Higher rate of change impacting sales teams

Sales professionals facing increasing levels of change Most sales organizations are unprepared to keep pace with increasing levels of complexity Seller agility becoming a new competitive requirement

Source: CSO Insights, 2013

Solution differentiation getting shorter and shorter

LAUNCH RAMP UP EXPLOIT RECONFIGURE DISENGAGE

RETURNS

Companies in high-velocity industries must learn to cycle rapidly through the stages of competitive

advantage.

New “insights” or product advantages have an increasingly shorter shelf life Sales organizations will need to “shift gears” more frequently

Emerging markets will overtake developed economies

Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research

Customers naturally gravitate to commoditized offerings Emerging markets gaining production capacity (engineering and efficient manufacturing) Sales organizations increasingly need to be adept at positioning higher value solutions, not just price

Changing workforce demographics create selling challenges and opportunities

10,000 Baby Boomers will reach the retirement age of 65 each day in the year 2013 Both buyer and seller environments are being shaped by changing demographics Sales organizations will be forced to adapt and leverage new talents and perspectives

2013 © SOLUTION SELLING, INC.

Millennials: Born between 1980 - early 2000s

Sources: mashable.com; kenan-flagler.unc.edu; thenextweb.com; comscore.com; tint.com; pewresearch.org; jom.sagepub.com; yec; buzz marketing group

◄ 

◄ 

◄ 

◄ 

◄ 

◄ 

◄ 

◄ 

◄ 

◄ 

Time

Leve

l of C

once

rn

Admitted Pain or Missed Opportunity

Planning or Latent State

Determine Needs

Evaluate Alternatives

Evaluate Risk

Phase 0 Phase I Phase II Phase III

Risk

Price

Solution

Needs

• Strategy •  Initiatives •  Issues • Priorities

Don’t call us, we’ll call you

80% of buyers find you Buyers first form their own “hypothesis” Sellers must validate or challenge buyer vision Situational fluency is more critical than ever Sellers need to know how to engage earlier

93%  of  buyers  begin  their  buying  process  using  the  internet  

for  research.    Marketo  

74%  of  C-­‐level  execu:ves  say  the  Internet  is  invaluable  for  finding  informa:on  and  53%  say  they  prefer  to  

locate  informa:on  themselves.    Forbes  Insight  -­‐  The  Rise  of  the  Digital  C-­‐Suite  

 

72%  of  B2B  buyers  (last  year)  used  social  media  to  research  a  poten:al  solu:on  purchase.  

DemandGen  

59%  engaged  with  a  peer  who  had  addressed  the  challenge.  

37%  posted  ques:ons  on  social  networks  for  feedback.  

• • 

• 

• • 

Characteristics of the new buyer

1980 1985 2000 2007 2012

2014

The original Solution Selling®

Solution Selling®

for Sales Execution

Research

The New Solution Selling®

The Collaborative

Sale

Solution Selling® 2.0

Defining Collaborative Selling

Sales collaboration is buyers and sellers bringing their ideas and perspectives together using a transparent and commonly understood structure, in shared physical or virtual space, to solve mutually recognized problems or to benefit from identified opportunities, and to create measurable value

16

Essential for selling to Buyer 2.0

Aligning with Buyer 2.0 behavior

Not Looking Looking

Latent State Admitted State Vision State Evaluation State

Plan Create Qualify Develop Prove Close

þ þ þ þ þ þ

Latent Process

Admitted Process Early Active Process Late Active Process

Verifiable Outcomes

Latent State Admitted State Vision

State Evaluation

State

MICRO-MARKETER

VISUALIZER

VALUE-DRIVER

Micro-Marketers recognize the value of their own situational fluency

2013 © SOLUTION SELLING, INC.

What one word do you want people to use to describe you?

In your opinion what is your strongest quality?

What personal quality does your customer expect from you?

What do your colleagues respect about you most?

What one quality would you like to incorporate into your reputation?

BUILDING YOUR BRAND QUESTIONS ANSWERS (QUALITIES)

Not Looking Looking

Strength of Vision Low High

Higher

Latent State Admitted State Vision State Evaluation State

Vision Creation

Vision Enhancement

Vision Reengineering

Buy

er

Pers

pect

ive

Selle

r Pe

rspe

ctiv

e

Reasons   Capabili4es  

Pain   Vision    

Collaborate

Buy

er

Pers

pect

ive

Selle

r Pe

rspe

ctiv

e

Reasons   Capabili4es  

Pain   Vision    

Collaborate

Pre-empt Validate or Challenge

Promote Differentiation

Apply Situational Fluency

Capabili4es  

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

10

10 CUSTOMER  VALUE  

UNIQUEN

ESS  

I

J

SELL

CLOSE

LEAD

Operational (Conceptual)

Financial (Value)

Transitional (Implementation)

Three Sales within a Sale

Anticipate buyer risks Address all three types of buyer risk Track progress to decision Improve predictability and visibility Provides a basis for meaningful collaboration

Problem, critical business issue or

missed opportunity

Has the buyer

admitted that one of these needs to be addressed?

People with influence and

authority

Do we know these people? Can we

access them? Can we influence them?

Support us?

Is our “solution” differentiated?

Do the

stakeholders agree on a vision of a

solution? Can we provide

uniqueness & differentiation?

Have we agreed upon a mutual plan of action?

Are they

collaborating with us? Are we

progressing to a decision?

Does the offering(s)

provide mutual value?

Have we quantified

it? Does it sufficiently

outweigh the pain? Does the buyer

agree?

Successful Sale = Pain X Power X Vision X Value X Collaborate

X Compelling Reason to Act

Pain Power Vision Collaborate Value

Is there a time bound event for

action?

Have they shared a compelling

reason to act? Do we know the

implications of inaction?

CRTA