• The average S&P 1000 company would suffer a 12.8% drop in profitability by giving a mere 1% discount assuming no increase in volume
• Salespeople make a bigger deal about price than buyers do
• Salespeople (8.3) Buyer (6.9)
• Whoever feels the most pressure will make the most concessions
• Discounts kills credibility and creates a negative perception of you and your solution
• Discounts set the stage for future discounts

So what’s the remedy? There are some negotiation and objection handling techniques that can help but the best way I’ve ever come across is to have a BIG FAT PIPELINE.  The more legitimate, healthy deals we have in our pipeline the less desperate we are to close deals and the more confident we are in dealing with people who are trying to squeeze us. We can also work more along the lines of the client’s buying cycle than our selling cycle.  Too often we try and force a client into our buying cycle which typically is driven by the end of the month or quarter. We all know Sales should be about the client and not about us so we need to do what we can to get them to buy when they’re ready to buy, not when we’re ready to sell.

This is why prospecting on a regular basis (even month or quarter end) is so critical. Spend 30 minutes a day prospecting in some way shape or form. It can be cold calls, direct e-mails, searching through linked in, asking for referrals, whatever, just do it.  If you’re sick of feeling cheap and using discounts to close all your deals then prospect every day to have a consistently full pipeline and see what happens to your confidence and abilities to deal with discounting. Good luck and happy selling.

Every time we face a problem we should think about how we can fix it or turn it into a positive before we open our mouths and complain to someone else about it.  Even if the ideas we come up with to solve the problem are not the greatest, at least they show we’ve put some effort into thinking about them which makes people’s willingness to help far greater.

Don’t be known as a complainer. There are enough complainers and negative things happening in the world right now.  And by the way, news flash - no one cares anyways. Be known as a problem solver and one who approaches things with a positive mindset to find solutions. Happy selling!

So what should we think about?  Anything. As long as it’s for a designated amount of time and you’re focused on it.  Pick an issue you’re having related to a certain aspect of the sales process (cold calling, gatekeepers, negotiations, a specific objection, etc.).  Write down the problem and desired result (i.e. goal).  Then lock yourself in a quiet room with a white board or put some ear plugs in and grab a blank piece of paper and start brainstorming ideas.  See what you come up with.

Also, don’t leave this to chance or try to remember to do this whenever you have time. Make the time. As VP of Sales for a previous company I set a recurring block of 15 minutes on me and my team’s calendars at the end of every day that simply said “Think” in the subject line. It was a visual reminder to just stop what we were doing and think about what we did that day and how we could get better tomorrow.  I was amazed at what used to come out of that time. Give it a try, see what happens.

As I walk the trade show floor and talk to different sales reps manning the booths it seems to me their goal isn’t to find new sales opportunities but more to see how many people they can scan into their system, register for their drawing or show a demo to.  I walk up, tell them what I’m looking for and make it clear that I’m actively evaluating solutions.  Then they “get all excited like Jo-Jo the idiot circus boy with a pretty new pet” and jump right into their pitch. They bring me over to show me a non-specific demo of their solution without tailoring it to what I’m looking for and then they hand me a brochure.  I purposely drop a bunch of ‘buying signs’ through the process and then wait for a minute after they’re done to see if they are going to close me….nothing.  Seriously?

Ask me when I want to schedule a follow up meeting. Ask for my feedback on what I thought about their solution compared to what else I’ve seen. Ask me when I’m going to make the decision and what my decision process is.  Ask me anything!!!  CLOSE ME!!  For some reason do we forget what the actual purpose of a trade show is when we get there?  This isn’t a marketing event ladies and gentlemen, this is a sales event.  Leads are hot when you are talking to them, they are not hot two weeks later after marketing puts together a list of all the cards and you get a task to make a phone call.  ABC!!!

If you attend trade shows or even talk to someone on the street or at an event that seems to be interested in your solution, don’t just take their card and tell them they will follow up later. Everyone has their smart phone on them.  Ask them to pull out their calendar and schedule a time to talk.  You don’t need to be obnoxious about it or rude or pushy.  If they are genuinely interested in the follow up they will have no problem doing it.  If they’ve just been wasting your time and trying to be nice they will avoid it.  Either way, at least you’ll get something from the experience besides the headache of “touching base” and “following up” for the next 6 weeks.

Let’s see if anyone closes me today on the floor.

The reason this came up and I’m writing about it is because this just happened to me yesterday. A guy put a in a web request for information about our services, we played e-mail tag for a while, finally got on the phone, had a good conversation about his needs, talked about the details of our program and even pricing.  He asked for me to send him in the outline of how the training would be delivered onsite and remotely and said he would talk to the other decision makers about which would be the better fit.  He even agreed to a follow up meeting the next week at a specific time that I sent him a calendar invitation for.  I sent him the information about an hour after we talked and soon after he declined the meeting request and sent me an e-mail saying “John, I have absolutely no interest.” Huh? Seriously? Was this the same guy I just spent 30 minutes on the phone with having what seemed to be a really good conversation? If you’ve ever seen the Dave Chappelle episode when Charlie Murphy tells the story about Rick James putting his dirty feet on his couch and then Rick James stares into the camera and says he didn’t do it and in the same breath admits that he did and then says “cocaine’s a hellofa drug.”  That’s what this was like (although no cocaine was involved).  The info I sent over to him didn’t include anything we hadn’t already discuss. He obviously determined he wasn’t interested somewhere during our conversation so why didn’t he just say so?  I guess it’s because no one really likes the awkwardness of telling people no directly but come on.  He’s probably the same type of guy that would break up with someone over a txt message. Grow up.

