendor to go with. So, look at who the decision makers and influencers are in the customers' organizations. You need to sell ALL OF THEM on your product. Look at what motivates each of them and their measurements within the company. Gear your sales pitch to their motivations and measurements. For instance, a purchasing person can be motivated by his paycheck and he is measured on reducing the company spend. Your pitch should concentrate on how your product reduces his spend. An engineer may be motivated by elegant solutions and measured on time to market. Show how your product is an elegant solution and offer help in designing his product so he can get the product to market fast.

BUYING CYCLE
Understand how often the customer buys your type of product and how many at a time. You have been at it for 10 months. If the customer bought a years' worth three months ago, you may have nine months to wait before he buys again.

APPROVE VENDOR/PRODUCT LIST
Do the customers have an AVL or APL? If so, are you on it? Many companies won't buy unless the supplier is on the list. How do you get on the list?

DESIGN AND QUALIFICATION CYCLES
If your product requires design-in, how long does this take? It could be that you aren't getting the PO because the work's not done. Make sure you know where the customers' designers are in the design cycle at all times and position yourself to be there if they have problems. If you aren't there to solve their problems, your competition will be and you miss that socket! Same goes with qualification - make sure you are following up closely during qualification.

As other's have mentioned, more specifics about the situation will help us zero in on the issue, but this should give you a framework to start. Any questions, drop me a note!

Wayde N.