To become a key market player, an established enterprise in the marketplace on a long-term basis, as well as a highly respected and admired organization, you must consistently produce revenues through penetrating important new accounts, segments and markets.

Your company may have the best products and services, a top management team, an effective business plan, an efficient structure, a great marketing strategy, a reliable source of funding and a motivated professional staff, but that doesn't mean you'll succeed. In the end, business is driven by sales.

Our goal in creating this strategic selling paper is to describe the six key elements of our methodology, then provide some "gold nuggets" of advice taken from this methodology on the most common client questions and problems we encounter.

Our Methodology

Our sales methodology strongly reflects that of Stephen Heiman, Diane Sanchez and Tad Tuleja (The New Strategic Selling). This is probably the most representative and successfully proven method used by large U.S. corporations.

Six key elements comprise our methodology:

• The Concept
  
• Building foundations
  
• The Solution vs. The Problem
  
• Markets and the strategies - identifying target clients
  
• Markets and strategies - how to manage the agenda
  
• Analysis vs. Action

This methodology is not just for large organizations and not only for selling sophisticated products to high-end engineers or finance executives. Any enterprise, small or large, can apply this methodology. Your relational capabilities and your strategic selling methodologies are the only two elements you need to succeed.

Strategic selling, in contrast to tactical selling, (the basic techniques of interviews, objection management, presentation performance, try and buy, etc.) is defined by a series of processes that you must prepare before proceeding on to customer visits or business initiatives. In the "new new" economy, it is absolutely fundamental to perfect your strategic selling process.

Your performance will be also based on your ability to define your objectives and apply the right methodology in accordance with these objectives.

"Gold Nugget" Recommendations - 11 Ways to Improve Your Sales Results

Through our experience with various clients, we've discovered several common problem areas. The following are some tips and recommendations on a variety of sales issues.

1. Handling the "Complex Sales Process"
Since every business in itself is complex, the sales process is naturally an intricate undertaking. Every deal generates a multitude of processes and involves several decision-makers who may be located in various countries around the world. In addition, the recessional economy has created a more cautious buying environment. Decision-makers are more wary about the choices they need to make. They are under more stress than ever before and must deal with administrative controls that may not have existed during the 90's. You will perhaps find it difficult to secure sales appointments as they are increasingly pressed for time.

Your challenge is to:
- Identify the key decision-makers.
- Understand their roles/lines of influence.
- Maintain lines of communication.
- Respect their time and be efficient if you are given the opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting.

A "complex sales process" usually has the following characteristics:
- The numbers of decision-makers involved is high.
- Your client or your clients' suppliers have other options besides your solution.
- The company has a complicated management structure.

Pricing and the product factors do not impact the complexity of the sales process. The business is driven 99% of the time by very complex situations (re-organizations, acquisitions, etc.). This means that your organization must be efficient and extremely well prepared.

2. Crucial Strategic Selling Challenge: How to Manage Change
Change is the key factor you face in any sales situation. We face two main kinds of change in business:

1. Core business changes in:
- Markets
- Technologies
- Customer needs
- Product range
- Competition (players and positioning)
- Company strategy
- Operations
- Structure (mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, etc.)

2. Independent change:
- Stock market changes and fluctuations (difficult to manage)
- Growth (easy to manage)

Every day, you are exposed to a variety of changes that could modify your operational environment. The key element of managing change is controlling the uncertainty brought on by change. You can in fact, turn this uncertainty into conviction and confidence by:

- Understanding threats and opportunities
- Using the right skills at the right time and at the right place
- Implementing a flexible structure and process.

Managing change is the foundation of your growth strategy.

3. Cultivating the Right Strategic Sales Profile
A recent survey shows that in the IT industry, 80% of the new sales come from 10% of sales people and that contracts are not signed until after the seventh visit or more.

Many people believe that a strategic sales person requires only a strong personality. And they believe that a good salesperson is born with a special "sales talent" that is impossible to learn. They underestimate what professional skills and training can do.

If you ask successful sales people, most of them will tell you that they use a certain methodology, not just talent and a strong personality.

It's not easy for entrepreneurs to hire, manage and support their sales forces. Nor is it easy to guarantee your revenue forecasts and achieve company sales objectives with so much uncertainty in today's economic environment. Your company's ability to sell is essential to your success - and it is probably the most difficult skill to cultivate.