For you buyers, please don’t be afraid to hurt our feelings.  It’s ok to say no.  You might get a little push back from the sales rep trying to understand why but ultimately answering a few questions and listening to a potential justification of why you should reconsider is way less painful for everyone involved than stinging us along.  For you sales reps out there, next time you’re talking with a prospective client at some point in the conversation ask them “if there’s a point in this process where it’s obvious to you that we’re not the right fit are you comfortable telling me no?” It’s a weird question to ask and the answer is somewhat obvious.  However, letting someone know that you’re cool with them telling you no can save you and them a lot of time.

"Unityyyy"

The best way to uncover the ‘pleasure’ side of any sale is through how and what questions you ask to the people in power.  Obviously one of the biggest challenges is getting an audience with these people in the first place.  However, once you do, make sure you don’t dive into your typical “doctor check-up” questions like: What do you do for this? How many of that do you have? How happy are you with your current solution? What could be better?  These are all necessary questions to ask at a certain stage of the sales process, but not to start with.  Start the conversation about something that puts them in the position to be the expert and gets them talking – THEMSELVES.  People love talking about themselves and if you can do your research and come up with some good questions about their business, their industry and their role you’d be amazed at what people will tell you. Make sure you never say something like “So tell me about your business.”  That’s insulting based on how much information is out there about companies these days.  Ask open ended questions about something you read on their web site or annual report that has something to do with how your solution can help them.  Also, a good way to think about pleasure versus pain questioning is to talk about “opportunities” (pleasure) versus “challenges” (pain).

To make the point even further, take a look at one of the more recent reports from Gartner entitled “Current States and Future Directions of the IT Industry.” In the report it talks about the changing priorities and focus of CIOs.  Over the past 2-3 years we have all felt the ‘painful’ effects of the economy which has forced many CIOs to focus on cost cutting and doing much more with much less (i.e. pain).  However, it’s pretty clear there’s a shift going on right now for CIOs and what their focus is going to be in the coming years. According to the report in the next five years a large portion of most CIOs compensation is going to be based not on how much they can save, but how much they can make. They are now being tasked with finding way to use technology to make money for the company and open up new revenue streams.  I’m not sure about you but this sounds a lot more pleasurable to me. So, in my humble opinion, if you want to keep talking about budget and cost cutting to CIOs then get ready to face the pain of discounts. On the other hand, if you can shift the conversation to talk about how your solution can help them find ways to make money either directly or indirectly get ready for a hell of a lot more pleasurable conversations and more enjoyable, longer term, less price sensitive, more competitive proof sales.  Good luck. Stay optimistic, it helps.

In speaking with executives nothing annoys them more than sales reps who call to touch base or check in. One VP even told me he eliminated a vendor from his evaluation process mainly because the rep was so annoying with their calls to touch base all the time.  What’s worse is that vendor was in the lead for winning the business!!  If you want to touch base and check in feel free to waste your time with non-decision makers and people below the power line. But, if you are speaking with ‘power’ think twice before you make that call.

I am now on a personal crusade to remove ‘touching base’ and ‘checking in’ from our sales vocabulary. Please join me in spreading the word. Make fun of anyone you hear in the office using these phrases. Put up signs in your cube to remind you never to say them again. Ask your friends and family to point out when you say it.

Here’s something to help rid the sales world of these phrases.  The next time you’re about to make a phone call make sure you finish this phrase: “The reason for my call today is…..”  If you cannot finish that sentence you shouldn’t be making the call.  Think about it. “Now be relentless. That’s it, I’m done”

The next time you go to a hotel ask what their occupancy rate is. If they tell you anything less than 100% ask for an upgrade and see what they say. The next time you go to buy clothes ask if there is an upcoming sale and see if they can give you the discount early. Whenever you’re buying something significant ask the person taking your money if there is any special promotions going on right now that you could benefit from.  And at the end of the day what’s the harm? Are they going to throw you out for asking? The worse they can say is no.  You’d be amazed at how simply asking the question gets you extra stuff that you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Getting the extra stuff isn’t even the biggest benefit of adopting this type of mentality and approach.  The biggest benefit is getting used to asking for things that others might think would be uncomfortable. If you get comfortable doing this in your person life when it doesn’t matter as much then you’ll be much more comfortable doing it in your professional life.

To highlight how getting comfortable asking for things that other people might feel uncomfortable asking for in a business setting let’s look at getting access to “power.”  One of the biggest issues we see in sales is that reps consistently are selling to people below the power line. These are people who can say no all day long but can never say yes. Many reps avoid asking these people to be introduced to the people in power because they’re afraid of offend them or whatever. In our experience, sometimes simply asking them to introduce you opens the door to a much more effective sale. You have to ask it the right way and for the right reasons but simply having the confidence to say something like “You mentioned that these other 3 people were going to be involved in this decision. Could you introduce me to them so I can ask them a few questions and gain their insight so as I develop the solution I can make sure I address everyone’s needs?” Seems like a logical approach right? If they say no then it’s ok but I would just start paying attention and think a little harder about who you are dealing with and if they are actively blocking you for some reason.  On the other hand, if they say yes then you are in a much better position that you were before. Again, just having the confidence to ask the question and as Ben Affleck said in Boiler Room – “Act as if” you usually get way further than you would otherwise.  Go practice on someone today. Good luck.