Sales get the positive decision - what's that got to do with marketing

I am sure you have come across this mindset before - "marketing finds the prospects, all sales has to do is to get them to buy from us." At the basic level this is the true essence of sales - "the ability to take someone who has expressed an interest in solving a problem, to agree to solve that problem using your product/solution".

There are a limited number of sales people who are naturally able to persuade the customer to make a positive decision, but for the rest of us we need to think about how we address the three key components of the decision making process.

• Cost
• Risk
• Reward

Decision-making is a combination of a rational and emotional responses. If we understand the triggers to these responses we can position ourselves an our sales messages so that it's easier to make a decision in our favour. Another way of looking at this is that we have to overcome the customer's objections to buying from us. (So we are really talking about objection handling)

If you accept that a customer buys to solve a problem (real or emotional), the triggers to make a positive decision in your favour are focussed around:

Cost

This is not price, but the overall cost associated with using your product/solution. In some quarters this is known as Total Cost of Ownership. In an ideal world we would have a calculation that describes the overall cost of our offering and compares it to that of our competition. However, as many of us live in a commoditised world, at face value there may not be much of a difference between our offerings and those of the competition.

However, if sales are to mitigate the perceived issues of cost in the decision making process they must know:

1. What are the implied costs with using our solution, e.g. Buying SKY HD will involve owning an HD television, Buying a Blue-ray disc requires a Blue-ray player, etc.
2. What are the associated costs with using your solution, e.g. Support costs associated with moving to Windows 7.0, training costs, hardware upgrades, etc.
3. Actual cost of using your solution. This is not just the purchase price but also the cost of implementation.
4. Cost of not doing anything. Whilst many customers might prefer not to change at all, they might not understand the impact and costs associated with remaining with the status quo, e.g. you will not be able to see the latest movies as they will only be released in HD, or Microsoft will drop support for Windows XP, etc.

Risk

If cost is a financial driver that can be measured, then risk is more of an emotional driver, "why should I risk my career on your solution when I could stick with the existing solution/supplier?"

To be able to deal with the emotional issue of risk you have had to identify these potential risks through effective questioning, which is of course the essence of objection handling - you need to understand the objection before you can overcome it.

The likely risk issues you are going to come across are

1. Financial risk - This is an extension of the cost discussion but focuses on the opportunity cost, "could I spend the money on something else....". This is a factual risk, i.e. if you know what else the money could be spent on you could address this.
2. Supplier risk - Are you a safe pair of hands - "why should I change from my existing supplier...." This is a factual risk; it is an extension of competitive positioning.
3. Personal risk - "As the decision maker how is this decision going to impact my reputation....". This is an emotional risk; you have to understand the decision makers's emotional triggers.

Reward

As a salesperson your aim is to accentuate the positive, i.e. show the decision maker the return they will achieve as a result of making the decision in your favour. "By using our product you will not only reduce your costs, but offer a higher customer service level which will result in more sales..."

If you do not align your proposed reward against the decision makers desired reward, you could instead be introducing risk, e.g. only offer to help them reduce head count if that is what they want to achieve, or you could make them think their job is at risk.

The likely reward types you will come across are:

1. Financial reward - It must be quantifiable, e.g. show the ROI.
2. Organisational reward - The solution will deliver competitive advantage, again needs to be quantifiable.
3. Personal reward - This is the emotional aspect of the sale, what will the individual gain as a result of the decision, kudos, reputation, keep their job, etc.

So it's simple. Sales align their offer against the Cost Risk Reward issues of the decision maker - Marketing can just sit back and watch

NO. As ever marketing have to provide the ammunition. The average sales person will need help in knowing what are the triggers to look for and the core of the response. This is where marketing MUST help.

• All aspects of the costs associated with the offering are known
• Potential risks and answers to these must be provided
• Financial models must be provided to justify the financial rewards.

It's just objection handling. Sales identify the target and marketing provides the ammunition

There is no silver bullet to getting a positive decision. Sales have to position the decision maker so that they have answered all the objections that could impact a positive outcome. If the customer wants to solve the problem they will. The solution they choose is the one that best meets their issues. (Cost Risk Reward)

This is not complex. It is just the practice of selling and objection handling. Successful sales teams are those that realise that they have to have answers to these issues. Why not find out if your team can do this, accompany them on a call or review their proposals and ask yourself the question, is there a compelling reason why I would buy? If not then now is the time to coach your people.

Want to know more? Visit our website www.sales-accredit.com or contact me directly mark.savinson@sales-accredit.com

Next week we will look in more detail how sales has to be aware of the emotional components of decision making.