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Making A Difference – Thoughts, Observations and Opinions
This is Dave Brock’s Blog.
It offers my views on a variety of business, sales, marketing, and leadership topic. My goal is to make a difference for you, the reader, in both your professional and personal lives.
Latest Posts
Walking, Talking Product Brochures—Selling Is More Than This
I don’t know how many sales calls I observe. Over the course of years, it’s 1000’s. The majority of them are the same—it’s all about our products. The typical process looks like: If there is any discovery, discovery is focused on the customer product needs—what capabilities are they looking for (never the question, “Why are these important to you?”), what products do they currently use, what features are they looking for, what is the target pricing……. As quickly as possible, sales people get into describing their products, the more “sophisticated,” use a Features, Benefits, Advantages approach, but the conversation is […]
Why Are They Buying?
I was sitting in yet another deal review. The sales person was describing the deal, focusing on what the customer wanted to buy. The sales person described the products, the volumes, the competition, potential pricing….. At some point, I raised my hand, asking, “Why are they buying?” The sales person looked at me, perhaps noticing by silver hair, thinking, “Poor old guy, doesn’t realize senility is setting in, I’ll humor him.” He responded, “Because they are unhappy with their current supplier and want to look at alternatives?” I persisted, “Why are they unhappy with their current supplier?” The sales person […]
What Did The Customer Learn As A Result Of Our Meeting?
Usually, after a sales call, we ask ourselves, “Did I accomplish my objectives?” (That is if you assess yourself after the sales call.) It’s a critical question, we need to be purposeful and focused in each of our meetings with the customer. At the same time, it’s self-centered–we sales people tend to be very self-centered focused on our goals, rather than the customers’. Perhaps there are a couple of more important questions: What did the customer learn as a result of this meeting/call? What value did we co-create in this meeting? If the customer isn’t learning anything, if we aren’t […]
Research Shows You Get The Best Results If…….
Marketing and sales are very data driven—or at least we pretend to be. Everyday, some research report provides interesting tidbits of data that show what customers respond to, giving us the secrets of success. We learn: Customers respond best if you only ask 4 questions in discovery calls…. If you use these words…….. customers respond better than if you use these words……… And never, never, use these words….. Call prospects on Tuesday mornings in these hours, or Thursday afternoon in these hours….. and you are guaranteed to reach customer… You have to touch prospects 12 to 14 times, though 1.7 […]
The Key To Success Is To Ask Only 4 Questions!
Customer can breath a huge sigh of relief. The data is in, it shows sales people ask far too many questions, boring or even angering executives for wasting their time. But research now shows the optimal number of discovery questions to ask is 4. Both, as a victim of too many meaningless discussions where someone is trying to sell something to me, and as an observer on thousands of sales calls, I know I can breathe a huge sigh of relief that “death by questioning,” will come to an end, as sales enablement professionals and sales managers recognize that “4 […]
Is There A “Schism” Between Sales Enablement And Sales?
Perhaps I’m an alarmist, but I’m starting to see the early signs of a schism between Sales Enablement and Sales. It’s displayed in a number of subtle, perhaps, unconscious ways—“us and them” in conversations rather than “we.” In other moments of either honesty or frustration, it is one organization saying, “We would be so much more successful, if it weren’t for ‘them.’” I want to be clear–I’ve heard this from both sales and sales enablement people, accusing the other. There are debates with strong positions on either side, “SE professionals should have carried a bag….” or “SE professionals require very […]