Posted by
Colin Wilson
13
Feb 08
I was with one of my major customers last week starting another programme with a new team to our company when as part of the introductions the sales manager of the team read out 7 emails the company had received, unsolicited, from different customers.
They Were Compelled to Write
It seems these customers felt compelled to write in to express their delight and thanks for the way the company had handled the sales process. Apparently each sales rep had managed to involve their prospect like no other competitor. The customer found the process so rewarding that they just had to write in and say what a pleasure it had been, what a difference it had made to understanding their needs and to say the process was a great differentiator… in what is a very competitive market.
The sales manager told his team that each and every sales rep mentioned had been through our training and had taken to heart the process of involving the customer… each had taken them through the Business Imperative… and each were rewarded with the order.
The Difference that makes the Difference
I don’t think it can get better than that… when your customer’s customers praise the result of your work… everyone feels good! I have said it before… the Business Imperative can be the difference that makes the difference… and you can download a free copy from here… but only for a limited time.
I have had up our site for the last year three eBooks for free download. Qualification Analysis, Business Imperative Analysis and the Buying Process. Interestingly the Qualification has had twice as many downloads as the Business Imperative, yet the Business Imperative has been the greatest differentiator in the way people sell. This example is the typical response… other customers of ours have had similar experiences. Some of our customers’ customers have been to our site and downloaded the Business Imperative because they want to use the process for their own internal projects.
Limited Availability
If you wanted to have a free copy of the tool then please feel free to download it. As mentioned we have had the three tools up for free for the last 12 months but we will be stopping this free access soon. We will be updating the tools and posting new ones, but we will be making a small charge for each download… it seems our kids want presents for birthdays and Christmas!
However, if you have already registered or register now… “Get an email when the next eBook is available”… then you will continue to receive our eBooks for free as they are released. This registration will be taken down when we revamp this part of the site… so register now… otherwise feel free to contribute to the kids’ present fund!
Posted by
Colin Wilson
6
Jul 07
In my post on July 3rd I wrote about the carbon footprint and what savvy sales guys are doing – well it seems the marketing people are also doing it.
I read in my paper this morning – a full page advertisement – from Ocado. You order your groceries on line with these people and they deliver to your door. Their claim is that each Ocado van takes up to 15 cars off the road by not going to the supermarket. I quote…
“So that’s 15 cars parked up at home, rather than pumping out nasties into the atmosphere. And all of our vans run on environmentally friendly bio diesel. If that’s not enough, we can also tell you when we’re delivering to someone in your neighbourhood, so if you want to you can choose a ‘green van’ time slot… etc, etc”
I just finished a coaching session this morning with one of my clients – we were running through a Business Imperative Analysis (see ebooks) and my client was linking what they can do to help their customer reduce their carbon footprint.
The band wagon is rolling and it’s gaining momentum.
Posted by
Colin
26
Apr 07
We’ve just released the latest tool from our Entrepreneurial Salesman’s Toolbox. It comes in the form of an ebook and you can download it here.
So, just what is Business Imperative Analysis?
Well, if you’re going to be successful selling your solution, you need to understand why your customer must buy. Knowing ‘why?’ and being able to explain those reasons to your customer gives you a real edge. For one thing, you’ll increase the customer’s level of trust in you and, equally importantly, you’ll put yourself in a good position to influence the final buying decision.
But answering the ‘why?’ alone may not, in itself, be enough. You need to take it one step further and get agreement on ‘why now?’. Without this, budget considerations, a change in business environment, or even a change of strategy may force the sale to be delayed or even cancelled.
Here’s an example that I hope will make the difference between why a customer must buy and why a customer must buy now a little clearer. Imagine you’re selling into the IT side of an organization. You answer the ‘why?’ quickly and easily: they have outdated equipment that is having a detrimental impact on the services they’re providing internally. Unfortunately, the head of IT, who clearly supports the need for a purchase, is not in control of the company budget. Spending is controlled by ‘the business’. And ‘the business’ has a number of competing claims for finance. In a world of unlimited budgets, providing a simple reason for ‘why?’ would almost certainly be enough to bring your proposal to close. In the real world of closely-monitored spending, however, ‘the business’ will release funding according to priority. That means that any proposal that you create must convert a need for your solution into a business imperative. In this example, ‘the business’ must be presented with evidence that failing to purchase would cause severe problems or that a purchase would lead to significant gains.
How does our new tool help? It takes you through a series of questions until you end up with a clear understanding of your client’s business imperative. Better still, because you use the tool in conjunction with your client, you end up with most of your proposal’s executive summary written in the type of language and in the terms your customer uses. Take it for a spin now: it’s free.
Posted by
Adam
24
Apr 07
Wouldn’t it be great if we could easily identify why your customer must buy, and why they must buy now? After all, it’s essential to understand the reasons your customer needs to buy if you’re going to be successful selling your solution (you wan’t to be successful, right?).
Wouldn’t it be great to work through key questions with your customer and help them realise the benefits of action (or buying your solution) or the pain of failing to act (not buying at all).
Wouldn’t it be great if you could get all this for free?
Great news! after some very positive feedback about our Qualification tool, we are very happy to announce our next free downloadable pdf tool is now available - our Business Imperative tool
The Business Imperative is a fundamental part of the buying process (what’s the buying process?) helping you to identify ‘Why the customer must buy, and why they must buy now’. Knowing ‘why?’ and being able to describe the reasons to your customer leads to two key benefits: you increase the customer’s level of trust in you and you put yourself in a good position to influence the final buying decision.Which is great for you and great for your customer.
We hope you like it, and we hope it helps you better understand your customer’s needs. Oh, and did we mention that it’s 100% free
Grab your free copy by clicking here
Posted by
Colin
19
Dec 06
Our web site continues to evolve and you’ll see some changes to the structure today. Our old Articles section has now become the Strategies section, which helps put information into context a bit better. The home page will be getting a revamp, too.
The successful sales professional concentrates on three core activities:
- filling the pipeline with deals (Fill)
- managing the deals in the pipeline (Manage)
- closing the deals in the pipeline (Close)
The new strategies section of the site will describe best practice methods for ensuring you reach and maintain entrepreneurial salesman standards in each of these activities. In our tools section, which already contains Qualification Analysis (vital for any ‘Fill’ strategy), you’ll discover over time an array of tools that let you implement the strategies of the successful sales professional with as little effort as possible.
As I said above, the web site continues to evolve, both in terms of content and appearance. If you have any comments at all about the site, please let us know. We want to make sure we’re building a site that meets your needs as a sales professional - so we want your feedback.
Posted by
Colin
3
Dec 06
I wrote in my post yesterday that our Qualification tool would be free - for now. What did I mean? Well, we think we’ve hit on a pretty good idea that motivates you to download the tools as they become available and drives us to get each new tool out the door as soon as possible.
Whenever we release a new tool (with the exception of Focus, because that’s, well, exceptional) we’re going to make it available for nothing. You can just download it. However, as soon as the next tool is available (for free) the previous tool reverts to a price we think is fair.
So, by our reckoning, that means you guys stay on your toes and download the new tools as soon as they appear (with the added benefit of improving your performance and raving about our tools to your friends and colleagues) and we get fired up to produce the next tool in the series so we can start charging for the one that’s getting so popular.
What do you think?
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