Prospecting is Dead. Introducing Deal Creation.

August 17, 2010

The traditional 20-question approach to prospecting is dead.

First, it’s undifferentiated. Everyone can ask the same questions.

Second, it’s frustrating for the prospect. Executives are too busy to play along. Why do they have to answer your questions before you’ve given them a good reason to give you that information?

You have a new messaging challenge in today’s skittish marketplace. It’s no longer about prospecting questionnaires. It’s about effective deal creation.

I didn’t know I had a music problem.

One of the smartest consultants in our company explains it this way:

A few years back, if a salesperson selling iPods asked me an open-ended prospecting question like:  “Do you have a music problem?” I would’ve answered, “Not that I know of…  I mean, I’ve got CDs and this awesome five-disk CD changer…  I’ve also got this CD walkman that gives me that high quality CD sound when I work out… it’s all good.”

Then the iPod salesperson follows up with, “How satisfied are you with the way this works for you?” Again, I would have said, “As far as I know, it works as well as any other CD changer or walkman.” Maybe I’d be looking for a 10-disk changer or something like that, but frankly, at this point, I don’t know I have a music problem. I’m comfortable with the status quo. No need to do anything different…no need to buy anything from you.

Now, listen to how the discussion changes when you employ a deal creation dialogue method:

  • How often do you pay for CDs, but end up only liking one or two songs? What if you never had to pay for songs you don’t like ever again? What if, instead, you could listen to all the songs from an album ahead of time, and create a library of music by buying just those songs you wanted to have? Then, you could use the money you saved to buy more of the songs and artists you like.
  • How easy is it for you to take your favorite CDs with you wherever you go, in your house or apartment, at school, in the car, or while exercising? Ever feel like that walkman is too bulky for a rigorous workout? Imagine if you could carry a library of thousands of your favorite songs on a gadget smaller than a credit card… a gadget that fits easily inside your pocket, and that plays perfectly in every setting, including your most intense exercise routines?
  • Imagine if you could play just certain types of songs at certain times, like if you are entertaining people, or you are reading or studying, or working out, or simply relaxing? What if you could create specialized playlists from your library of songs that enable you to essentially create your own albums for these different occasions, activities and moments of your life? And what if they were available at the press of a button on this same credit card-sized gadget?

Do you hear the difference between these dialogues? Now, I know I have a music problem. My current solution is sub-optimal because these are real pains that I’ve ignored or assumed were just part of what I had to deal with.

Deal Creation is Insight-Dripping Questions

Deal Creation is about asking insight-dripping questions that make the prospect realize they are actually in more pain than they knew… and that they are no longer in an acceptable position. And then, showing them that there is a significantly better way to do things available to them. All the while making sure they envision themselves in a better scenario, as opposed to you putting your solution at the forefront.

Deal Creation dialogues lead them TO your solution, not WITH your solution. But, it is a much more directed and purposeful dialogue than the open-ended, who-knows-where-it-will-land discussion that is today’s 20-question prospecting checklist.

Check out this quick, 16-minute, instant webinar to find out more about Deal Creation-messaging as a replacement for traditional Prospecting approaches. And, start putting more opportunities into your pipeline.


http://win.corporatevisions.com/DealCreation.html

And if you’re interested in attending a live Deal Creation workshop, drop us an email at cvimarketing@corpv.com for workshop schedules.

- Tim Riesterer
CMO and SVP Strategic Consulting and Products
Corporate Visions Inc.

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Sharpen the Saw

June 17, 2010
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Do you recognize this short story?

One day, a man walking through the forest came upon a logger (lumberjack) who was sawing away at a large tree and not getting very far at all. The man approached the logger as he stopped for a moment to rest and observed that the logger would get further if he sharpened his saw. The logger replied that he just didn’t have the time to sharpen the saw because he was busy cutting down the tree, and went back to his work.

This story is from Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the 7th Habit, Sharpen the Saw.  We learn that if the logger had taken the time to sharpen his saw, he would have achieved his goal in a more effective manner. Instead, he chose the status quo.

Often times, we learn something, practice it for a while, gain success and then go back to doing things the old way, simply because it’s easy or we’re tired.  This is the best time to sharpen your saw.  Find ways to do things differently.  Add a new skill to your portfolio, refresh an old skill that was working for you, attend a conference that offers a fresh perspective, take a class, read a book… and so on.   If you’re not sharpening your saw, you’re not growing, and if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

We did an informal poll of a group of salespeople, asking them what they did on a day-to-day basis to keep their messaging skills sharp.  Here are some of their ideas:

1)  Mix it up. Some sales techniques you learn can seem cheesy, or even intimidating at first.  Try them anyway.  They’re only cheesy when executed poorly, and sounding the same as everyone else is far scarier.  Prospects will appreciate that you sound different from everyone else.

2)  Teaching is learning. Explaining a concept to someone else is one of the most effective ways to ingrain that concept in your own mind.  Look for the opportunity to coach one of your peers on their messaging.

3)  Peers are the toughest critics. When’s the last time you gave a sales presentation to your manager, or a fellow salesperson?  That can be far more nerve-racking than presenting to your prospects.  But your toughest critics are your best coaches.  Volunteer to do a practice run of one of your upcoming sales presentations on one of your weekly team sales calls.

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Posted by Corporate Visions Inc.

Too Many Taglines are Tag-Alongs

March 15, 2010
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Want to learn more about messaging?  Check out one of Corporate Visions’ live Open Sessions for sales professionals, and executive Insights sessions for marketing and sales leaders.
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I’m not a big fan of the Geico gecko commercials.  Too cheeky and not much substance.