Based on long-term sales experience at the strategic and operational levels, we have identified several key elements of sales success which reflect our methodology:

• Be in constant touch with top executives and decision-makers - don't waste time on the others. This is the top-down business process.
  
• Identify client attitudes and other intangible elements that may enable you to close the sale
  
• Book the deal on time
  
• Always think in terms of client satisfaction
  
• Try to get repeat orders - cultivate customer loyalty
  
• Try to be recommended
  
• Build a set of success stories than you could duplicate later
  
• Think in terms of "hunting" new clients and "farming" your installed base
  
• Minimize customer uncertainty during both the pre-sales process and the first sales visit
  
• Identify and avoid bad deals
  
• Keep ownership of the sales process - manage the agenda
  
• Avoid and/or manage problems and internal clashes.
  
• Follow up each contact, each sale.

4. Analyzing Your Current Position
Before you begin an initiative or make strategic sales plans, conduct an in-depth analysis of your current sales position.

Phase 1 - Check and list the most important changes affecting the company (economic, market, organizational, etc.)
Phase 2 - Classify these changes into threats or weaknesses
Phase 3 - Define your current unique sales objective
Phase 4 - Test your current position - users, key market players, etc.
Phase 5 - Analyze alternative positions

5. The Strategic Scheme - Creating Your Strategic Sales Plan
Six fundamental steps make up a strategic sales plan:

• Step 1 - Define the purchase influences or parties involved:
  - Identify all parties involved as well as their roles in the sales process.
  - Identify the purchase influences (technical, financial, user and coach)
  
• Step 2 - Identify "red flags" - Critical points: -
  - List your weaknesses or danger zones.
  - List your strengths and key positions.
  
• Step 3 - Identify purchase reactions:
  - Note the buyer's perception of the sales process.
  - Note the buyer's perception of modifications in the offer
  - Note the buyer's perception of the gap between their current situation and the final results.
  
• Step 4 - Note the benefits and results to:
  - Ensure client satisfaction.
  - Establish long-term relationships.
  - Renew contracts.
  - Be recommended to others
  - Be considered a "partner in a win-win process" by your client.
  
• Step 5 - Define the ideal client profile:
  - Define your ideal client profile.
  - Prospect for others.
  
• Step 6 - Sales "funnel"
  - Avoid yo-yo forecasting and become consistent.

6. The Purchase - Focusing on Decision-Makers and Influencers

7. The purchase influencer framework - listing the influencers

FINANCIAL - Approves the investment USER - Measures the work done
TECHNICAL - Acts as a filter COACH - Guides me during the entire sales process

Define the importance levels of the influencers:
H - High importance
M - Medium importance
L - Low-importance influencers

Ask yourself:
- Have I identified and listed all influencers?
- Have I analyzed and qualified the influencers?

8. Dealing with "Red Flags" The Uncertainties or Dangers That Threaten Your Business.
There are five distinct kinds of red flags (means "needs to be verified and covered"):

• Lack of strategic information
  
• Uncertain information
  
• Purchase influencers not identified
  
• Entrance of new purchase influencers
  
• Reorganization of company.

A "red flag" is a control mechanism that sales people can apply at anytime during the entire sales process. The use of "red flags" helps you manage change and reconsider your position at anytime.

Strengths vs. red flags
To eliminate a "red flag", turn the weakness into strength! Evaluate your advantages and then try to eliminate your red flags by considering:
- Your areas of differentiation
- Opportunities that could help you improve your position
- The importance of the pricing comparison (do you need to minimize this?)
- Gaps relative to sales objectives.

Recommendations:
- Don't ignore the barriers to entry
- Be patient and tenacious
- Work from a position of strength.

9. Determining Buyer Receptiveness
We have now identified the influencers in the sales process. This step consists of identifying the personal perceptions or feelings of each buyer in relation to your sales objective.

Is your offer considered a threat or an opportunity for the buyer? These are the four main purchase reactions:

• The "positive" reaction. The buyer measures the gap between the company's current situation and that of the projected benefits of using your solution.
  
• The "welcome" reaction. The buyer is in a bad situation, and perceives a benefit in your solution (improving the current situation or resolving current problems).
  
• The "flat" reaction. The buyer hasn't really measured the gap between the current situation and the benefits of your solution - your chances of making a sale are relatively low.
  
