How providing value in unexpected ways helps prospects see you as a problem-solver
By Phil Krone, President
Buyers are busy people. They’re constantly seeking opportunities to save money on the products and services they procure for their organizations. They dislike salespeople who waste their time, but they value those who help them achieve their goals.
We’ve previously written about the twenty ways that successful consultative sellers create value for their prospects during the sales cycle. Here we will focus on one of those ways: referring prospects—and customers—to resources that solve their problems or provide insights they might not otherwise have. Salespeople who are good at this type of referral end up forming strong relationships with their procurement counterparts.
Here’s the most common way it works. A salesperson calls on a buyer distracted by a major problem he is facing that day and vents about it. In other words, it will be harder for the salesperson to keep the prospect focused on the value their service or product provides. The salesperson knows of a resource (consultant, manufacturer, professional service provider) who is really good at addressing the buyer’s problem. The salesperson creates value—and puts the focus where they want it—by telling the buyer about the resource. Nearly all salespeople do this level of referring. After all, it’s common courtesy. This column is about taking this activity to a much deeper level.
But many, if not most, salespeople also miss similar opportunities when they’re not slam dunks because the buyers do not bring up unrelated challenges or opportunities. This is why listening skills and a strong sales process are so important. If you’re having deep, meaningful conversations with buyers before they are customers, you are in a much better position to create massive amounts of value. You also have a much greater chance of winning the business. (Keep in mind, too, that such trust doesn’t necessarily develop in one call, although it can if the seller is highly skilled in asking questions.)
Here is an example of where deeper conversations unlock hidden value. Currently, we are talking to two firms. One is a prospective client for our FOCIS® Consultative Selling program, which teaches how to perform especially productive discovery. They are an engineering firm that designs and builds power generation facilities. The other is a consulting firm advising us on how we might fit into programs the U.S. government offers for helping separating military personnel and their dependents. (I have learned a lot about how all branches of our armed services create support programs for retiring personnel.)
The discovery questions I asked the prospect created an atmosphere in which the buyer was comfortable sharing extensive information about their current opportunities. If I was just making a capabilities presentation of what I could do for him, the information he shared with me would never have come up. I would have been talking, not listening.
What did come up in our extensive conversation was that a startup had recently asked the engineering firm if they could build and operate a power generation plant for them. Our prospect responded that, yes, they could and would be excited to help the startup move forward. Once our prospect said that, he began thinking about how he might staff it. His two thoughts were: a) bring in retired experts in power generation, knowing they had the skill and experience to deliver, or b) use technically qualified but less experienced younger people and train them. Option “c” could be a combination of a and b.
Drawing on what I knew about the consulting firm that specializes in helping separating military personnel I suggested a fourth option—“d.” Hire relatively young people who already have power generation as well as leadership training—for example, military personnel about to leave the service. The government in fact has programs that address this in several ways: 1) they will design the final months of duty to acquire skills needed for post-separation positions, and 2) they will compensate separating service members for up to 180 days while they work on these projects. This provides employers with a way to hire young, experienced people on a low-risk basis.
This is a true win-win-win. First, the engineering firm wins because they learned of a new way to hire experienced people who could be on the job for years with little or no extra training. They also save the cost of replacing older engineers who are close to or past retirement age. Second, the consulting firm wins because they have the potential to have a new client for their services. Third, I win because I created so much value for my prospect. If all of this goes well, the results will more than pay for the consultative sales training I’m providing the engineering firm in two ways: savings on payroll expenses and the future value the retired service members provide over time.
Please call me if:
- You would like to know more about the government programs I have referred to.
- You are seeking the name of an engineering firm with extensive power generation experience.
- You want to know more about how to have discovery conversations that lead to value creation.
Reach me at 847-446-0008 Ext. 1, or pkrone@productivestrategies.com. I hope we can talk soon.