Except when it comes to their power position – “15 minutes can save you 15% or more on your car insurance.”  It’s perfect.  Simple, specific and provoking.

You’ve probably seen this recent commercial where the big boss has some big ideas (don’t they all) for new slogans to promote the company.   As I watched this, I couldn’t help but think of the many tagline and elevator pitch exercises I’ve seen over the years.

A lot of time, expense and fancy-pants, agency hocus-pocus goes into creating brand promises, slogans and taglines.  And, here’s the amazing irony.  Most say absolutely nothing, but at the same time they manage to say the same thing as everyone else.

No Sacrifice.  No Positioning.

Too many companies unwittingly find themselves at parity in their messaging.  Often they want to tell you everything about themselves in their brand promises, elevator pitches and mission statements.

What companies should be doing is finding their “value wedge.”  Your value wedge is that sweet spot where you do something unique or in an advantaged way that can be clearly tied back to a prospect pain point.  It’s a wedge, it’s not the whole pie.  And, that’s the power.

Let’s look at the Geico slogan.  They completely nail the prospect’s pain points, while showcasing their uniqueness.

  • 15 minutes – Hey, people don’t have time, and don’t want to make the effort to meet with insurance agents.  I had an insurance agent friend who just retired, saying he was glad he was getting out of the business as the internet was taking over.  He said, “People aren’t going to want to have a relationship with their insurance agent anymore.”  I said, “I hate to break it to you, friend, but people never wanted to have a relationship with their insurance agent.”
  • Save 15 percent or more – Everyone knows insurance is a necessary evil.  No one wants to pay more than they have to.  The thought that your insurance carrier is overcharging you is always in the back of your mind.  Car insurance is a blatant commodity.  Why overpay a middle man for adding no value to the transaction?  If you can make it easy to see if someone is ripping you off, and then painless to make a change, you have a value wedge against the competition.

What can the prospect do better or differently?

The other thing the Geico messaging does right is that it focuses on what the customer can do better, or differently, as a result of your solution.  It doesn’t talk about the insurance, what it is, or even what it does.  It talks about what you can do as a result.

I know what you are thinking.  It’s easy to create a clear, powerful slogan when you are the low-price leader.  Wal-Mart doesn’t require much imagination in their marketing, right?

The same principles apply when you are trying to maintain your prices and protect your margins.  Even as your buyers are trying to force you into a commodity trap.

We worked with a commercial cleaning company that wanted to convince multi-tenant office building owners to choose their cleaning service over the myriad of other national franchise or local options.  They created a breakthrough by tapping into the issue of staff health and absenteeism.  They approached the rental companies and showed them how they could help market the space by promoting their choice in a cleaning company.

How?  By focusing the decision on which cleaning service did the best job “cleaning for health,” not just surface cleaning the space.  Their slogan:  “Healthier clean at no extra cost.”  The landlords used it as a way to differentiate themselves when competing against other office space, explaining to potential renters how their cleaning service uses unique, proven approaches to disinfecting and avoiding cross-contamination to improve building and staff health.

Of course, the cleaning company did a lot of different things, and offered a bunch of cleaning services.  But, they were able to ride their “value wedge” to increasing deal size and close rates.

- Timothy Riesterer
CMO and SVP Strategic Consulting at Corporate Visions Inc.
Co-author of Customer Message Management

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Are You in a Battle of the One-Man Bands?

December 15, 2009
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Imagine for a moment that you’re a street musician.  Your meal ticket is selling your performance.  So, you’re playing your heart out, vying for the attention of prospects as they pass by.  You catch someone’s ear, and they wander closer.  They’re reaching into their pocket when suddenly, lo, instead of the sweet sound of a shiny coin landing in your tip jar, you hear an ominous tune picking up on other end of the square.  Is that your competition, stealing your prospect’s attention away just as you were about to win their patronage?  You play louder and harder to try to gain them back.  But from your prospect’s perspective, the square has become overloaded with conflicting noise.  Deafened and irritated, they walk away and on to their next errand.

Who won this battle of the one-man bands?  Not surprisingly, the answer is “no one.”

The same thing happens in real-world sales cycles.  You and your competition are blasting messages and new products into the marketplace, hoping something sticks.  The moment you announce a new product, your competition is meeting (and beating) your innovation.  You shout louder, they shout even louder.  You get the picture.  You’ve been there.

Companies create war rooms and fight plans and all kinds of competitive battlefields.  In fact, the competitor can begin to consume your attention.

If you stop and think about it…who is missing in action from this battle?  Only the person that matters most — your buyer.

What is your war with the competition doing to your prospects?  Confusing them, that’s what.  The amount of information your prospect must sift through to find the answer to their problem is increasing by 33% every year.  They are already overloaded with information, and the incessant battle of the competitive bands is only contributing to their malaise.  It’s no wonder you and your competitors all begin to sound the same.  It literally becomes a din of noise.

You can’t cut through the clutter by adding to it.
It doesn’t take “more power” to win a deal.  It takes a simpler, well-placed message that stands out from a crowded, noisy marketplace.

Where has your message gotten too complicated?  Where can you cut back on the noise and focus on that simple story that sets you apart?  How can you make it easier for customers to choose you?

Never become so infatuated with your own performance in your industry, or what your competition is up to, that you forget to make it easy for your prospects to buy from you.


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