The following best-practices are guidelines for high performing sales professionals. Thanks to Don Henrich, VP Sales and Marketing at Vico Software for the genesis of this article.
Recent posts by Mark Gibson
4 min read
Value-created Selling - key to winning the early market
What is Value-created selling and why does it matter?
Topics: killer products book review value creation
3 min read
Inbound Marketing - a better approach to lead generation
When engaged by VICO Software in 2008 on a sales and marketing messaging alignment and consultative sales training project, we had an “AH-HA” moment when it came to a discussion around marketing performance.
Topics: inbound marketing differentiation
2 min read
Modelling Sales and Marketing Performance on FC Barcelona
Last night FC Barcelona, a “star-team” beat Manchester United, a “team of stars” 2-0 in the final of the European football championship.
It was a disappointment for many English and Man-U fans, but an outcome entirely predictable. Apart from the first 10 minutes of the match, Barca controlled the ball through crisp passing, ball control through mid-field and selfless 100% contribution from every player on the team.
Man-U’s star strikers were held for most of the game and could not put penetrate the Barca defence; while Barca showed remarkable composure and scored 2 goals from a total of 7 on-target attempts, vs . no goals from 2 on-target attempts for Man-U.
At sport’s highest levels where teams are evenly matched, we see time and time again that “star-teams” almost always beat “teams of stars” in final matches.
Last year I wrote about FC Barcelona in “Training to Win”, after witnessing their summer training camp regime from my office window. Barca brings their whole team, trainers, doctors, coaches, even their own security and some of their grounds-men when they come for summer training; their preparation and training is second to none.
Barca’s 2008-9 performance was exceptional in winning the La Liga championship and EUFA Cup, scoring the most goals in any season, having the least goals scored against them. In just one year as coach, Pep Guardolinos' capacity for leadership, ability to develop and inspire individuals to believe in themselves, combined with disciplined and extreme work-rate and focus on technical excellence, have found him a place in football history.
In business we look at sporting hero's and great teams for lessons and inspiration.
If FC Barcelona was a technology company it would likely have all or some of the following characteristics...and a whole lot more;-
It was a disappointment for many English and Man-U fans, but an outcome entirely predictable. Apart from the first 10 minutes of the match, Barca controlled the ball through crisp passing, ball control through mid-field and selfless 100% contribution from every player on the team.
Man-U’s star strikers were held for most of the game and could not put penetrate the Barca defence; while Barca showed remarkable composure and scored 2 goals from a total of 7 on-target attempts, vs . no goals from 2 on-target attempts for Man-U.
At sport’s highest levels where teams are evenly matched, we see time and time again that “star-teams” almost always beat “teams of stars” in final matches.
Last year I wrote about FC Barcelona in “Training to Win”, after witnessing their summer training camp regime from my office window. Barca brings their whole team, trainers, doctors, coaches, even their own security and some of their grounds-men when they come for summer training; their preparation and training is second to none.
Barca’s 2008-9 performance was exceptional in winning the La Liga championship and EUFA Cup, scoring the most goals in any season, having the least goals scored against them. In just one year as coach, Pep Guardolinos' capacity for leadership, ability to develop and inspire individuals to believe in themselves, combined with disciplined and extreme work-rate and focus on technical excellence, have found him a place in football history.
In business we look at sporting hero's and great teams for lessons and inspiration.
If FC Barcelona was a technology company it would likely have all or some of the following characteristics...and a whole lot more;-
- An inspirational leader with a strategy and plan for success, who could inspire the team to believe they could win in new markets
- A technical team that builds quality products that people need, a support organization that is responsive to customer problems and a culture of innovation excellence
- A sales team that is disciplined in executing modern sales 2.0 process on a daily basis, works as a team in sharing success and knowledge and growing the team's selling skills; is expert in diagnosis and qualification which promotes forecasting accuracy and efficient use of corporate resources
- A fully aligned marketing and sales team, where marketing serves up high quality leads in a timely manner from effective inbound marketing process.
- A lean and mean administration team that is totally in sync. with the corporate mission and funding growth appropriately.
- Lightweight contracts that are easy to sign and business terms that are clear and transparent.
- A commitment to excellence and developing the skills of the whole team on a systematic basis.
- A customer community that is connected into the corporation through multiple opt-in outreach programs who provide valuable feedback on product direction and performance.
Topics: sales performance
2 min read
Sales Performance Survey on use of Best-practices
I created this self-assessment survey for one our clients, VICO Software last week to understand what skills and techniques they are actually using from our Consultative Selling training and performance support program. This survey was conducted prior to our group coaching session entitled "Getting out of your comfort-zone". I was surprised that a lot of the most useful techniques were not being widely used on a daily basis...hence the coaching session title.