• The "unwelcome" reaction. The buyer is perfectly happy about his/her current environment and infrastructure. Your chances of making a sale are practically non-existent.

10. Win-Win: the Key to Long-Term Success
All sales processes are balanced by:

• The importance of buyer/seller relationships
  
• The perception of winning or losing
  
• The goals of both buyer and seller

Your objective is naturally to arrive at a "win-win" situation, that is, mutual satisfaction of both buyer and seller. The buyer is looking for the benefits of purchasing your solution and you are looking for a sale.

Arriving at a win-win situation - The "benefits of the result"
This approach is based on six basic concepts:

• Sales: the personal benefit of a product/service
  
• Product: a solution for improving your client's business.
  
• Process: activities that transform the customer's operations/infrastructure/level of success.
  
• Result: the impact of a product/service on the organization.
  
• Benefit: the realization of objectives that fulfill organizational, professional, and/or personal interests (subjective).
  
• Benefits of the result: the completion of a transaction that provides clear and measurable benefits for - both decision-makers and purchase influencers (objective).

How to distinguish between results and benefits:
Results:

• Have impact on company processes.
  
• Are tangible - can be measured quantitatively.
  
• Concerns the entire management team or company.

Benefits:

• Defined as promises fulfilled or personal accomplishments achieved.
  
• Are intangible and non-measurable.
  
• Are judged by the individual.

Results as defined per decision-maker

11. Reaching Financial Decision-Makers
Financial decision-makers (CFO, financial controllers, etc.) are probably the most difficult people in the organization to reach. The sales force faces three kinds of problems when encountering them:
Problem 1: Who is he/she?
Problem 2: How do I reach him/her?
Problem 3: How do I talk to him/her?

Problem 1:
Five identification factors can help you:

• Value of the sale: the higher the cost of your solution, the higher up in the corporate hierarchy the buyer is.
  
• Transaction conditions: The more difficult the economic environment, the more important the role of the financial decision-maker.
  
• Client relationship history: first decisions and the signing of new contracts normally come from top management. If you are already an established supplier, however, middle management may actually place the purchase orders.
  
• Products and services experiences: as in point number three, the less the client knows your product, the more top management will be involved in the final decision.
  
• Potential impact on the client's organization: generally, financial decision-makers are concerned about the long-term impact of your solution on the organization. Therefore, the more your product is perceived as impacting the growth and stability of the organization, the more top management will be involved.

Problem 2:
We recommend three different measures to help you to reach the financial decision-maker. Most of the time, it is difficult to reach the buyer simply because he/she doesn't see any personal benefit in your solution. You may therefore be forced to speak to a "barrier" person in the form of an assistant or lower-level manager.

• Explain to the "barrier" person what are the benefits are for the buyer in using your solution and
  
• Convince him/her to carry this message to the financial decision-maker.
  
• Go around the "barrier" person if you can and try to speak directly to the financial decision-maker.
  
• Accept the barrier person and try to convince him/her of the benefits of your solution. The barrier person may have more influencing power than you may think.

Problem 3:
Two personal characteristics could influence your performance during a customer/prospect visit:

1. You are timid when faced with top executives - Keep in mind that the CFO or other decision-maker is human; don't think about any social or economic differences between you.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you are in a position to fill both organizational and personal (political) needs. Try to collect as much professional and personal information as you can from the executive.

2. You have not convinced the decision-maker of the value of your offer. This uncertainty is created primarily by the gap between your personal objectives and your client's objectives. Be sure the client really wants to meet you. Before making an appointment, you need to have answered the question: "why should the client spend time with me?"

12. Using the "Funnel Sales" Approach
This four-step approach gives you the opportunity to maintain a certain level of bookings and better qualify the maturity of your projects.

1. - The first step is "the universe". Based on prospecting; this step consists of identifying the opportunities related to your offer.

2. The second step is "entering the funnel". Based on qualification, this step consists of determining the possible orders.

3. The third step is "in the funnel". Based on cross checking, this step consists of confirming the possible orders and defining next steps.

4. The fourth step is "the arrival". Based on the booking the order/s, this step consists of finalizing the sales process (free of competitive threats).

At the end of this strategic selling process, you are in the position to implement a practical action plan that will improve your current position.