The Right Way & The Wrong Way To Sell Your Offering
The best vendors don’t barge into potential clients’ offices and start selling their products or services.
The best vendors are thought of as partners. They gain respect by thoroughly researching the prospects’ industry to find out what challenges are faced by every company in their industry. They compare how their prospects is faring in comparison with their competitors. Then finally barge into their offices demanding to ask a lot of questions. The winners start by conducting Discovery.
Getting Invited into Potential Clients’ Offices
Okay, the best vendors don’t barge in. They get invited. They get invited by studying the arena their company covers. For instance, if my area of interest is emerging digital marketing technology, I study all the new technologies that, well…emerge. I pay attention when I speak to experts in my space; in this case, when I speak to senior marketing executives. My ear is attuned to discover trends. I synthesize what I’ve learned. And finally, I publish my findings.
The dedication to study one topic diligently and publishing the results helps others interested in the same subject believe you might be a thought leader in your space. When I speak to three different senior marketing executives and hear the same desire, it might mean I’ve tripped over a new trend. When I publish it, I may be only a couple of days ahead of everyone else, but it makes me a reliable source of information to those who follow me.
I don’t ask prospects if they want to learn more about my product. I do ask if we can connect on LinkedIn, so we can follow each other’s progress. It I’ve laid the foundation properly; I’ll be welcomed into the prospects offices to have a discussion. Leaders are happy to have an informative conversation with a thought leader. They know they may learn something of value.
Discovering Where’s the Pain?
The first step in the discovery process is to gain the permission of the client to participate in the process. The trust to do this is usually achieved by sharing stories of earlier successes with other who have participated in the process. “I spoke with the CMO over at one of your retailer competitors. He told me the “Amazon Effect” had them scrambling to compete. We collaborated on a solution where we assured overnight delivery, personalized suggestions for second purchases, no-charge returns and the ability to pick and return at their local store. We increased sales by 20% and helped keep those stores open”.
When we discover pain, it has to relate to a measurable dollar amount benefit. This means we’re either saving money or making money. And cost savings is always worth more than revenue increases. Less travel, less shipping costs, smaller inventories save money. Predicting which channel is likely for a second purchase yields a revenue increase AND a cost savings (on marketing spend).
Sometimes we have to really hang in there to surface the issues causing pain. I once spent two hours asking questions with one prospect with a technical resource helping me. We got nothing. But laptops closed, coats on, heading for the door, our prospect said in farewell, “Too bad you guys can’t produce this one report we live by here”. Seemed like a “reverse Columbo effect” of “one more thing”. We turned around, sat back down, and flushed out the details of their issues that could be resolved with the right report. We figured out how much it would be worth to the company to have that report reliably available, and went back to the office to assemble a proposal easily cost justified in less than a month!
Work to be a trusted partner. Listen. Use all you’ve learned to help your clients.
Ron Shulkin is the Founder of Fractional CMO Group LLC. He serves as the Fractional 
Chief Marketing Officer for emerging digital technology startups. Ron provides go-to-market strategy guidance and transformational roadmaps to companies of all sizes. He both architects and executes product launch campaigns, and hires, trains & manages sales teams. Armed with intellectual curiosity, Ron monitors, curates and writes about the latest in digital marketing technology.
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