Topics: sales performance
1 min read
"Why Killer-Products Don't Sell" - Admarco book review
"Why Killer Products don't Sell" is a revelation and MUST READ for technology sales and marketing leaders for a number of reasons.
1. Firstly, there is original thought in the analysis of the buying cycle and the lifecycle of every purchase in the buying organization. The authors state and I agree that every purchase follows the I-M-P-A-C-T ( Identify - Mentor - Position - Assessment - Case - Transaction) process, the difference is that in a mature buying category, this can happen in a couple of minutes for acquiring a "value-offered" product (Dell Laptop), vs. months for an emerging buying category "value-created" = your discontinuous technology.
2. The second key idea is that there are four different selling cultures, depending on the maturity of the buying category. This indeed explains why so many "proven" sales-people and sales managers from well known corporations (value-added or value-offered) fail in early stage companies where the buying category is still being formed (value-created) and a consultative sales approach is required....this is worth the price of the book alone.
3. The imperative is for sales teams to understand where they are in the technology adoption life-cycle in order to more effectively facilitate the buying process; and for technology sellers to align their organizations operational cultures to match the buying cultures of their target markets.
Dominic Rowsell and Ian Gotts have made a valuable contribution to a growing body of work in the science of professional selling.
We have spoken with both authors and with their permission will be integrating the IMPACT concept and ideas from their book into our Consultative Selling Training courses and E-Learning programs.
Highly recommended!
1. Firstly, there is original thought in the analysis of the buying cycle and the lifecycle of every purchase in the buying organization. The authors state and I agree that every purchase follows the I-M-P-A-C-T ( Identify - Mentor - Position - Assessment - Case - Transaction) process, the difference is that in a mature buying category, this can happen in a couple of minutes for acquiring a "value-offered" product (Dell Laptop), vs. months for an emerging buying category "value-created" = your discontinuous technology.
2. The second key idea is that there are four different selling cultures, depending on the maturity of the buying category. This indeed explains why so many "proven" sales-people and sales managers from well known corporations (value-added or value-offered) fail in early stage companies where the buying category is still being formed (value-created) and a consultative sales approach is required....this is worth the price of the book alone.
3. The imperative is for sales teams to understand where they are in the technology adoption life-cycle in order to more effectively facilitate the buying process; and for technology sellers to align their organizations operational cultures to match the buying cultures of their target markets.
Dominic Rowsell and Ian Gotts have made a valuable contribution to a growing body of work in the science of professional selling.
We have spoken with both authors and with their permission will be integrating the IMPACT concept and ideas from their book into our Consultative Selling Training courses and E-Learning programs.
Highly recommended!
Topics: killer products consultative selling value creation
4 min read
Are You Ready For Inbound Marketing Yet?
Chances are you didn’t arrive here by accident; you followed a link from either a search engine or a Blog or links from a social network site…welcome to inbound marketing.
Topics: inbound marketing marketing messaging
2 min read
World Wide Rave reaches St Andrews, Scotland
David Meerman Scott's new book World Wide Rave builds on concepts in his highly original "The New Rules of PR and Marketing" and creates a manifesto for massive inbound marketing success in marketing ideas/products/services over the Internet. Rich with anecdotes and stories from people who have created their own World Wide Rave, David inspires challenges and stimulates thinking which has profound impact for anyone selling or marketing anything.
An overnight success - 10 years in the making, David's ideas are rapidly changing the way people market products and create PR. He describes himself as a recovering marketing executive having led marketing efforts at Knight Ridder and News Edge in the old World of Marketing and PR.
Every day in the technology business I see old-World examples which David highlights - marketers wasting time, money and precious resources on doing things the old way. Buying PR services, counting print impressions, spamming people with direct mail and email campaigns; hiring telemarketers to generate leads because their me-too Websites don't have sufficient inbound lead flow to feed the sales force.
Typically these companies are product-centric; you'll see product features and benefits (another sure sign of old-World thinking) on their site and the good stuff, their interesting ideas are under lock-and-key...you have to give your contact details to get it - so they can SPAM you with email and hound you with Telemarketers.
Topics: inbound marketing book review buyer-persona
5 min read
VC'S Don't Make Bad Investments - How to Sell Killer Products
Working with a number of VC's over the past 5 years, I have completed several sales due-diligence assignments. I've developed a healthy respect for the experience, insight and skill that VC's invest in due diligence, prior to making a decision to fund an early stage company.
