How do I sell to C-level?

Executives have very little time and you should be happy they gave you 30 mins of their time to hear your spiel. Make it worthwhile for both parties by following 3 simple requirements:

1. A summary of the exec’s business strategies, challenges and opportunities.
2. A VERY brief summary of your company and offerings.
3. A business case for how your two firms can work together. Using your offerings to solve a C-level problem or achieve the a C-level goal.

Lower level employees don’t mind if you probe around and ask questions to get a better picture of their requirements and needs. In fact, they often like showing off their knowledge. Try to “probe” a C-level exec and chances are you’ll be told where to stick that probe. C-level execs don’t have time to give you an education, so you’d better have done your research long before you step into the corner office.
C-level execs don’t have that kind of time to waste. They’re interested in broad business issues like corporate strategy, revenue and profitability. So you’d better have a business-focused value proposition that justifies C-level attention.

How do I deal with difficult customer sales requests?

http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/?p=3114&page=6

What questions should I ask in a sales call?

STAGE 1: PREPARATION

STEP #1: Plan your questioning beforehand. Always take a few minutes prior to a sales call to plan out the types of questions that you’re going to ask. Review your relationship with the customer and identify gaps in your understanding of the customer’s computing infrastructure, purchasing patterns and overall business direction. Then decide the general questioning areas that you’re going to pursue.

STEP #2. Target your questions appropriately. There are six “lines of inquiry” that can help you understand exactly where the customer may have needs. They are:

1. What is the current state of the customer’s business?
2. What is the desired state of the customer’s business?
3. What challenges prevent the customers business moving from 1 to 2 above?
4. Which business and personal motivators that influence the final decision?
5. What are the resources, authority and budget that can be committed to moving from 1 to 2?
6. What in the past has been tried (but failed) to move from 1 to 2?

Please note that these are NOT the questions you’re supposed to be asking. They’re the general “areas” that you’ll want to find out about.

STEP #3: Don’t rehearse your questions. While you should have a clear idea of the type of questions that you’re going to ask, you don’t want them sound canned and rehearsed. Rather than writing out entire questions, prior to the meeting, write on your notepad some keywords that will remind you of the general line of inquiry that you want to pursue.

STAGE 2: EXECUTION

STEP #4: Have a conversation, not an inquisition. It’s a mistake to try to extract too much information too fast. Instead, get answers to your lines of inquiry over the course of a series of meetings. For new accounts, you should strive to find out as much as the customer will tell you. But for existing accounts, pick one or two lines of inquiry and set a goal to get good answers for at least one of them.

STEP #5: Really listen to the customer. Sales reps are goal oriented and thus prefer conversations that move quickly. However, it’s a big mistake to spend valuable “face-time” watching the customer’s mouth move while you formulate what you’re going to say next. Instead, really listen to the customer, pause to think about what the customer said, and then decide where you want to conversation to go.

STEP #6: Ask enticing questions, not leading ones. Rather than asking leading questions (e.g. “Have you ever thought of installing a CRM system to increase sales?”) couch questions in neutral and abstract terms that entice the customer into give you the information that you need. (e.g. “In a perfect world, what would a vendor be providing to help you increase sales?”)

BTW: The above is based on a conversation with Wayne Turmel, formerly a big deal sales trainer, but now chiefly known as the Cranky Middle Manager.

How do I better understand my customers behaviour?

…from the “sales psychologist” Ron Willingham, bestselling author of The Inner Game of Selling. He categorizes customers into four basic styles of behavior, based upon their tolerance to risk (recognition vs. security) and attitude towards work (goal-oriented vs. process-oriented). These four basic styles are:

1. DOER (results oriented, needs recognition). Tends to make decisions quickly, prefers brief presentations, and resents time-wasters.
2. TALKER (process oriented, needs recognition). Desires social approval and thus will avoid making a decision until everyone is happy.
3. CONTROLLER (results oriented, needs security). Highly logical and analytical, and will generally look for what’s wrong with any situation.
4. SUPPORTER (process oriented, needs security). Seldom looks at the bottom line but instead is more concerned with getting a job done.

According to Willingham, customers have a primary and secondary style of behavior. For example, a CEO might be a Doer when dealing with underlings but a Talker when dealing with fellow CEOs. Similarly, a bank manager might be a Controller when it comes to writing loans, but a Supporter when it comes to working with top management.

