Complex sales are the biggest of all sales. You have big commission dollars at stake. Sometimes, a salesperson's entire year can be made or broken on one major sale. The problem is your competition wants that commission as much as you do.
If you want to win the big sale you've got to out-SELL your competition. The 10 keys to winning a complex sale tell you how.
In a complex sale, your goal is to identify the players who will be involved in a buying decision and help them see the unique value of your solution. Any decision-maker who you do not meet is a potential threat to winning the sale. This leads to the 10 keys to winning a complex sale. The more of these you do, the better your chance of winning the sale.
1. Before you deliver your sales presentation, meet with at least three people affected by the sale.
You need multiple sources of information. Winning a complex sale hinges on gathering information about how the decision will be made, who will make it and why. If you meet with only one person, how will you know if the information that person gives you is correct? Meeting with at least three people also helps you create greater momentum in the buying process - three people who want to buy from you are better than one. And it helps you better understand the customer's needs. By the time you've met with three decision-makers, you'll know if there's someone else you need to meet with.
2. If the gatekeeper is not an influential person in the decision, get past this person as soon as possible.
How? Ask the gatekeeper questions that he or she can't answer. If the questions you ask are important to understanding the need, you'll hopefully get the gatekeeper's OK to find out the answers.
Offer to gather information from other people and report back to the gatekeeper with your findings.
Sell your gatekeeper on it. There may be benefits to the gatekeeper if higher level decision-makers get involved. One possible benefit is that the money to buy may come from someone else's budget besides the gatekeeper's.
If you do it early in a sales process, you may be able go over a gatekeeper's head without asking for permission. This is more upsetting to the gatekeeper the closer you get to the decision. If a decision is about to be made, and you think you're going to lose, going over the gatekeeper's head sends the message that you are questioning his or her decision-making process. This is what is so upsetting to them. But if you go over the gatekeeper's head early in a sales process, the gatekeeper has less invested in the decision, so he or she will likely be less upset by it.
3. Identify all the decision-makers and their positions on the team.
A few general questions to ask would be: How will your organization go about making this decision? Who else will you need to talk to?
To identify specific players on the buying team, ask these questions: Who's budget is at stake here? (gets you the Virtual Authority). Who will be evaluating the technical aspects of this decision? (gets you the Integrator).
You'll have no problem finding the User, and the gatekeeper usually finds you! And, you must find the Power Broker, so ask, "Who will be the key decision-maker on this?"
4. Finding the Power Broker before your competition does is crucial.
If the Power Broker wants to buy from you, your success is almost assured. If the Power Broker prefers your competition, forget it.
The Power Broker derives his/her power from credibility with the Virtual Authority, perhaps by being the recognized expert. Or, the Power Broker may be the Virtual Authority's "right-hand person."
Power Brokers tend to be strong-willed individuals who are goal-oriented and persuasive communicators - just like salespeople. An effective Power Broker is an effective internal salesperson. So, which member of the buying team is the most effective salesperson? Chances are, that's your Power Broker.
5. Identify where each decision-maker is in the buying process.
Your sales approach with each player depends on where that person is with regards to the decision. Be a "doctor" with someone who doesn't recognize a need. A prospect in the comparison stage needs to know why you are their best choice, how you are different from the other options, etc. So, you want to be a Coach.
Think of the roles as "selling hats." Which hat you wear depends on where each prospect is in the buying process. When a player moves in the buying process (hopefully forward, but possibly backward) change your selling hat to meet their new needs. The speed with which each buyer's wheel turns determines how fast you should change your selling role.
6. After each meeting with a prospect, send that person a letter stating your understanding of their needs.
You cannot rely on verbal communication alone, because selling the person sitting in front of you is not enough. You must also provide your prospect with the tools needed to sell other decision-makers on your behalf. And since most sales literature focuses on your product's features and benefits, not on your customers' needs, they're ineffective as a leave-behind.
Your letter of understanding will reinforce the importance of the meeting for your prospect, solidify why the need is important, and provide information your prospect will need to sell other decision-makers.
7. Develop as many sponsors for your cause as possible.
Think back to the biggest sale you've ever made. Chances are, there was at least one person in your client's organization who wanted you to win the sale.
A sponsor is any decision maker who wants you to succeed. Think about a complex sale you're working on now. Is there any decision-maker in there to wants you to succeed? If not, what can you do to develop one (or two)?
8. Find your enemies and neutralize them.
While you are cultivating sponsors for your cause, your competitors will be busy developing sponsors for their counterattack. The biggest threat to your winning a complex sale is the existence of an individual who wants your competition to win.
The most successful strategy is to neutralize that person by being proactive. Identify who is against you, assess that person's power influence on the decision, and take action to defuse the threat. Don't sit back and wait!
Sometimes, your enemies are difficult to recognize. They may not want you to know they exist. These people may say wonderful things about you to your face, but as soon as you leave, they begin pulling strings to make you lose. Once again, having multiple sources of information is the key to identifying these stealthy adversaries. Ask your contacts, "Is there anyone who may be opposed to this?"
To neutralize your enemy, try overwhelming them with superior numbers. If you can develop several sponsors among the members of the complex buying team, you can create enough momentum for your solution to overpower the enemy's opposition.
How much credibility does your enemy have with other members of the Complex Buying Team? If your answer is "a lot," try to meet with your enemy one-on-one. Ask questions such as "What concerns might you have about our solution?" Apply the sales role of a therapist and try to draw out their concerns.
Don't underestimate the importance of personal agendas. The best supplier with the best offering does not always win. Suppose you made a sale to Department A that was successfully implemented. Now you're trying to make a similar sale to Department B. If department A's manager is at odds with the manager of Department B, you may lose the sale to B because you were successful with A.
9. Develop a complex sales strategy by answering these three questions:
What factors are working for you in this sale? What factors are working against you? What can you do better to position yourself to win?
10. Don't get overconfident!
The greatest barrier to winning the sale may be you! Overconfidence about how a sale is progressing may lull you into a false sense of security. Always question your basic premises. Sir Francis Bacon said, "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." Don't assume anything!
Winning a complex sale is difficult. Your competition wants them as much as you do. Winning is no accident. The salesperson who wins will likely be the one who works just a little bit harder than the others, focuses on sales management training, and does a few things that other salespeople don't do.
Work harder and apply these ideas, and you WILL close more large-dollar, complex sales. You can bet on it!
Kevin Davis is the president of TopLine Leadership Inc., a company that provides speaking, consulting and training services that dramatically increase TopLine revenue growth. Since 1989, Kevin has delivered sales and management/leadership training to tens of thousands of tenured salespeople and sales managers.
Kevin is the author of GETTING INTO YOUR CUSTOMER'S HEAD: 8 Secret Roles of Selling Your Competitors Don't Know (Times Business/Random House), which was voted one of the top 30 business books by Soundview Executive Book Summaries (out of 1,500 titles considered annually).
Prior to starting his training firm, Kevin was a sales representative, account executive, sales manager, and district general manager during a distinguished career with Lanier Worldwide, a Fortune 200 company. In each of Kevin's positions he earned Lanier's Chairman's Council award, presented annually to producers ranking in the top five percent. He also earned Lanier's prestigious "District Manager of the Year" Award. As a sales manager, Kevin hired, trained and coached over 250 salespeople.
Kevin is a member of the National Speakers Association. His formal education includes a B.A. in Business Administration and extensive post-graduate work at U.C. Berkeley on the subject of instructional design. Kevin and his wife have two children, a daughter in law school and a son currently serving in the U.S.Navy.
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