Selling Above and Below the Line

William Miller

• Publisher: AMACOM
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780814434840
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Vendite
• Index: Business

Most salespeople work hard to become proficient in reaching the frontline managers in their markets. However, a salesperson who wishes to achieve long-lasting success with a client will learn how to also appeal to top-level executives from an "above the line" perspective.

Master sales trainer Skip Miller shows how to simultaneously sell to both the frontline manager as well as the executive who is more concerned with profit/loss indicators such as ROI, time saved, risk lowered, and productivity improved – a strategy used by Google, Apple, Cisco WebEx, and other powerhouses.

In Selling Above and Below the Line, you will learn how to:

• Create energy by including executives early in the sales process.
• Ask the right questions and pinpoint big-picture financial needs.
• Keep "below the line" managers from feeling bypassed.
• Uncover value propositions that target each set of decision-makers.
• Sales that seem locked in will stall or go dark.

Customers who have been loyal to you suddenly back out of the relationship due to decisions made above the manager's head. This often could have been avoided had the salesperson been intentional to sell both the technical and financial fit.

In Selling Above and Below the Line, learn to effectively communicate both, leading to more successful and lucrative deals than ever before.

CHAPTER 1

You Are Selling More Than
Just Features and Benefits

Carlos was confident. He had been in this position before, and he was on a roll. He stood at 142 percent of his quota YTD, and if he closed this deal, it would make his year, with three months to go.

“Do you think we have covered everything?” his manager, Jeanne, asked. “This looks good, but are you sure about tomorrow’s meeting with the COO and CEO? This seems quite technical to me.”

“It’s good, Jeanne. They’re both very technical people. The manager who they are relying on told me what to say. We’ve only got thirty minutes to explain to them why we are the best solution. I’ve cut out all the fluff and will present just the essentials on who we are, why we are uniquely qualified, and when this solution can be fully implemented.” “Okay, I’m trusting you. What role do you want me to play?”

“Just answer any questions they have. Let’s work together on closing this deal tomorrow. I don’t think they are going to ask for more than 15 percent off, and we’re okay with that, right?”

“That’s more than we like to give, you know that. Let’s just see how this plays out.”

Carlos did not get the sale. He was overly technical and did not address what the C-levels wanted. Relying on his User Buyer’s information and guidance, he focused on features and benefits, and that was just not good enough for the executive suite. They wanted to hear numbers; how much time this was going to save on their current initiatives, how much cost or risk was going to be reduced. Right level, wrong language. Brought a knife to a gunfight.

Stories like this play out over and over again.

THE NEUROSCIENCE OF SELLING: IT’S ALL ABOUT US

The thoughts are familiar. You’ve played them over and over in your head countless times.

“If I can just get them to see our value proposition. ”

“If the prospect could just see it how we see it, they would make a decision for us in a heartbeat. ”

“We are the perfect ft for what they are looking for. What do we have to do to make them see that?”

It just feels good talking about us. It really does. For most people, our own thoughts and experiences are some of our favorite things to think and talk about. Research at Rutgers University shows that people spend 60 percent of their conversations talking about themselves—and that number rises to 80 percent when we’re using social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook.

Why do people, especially salespeople, spend the majority of their time talking about themselves and their solutions? Because it feels good. Research at Harvard University has shown an increase in neural activity in areas of the brain associated with motivation and reward when people are talking about themselves. It’s the same area that lights up when we get gratification from happy experiences, good food, and sex.

In a sales situation, talking about yourself and your point of view— your features and benefits—is enjoyable. Those good vibrations make salespeople go on and on about themselves and their product’s features and benefits, regardless of the complementary—and essential, it turns out—need to talk about the customer’s problems and the resolution to those problems.

The bottom line is that talking about us—our products and the benefits they confer—is intrinsically rewarding. The research also showed it was rewarding even if no one was actively listening! Even posting information about ourselves on our social media outlets makes us happy.

In fact, many salespeople have had great success pitching features and benefits. And especially since they have enjoyed doing it, they have convinced themselves that it’s the right thing to do.

However, the savvier among them know they leave something on the table. Why? Because features-and-benefits salespeople are rarely invited to the final meeting, the one where the User Buyer makes the final pitch to the executive team on the sales process, the preferred vendor, and the proposed final price, while the salesperson waits by the phone or out in the lobby.

Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.

THE DECEPTIVE LURE OF FEATURES AND BENEFITS

When sales teams fall prey to the fallacy that they can win sales with a focus on features and benefits, who is to blame?

Marketing, since they jam product features and benefits down the sales organization’s throats?

Sales management, since they stress product knowledge, deal management, and key competitive land mines in presentations and demonstrations?

Customers, since they drive the feature/benefit discussion with a decision criteria sheet?

Salespeople, since they are have fine-tuned their feature/benefits presentation and receive glowing reviews from the User Buyers and bosses they present to?

It’s a mix of all of the above.

Rather than lay blame for this shortsightedness on individuals or particular parts of the organization, let’s instead consider the way things have always gotten done, and why. And why it’s time for a change.

To get started, let’s look at two sales scenarios and how they were addressed by two salespeople with very differing approaches:

Till needed a new accountant for her business. She got some good recommendations and narrowed the candidates down to two, Larry and Diane. She made a visit to Larry’s office to help her determine if he and his firm would be a good fit.

Jill walked into Larry’s office. It was richly designed, with beautiful wood furniture and degrees on the wall. Larry started in.

“We’ve been in business for over thirty-three years. My father, John, started the business and we have a stellar reputation. We have been in the same location and have had many of our clients since day one. As a matter of fact, Bill Murphy is coming over this afternoon, and his company was one of our first.

“Jill, we aren’t like a lot of firms who nickel-and-dime their clients. We treat our clients like family. You have an audit, we’re right in there with you. We also keep you up on the latest tax and audit laws on a monthly basis. We know what our clients need, and we proactively are there for them.”

Jill had an appointment with Diane later that afternoon. She had the same type of office with similar degrees on the wall.

“Thanks, Jill, for coming down. Before I get into who we are and what we do, could you please tell me what you are looking for in an accountant, and what would be two or three characteristics of the firm that would be important? Let’s start with what happened that’s causing you to look at changing what you have currently.”

An hour later, Jill had defined what she was looking for. She did not hear a lot from Diane about her firm, but Diane really had it down about what Jill was looking for, and Jill felt she had been heard.

Frank was frantic. The expiration of his current lease had snuck up on him, and he needed to see if he could do better. The location was ideal, but the 25 percent rent increase the landlord, Jack, was asking for was hard to swallow. Frank met with Jack to see what could be done.

“Frank, my costs have skyrocketed,” Jack said. “I’ve had to add a new maintenance guy, make a major investment in the phone and communication system, and I’m looking at having to resurface the parking lot. You’ll really enjoy the new parking lot. The current one is such an eyesore. I can’t wait, and I’m sure you and your car will appreciate it!

“I know 25 percent seems steep, but I’ve held these costs down for you the past couple of years, and now I’m paying for it. So I’m sorry, but I’m just trying to keep up with the times.”

Frank then had a meeting with a building owner three blocks away. It was not a perfect location, but one that could work.

“Frank,” said Phil, the building’s owner, “moving locations is always an ordeal. ‘How will my customers find me? How easy is it to switch the mail, phone, and Internet connections? How long do I have to be down? How much is it really going to cost me?’ These and probably a bunch more questions are probably running through your mind. So let’s discuss first things first. Why are you considering changing locations?”

What is the common thread between these two stories? In both, the first sellers talked about themselves—who they were and why what they offered would make a difference to the buyer. They both had a lot to say and wanted to make sure they were heard.

The second seller in each story just asked questions and listened to the buyer, prompting them to discuss what was motivating them to change, and what they were looking for from the change.

You probably picked up on this immediately. And, of course, if it’s so obvious to you, it has to be obvious to the sellers—and buyers—as well. So why do so many people sell like the first examples and not the second ones?

I say there’s something obviously missing with the features-and-benefits approach. What is it?

The majority of salespeople, regardless of what they sell, just have to deliver that features-and-benefits pitch. It happens on sales calls time and time again. But it turns out that what companies think their value proposition is to their customers may not be what the market thinks it is.

Product Knowledge Is Easy—and Insufficient

Let’s get to the key variable. Why do most salespeople rely so heavily on their knowledge of their product’s features and benefits? Is it possible that it’s simply because it’s just so easy and feels good? Let’s tell everyone who we are and why we are so great (here’s where you pump out your chest) and will conquer the world.

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