How can I make my message stick?

The police have issued this warning: "If you are driving after dark and see an oncoming car with no headlights on, DO NOT FLASH YOUR LIGHTS AT THEM!" Why? Because the no-headlights car is being driven by a gang member, and as part of an initiation rite, the first person who flashes him will be hunted down and killed.

We have all heard this urban legend, but more importantly we can all remember it. But why?
Why do messages like this and others STICK?

[REST]
1. Remarkable:
Make something worth talking about. As you drive down the motorway you see cows in the fields. Nobody rushes home to tell their friends they saw a cow on t

2. Emotional:
Make the message trigger the emotions. The more intense the emotion, the more likely individuals are to talk about it. Fear, Happiness, Laughter, Joy.. all spices work equally well.

3. Public Service:
When someone shares this legend with you, they feel like they're doing a public service. They might believe they're saving your life. And that's the second trait of viral ideas. It's often a small favour.

4. Trigger:
A trigger is an environmental reminder to talk about an idea. For instance, a golf tournament is an excuse to trot out your public-service info about the state of Tiger's knee, and a cup of coffee reminds you to talk about Starbucks's no-decaf-after-noon policy. A glass excuse is a trigger to talk about the purple cow, in case you didn't need one.

How can I be a more effective listener?

[SAVS]

1) Set The Stage For Listening

– Stop whatever else you are doing.

- Turn to face the speaker and make eye contact.

-Lean slightly towards the speaker.

You want your body language to send the message that you are receptive to the speaker’s message.

2) Appropriate Advancement

As the speaker speaks, make appropriate comments that advance the conversation.

- Use advancers: "Ok,..Right, ..Really, ..Are you serious...Is that a fact...Go on...Yeah? "

3) Visualise
- make a mental image for everything you hear. This will help lock it into your memory.
- Remembering from the other post the more absured and/or structured the easier it is to retain.


3) Summarizing & Playback
- make mirroring playback statements - repeat what they say in different words.

"So, let me see if I have understood that correctly,..."

"So would I be correct in saying that..."

"My understanding is that.. "

4) Question and Expand.

Add value to the conversation by asking questions that help the customer clarify his or her own thoughts and ideas and expand on them.

"Can you tell me more about how.."

"How exactly is that implemented..."

"How is that done today.."

"Can you elaborate on.."

German Jokes 1

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
The police. I'm afraid there's been an accident. Your wife is in hospital.

A man walks into a pub.
He is an alcoholic whose drink problem is destroying his family.

Did you hear about the blonde who jumped out off a bridge?
She was clinically depressed and took her own life because of her terribly low self-esteem.

What do you call a cat with no tail?
A Manx cat.

Why do undertakers wear ties?
Because their profession is very serious, and it is important that their appearance has a degree of gravitas.

How many electricians does it take to change a light bulb?
One.

Why do women fake orgasms?
Because they want to give men the impression that they have climaxed.

Two men are sitting in a pub.
One man turns to the other and says: 'Last night I saw lots of strange men coming in and out of your wife's house.'
The other man replies: 'Yes, she has become a prostitute to subsidise her drug habit.'

Two cows are in a field. Suddenly, from behind a bush, a rabbit leaps out and runs away.
One cow looks round a bit, eats some grass and then wanders off. (PARAMOUNT COMEDY AD)

Why are there no aspirin in the jungle?
Because it would not be financially viable to attempt to sell pharmaceuticals in the largely unpopulated rainforest.

What do you get when you cross a chicken with a centipede?
A media circus about the debate over the morals and ethics of genetic engineering.

So, there were an Irishman, an Englishman and an American wrecked on an island. One day, they found a bottle, and when they opened it, a ghost came out and offered them each a wish. However, even though they wished for different stuff, nothing happened, as the three guys of varying nationalities were just having shared hallucinations from hunger.

How do you drown a blonde?
Hold her head underwater until she can no longer breathe and stops struggling.

Why did the blonde get fired from the M&M factory?
Repeated absences and stealing.

A black man is going to get a vasectomy. He shows up to the doctor's office wearing a suit. The doctor says, "Why are you wearing a suit?" The black man says, "I just got back from a funeral"

What do you say to a woman with two black eyes?
"Would you like an ice pack?"