Most VC's will see more than 100 opportunities a year and invest in a handful, representing the combination of best teams, best products, great business cases and a market receptive for the products.
Most VC's will see more than 100 opportunities a year and invest in a handful, representing the combination of best teams, best products, great business cases and a market receptive for the products.
Ask any VC about their portfolio; most will tell you they have a couple of stars, a whole bunch that are mediocre performers and a few that are dying or that they will wind-up.
Is this Darwinian or the hidden hand of some great technology creator?
What happened to that great investment?
If the due diligence was correct and the product works and there is a market, how come there are so few stars and so many companies struggling to win new accounts after the founders handed over the selling to the professionals?What if anything can be done about it?
Our business is in improving the performance of early-stage and mid-sized technology companies through aligning sales and marketing messaging around the buyer; creating transparency in sales process; and in teaching people to sell consultatively and to disrupt status-quo thinking.
I was delighted to find and read in "Why Killer Products Don't Sell"by IanGotts and DominicRowsell, a clear and logical explanation of why so many early-stage companies get it wrong.
Symptoms of a problem?
On an assignment in an early-stage software company last week, with the book fresh in my mind, was not surprised to learn they had hired and fired 5 sales people in the prior 3 years - none of them could sell their product.
There are no competitive products with the same functionality; the founders are still making sales and stress levels are high.
It's a big-ticket product/consulting sale into mobile-operators and requires industry knowledge and contacts, product knowledge, product-usage knowledge, skill in managing the people involved in the decision cycle and most importantly - patience.
So many companies with novel products make the same mistake. It goes something like this; - after the founders have made the first few sales, the owners decide it's time to hit the gas. They raise a funding round to ramp sales against an aggressive target; hire a sales director and team of proven sales professionals. WARNING!
Did anyone specify these sales people will look more like consultants; that they need early-stage or start-up experience; are comfortable calling-high and having business conversations with senior execs about their problems (consultative selling).
So many companies with novel products make the same mistake. It goes something like this; - after the founders have made the first few sales, the owners decide it's time to hit the gas. They raise a funding round to ramp sales against an aggressive target; hire a sales director and team of proven sales professionals. WARNING!
Did anyone specify these sales people will look more like consultants; that they need early-stage or start-up experience; are comfortable calling-high and having business conversations with senior execs about their problems (consultative selling).
In addition, are they capable are of guiding the buyer to envision how they could achieve success using the product and then
leading the buyer through their own internal machinations in order to reach a decision and start the buying process?
According to authors IanGotts and DominicRowsell, symptoms of the problem are:
According to authors IanGotts and DominicRowsell, symptoms of the problem are:
- Sales are stalled, you generate plenty of interest, but mainly educate
- Numerous pilots, but no pull through
- Big deals keep slipping from one quarter to the next (value-created customer buying cycles have no connection to the quarterly revenue problem)
- You run out of mates and technology enthusiasts to sell
- Small incremental sales, but no large follow-on orders
- You confuse your customer and you have internal arguments about whether you are a consulting company or a product company...(this is irrelevant, to your customers you are a product company).
A Process for Managing the "Value Created" Buying Cycle
One very clear message from the book for VC's and leaders of early-stage companies is to understand and align with the buying behavior of their customers. "The value-created buying culture occurs when the customer senses there is an opportunity, but can't describe it. It takes the supplier to bring it into clear focus and suggest a solution."
Authors Ian Gotts and Dominic Rowsell have created the IMPACT model, which accurately describes the process of how all companies buy.
Topics: killer products lean startups
3 min read
Adapting Sales Process for Long Term Survival
Over the Christmas holidays I took my daughter to the London Museum of Natural History, and among other exhibits, spent a good deal of time in the Charles Darwin Exhibit. Darwin has been in the news a lot lately as it’s his 200th anniversary and there are all sorts of metaphors and lessons being drawn from Darwin’s works.
I was struck by the exhibit and his genius and thought about my industry, the technology industry, and how this closed system has recently undergone violent upheaval. I asked a partner of ours, Barry Trailer co-owner of CSO Insights, (CSO Insights is a research firm that specializes in measuring the effectiveness of today's sales and marketing organizations), what his thoughts were on surviving in the current market, and they were insightful
Barry suggested, “Most companies will simply jettison people in a knee-jerk reaction to reduce cost, but this is not adapting to the new environment. The companies with formal sales process that mirrors the customer buying process, those who adapt their sales process when conditions change, are favored to be preserved while companies with informal or tribal sales process will find it very difficult and may go the way of the Dodo".
