Fortune Sales & Marketing Summit

Presentation Highlights
May 6, 2010
In a Nutshell

• Focus on the customer

• Focus on outcomes (you and them)
• Build value early
• Measure
Mastering the Complex Sale
Top Ten Challenges

1. Rapid commoditization of complex solutions

2. Severe pricing pressures / loss of margins
3. Drawn out sales cycle
4. Strong competitive moves
5. Inability to connect at the executive level
6. Inability to manage quality buying decisions
7. Unpredictable forecasts
8. Missed windows of opportunity
9. Customers are changing buying strategies
10. Everyone is working their own system
Ensure your customers will:

• Pre-Sale
– Comprehend the value you can deliver

• Post-Sale
– Maximize the value you promise
Diagnostic Sales Process

1. Discover
2. Diagnose
3. Design
4. Deliver
Buying & Changing

• Why do people buy?

– Need, desire, get ahead, ego, problems, keep
up
– Positive, future, solution
• Why do people change?
– Fear, discomfort, frustration, dissatisfaction,
lack, pressure, forced
– Negative, present, situation
The diagnostic path

• Start with positive present (sustain),

discover negative present (change),
address negative future (avoid), then
present the positive future (attain)
Seven questions to answer prior to
any presentation/proposal

1. So what!
2. What are the consequences?
3. How much is it costing them?
4. Do they know?
5. Who cares?
6. Are we talking to them?
7. Who’s doing the value translation?
Other Key Ideas

• Always be leaving
• Sales is about reducing risk
• If you feel pressure, you’re doing something
wrong
• The customer is emotionally involved, but you
cannot be
• Ask customers questions they haven’t thought to
ask themselves
• Stop presenting!
Spectacular success is always preceded by
unspectacular preparation
Reality Marketing
Seven stages of a purchase

1. Problem recognition & pain

2. Information search
3. Emotional preference
4. Evaluation of alternatives
5. Rationalization
6. Purchase
7. Post-purchase evaluation
Five Keys to Reality Marketing

1. Quantifiable
2. Prospect-focused
3. goal-oriented
4. High ROMI
5. Remarkable
Red/Blue Test

• Circle self-centered content in red

• Circle prospect-centered content in blue

Do you have more blue than red?

John Assaraf
Six steps to accelerate success

1. Gain clarity on goals

2. Develop mindset, beliefs, habits to win
3. Develop strategies/tactics for growth
4. Develop processes/systems for
accountability
5. Take consistent daily action
6. Review, modify, fine-tune
Tony Hsieh
Customer Experience

• What do customers expect?

• What do customers actually experience?
• What emotions do customers feel?
• What stories do they tell their friends?
• How can culture create more stories and
memories?
What’s your business?

• You’re not in the _____ business

• Cirque du Soleil is not in the circus
business
• You’re in the experience & emotions
business
• You’re in the stories and memories
business
• THINK BIGGER
Vision

• Whatever you’re thinking, think BIGGER

• Does the vision have meaning?
• Chase the vision, not the money
• If you take this approach, the money will
follow
Happiness is about four things

1. Perceived control
2. Perceived progress
3. Connectedness
4. Vision/meaning
Getting Heard
ROAR Method

• Recognize the type

• Observe from their perspective
• Acknowledge concerns
• Resolve needs
Persuasive Business Proposals
Seven deadly sins of proposals

1. No focus on client’s business problems or

payoffs
2. No persuasive structure
3. No clear differentiation
4. Failure to offer a compelling value proposition
5. Key points are buried – no highlights, no impact
6. Difficult to read – full of jargon, too long, too
technical
7. Credibility killers – misspellings, grammar, etc.
Five Keys to Better Proposals

1. Lose the Losers

• Is it a real deal?
• Can we compete?
• Can we win?
Five Keys to Better Proposals

2. Pack your case

• Customer questions
• Am I getting what I need?
• Is it good value?
• Can they really do it?
• First impressions are important
• Titles and summaries are client & outcome-
oriented
Five Keys to Better Proposals

3. Get a NOSE Job

• Needs
• Outcomes
• Solution
• Evidence
Five Keys to Better Proposals

4. Show me the money

• Needs
• Outcomes
• Solution
• Evidence
Five Keys to Better Proposals

4. Show me the money

• Not what you sell, but what they gain
• Make sure the client cares
• Measure it
• Picture it
Five Keys to Better Proposals

5. KISS for Luck

• Keep it Short & Simple
• Five ways to achieve clarity
• Short sentences
• Short words
• Passive voice below 10%
• Readability index at/below 10
• Minimize jargon and acronyms