A duck walks into a bar.
Animal control is promptly called, the duck is then taken to a near by park and released.

Why did the deaf man take his parrot to work?
He was weird.

A Blonde and a Brunette jump off a tall building at the same time. Who hits the ground first?
Both of them hit the ground at the same time. Hair colour doesn't affect acceleration due to gravity.

What's worse then finding a worm in your apple?
The Holocaust.

A man walks into a whorehouse and pays a prostitute for sex. He contracts an STD and passes it onto his pregnant wife. Their child is born deformed and has a difficult life.
When asked if he could see the humour in the situation, the child replied, "No. No, I don't."

A man called a lawyer and asked, "How much will you charge me to answer three questions?"
The lawyer said "$400."
"Wow," said the man. "Isn't that a lot?"
"I guess so," said the lawyer. "When are you going to ask your questions?"

How do you know when a Frenchman has been near your house?
You don't, really, unless you were there to see him or if one of your neighbors saw him. I wouldn't worry about it, really.

Three men are at the FBI Building for a job interview. The interviewing FBI agent tells the first man, 'To be in the FBI you must be loyal, dedicated, and give us your all. Your wife is in the next room. I want you to go in there and shoot her with this gun.'
The man takes the gun, hesitates, and says, 'Sorry, I can't do it.'
The next interviewee enters the office and the agent tells him the same thing he told the first guy. The second man takes the gun, walks into the room, and walks out. 'Sorry, I can't.' he says.
The last man enters the office and the interviewer said yet again explains the test.' The man says "I'm sorry I love my wife too much to do such a harmful thing, I guess the FBI is not for me after all."

What's sad about 4 black people in a Cadillac going over a cliff?
They were my friends.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
Earlier that morning the farmers daughter had inadvertently left the gate to the yard open as she was preoccupied by her worry over a maths test set for that day. She hadn't studied for the test as she was still deeply distressed over her fathers recent heart attack. This, coupled with the added burden of household chores now delegated to her because her mother was out trying to get the west field prepared for sowing, had made her quite forgetful and distracted of late.
Whilst several chickens escaped, only one strayed so far that it actually encountered the road facing the farm. After crossing the road and gorging itself in a soybean crop, the chicken was struck by a furniture removers van as it attempted to make its way home.
Several hours later the dead chicken was spotted by a Community Mental Health Worker who was doing his bi-weekly rural clinic run. The chicken, being a bantam caught the eye of the Mental Health worker, who was a keen trout fisherman.
"Cool" thought the mental health worker- "those feathers will make for excellent trout flies". He stopped and plucked a handful of the most iridescent blue, green and orange feathers and placed them in an envelope. He rolled himself a cigarette, sat on the trunk of his car and admired the clouds. "God, I love this job", he muttered to no one in particular.

Satan takes the form of Jesus and appears to three priests saying that if they do something evil, he'll let them drink of the holy water.
The three priests discuss the offer and come to the conclusion that Satan must be tricking them into committing sin. When confronted with this accusation, Satan reveals his dastardly plot and salutes the priests on their cunning and steadfast faith.

Why couldn't Helen Keller drive?
Because she was blind and deaf.

The Pope walks into a bar. The bartender says, what'll ya have, Pope? But the Pope's grasp of English is tenuous at best, so he mumbles something in Latin. The bartender doesn't know any Latin. The Pope gets frustrated and leaves.

Have you seen Stevie Wonder's new house?
No.
Well, it's really nice.

Where did Hitler keep his armies?
The brunt of his forces were applied to the Eastern front, but throughout different periods of the war, a sizable chunk were used to protect the Atlantic Wall and a handful of divisions were used in Africa, to secure shipping routes.

A kid is riding down the street when his chain pops off his bicycle. The kid yells "God damn!" as he begins to fix it. A priest walking nearby overhears the boy taking god's name in vein and says "Don't say 'God damn' say 'God help us'".
The kid says, "I am an atheist, get away from me".

What's the difference between a Jew and a pizza?
A Jew is a person adhering to the Jewish faith and a pizza is an oven-baked, flat, usually circular bread covered with tomato sauce and cheese with optional garnishes.