B2B Sales Leads: Don’t Get Trapped In Too Small Commitments
by S. Anthony Iannarino on September 24, 2010
Getting in with your dream client can sometimes be the most difficult part of any deal. To get in, you may lower the commitment level so that you are asking for a commitment that is easier to obtain; you make it easier for your dream client to say “yes.”
The Big Value of Small Commitments
You want your dream client’s business. They know that you want their business. But if you were to say, “Hi, I’d like to spend time exploring the most challenging parts of your business with you, help you to create a vision as to how those things might be made better, then spend the next ninety days working with you and your team on a massive transformational change effort and become your trusted partner for life,” it might be a little more than your dream client can agree to, sight unseen.
So, you lower the commitment level. You say, “I’d like to spend 20 minutes with you to understand your business and to explore any future opportunity to help make some improvements.” Twenty minutes is something that is easier to commit to.
Lowering the commitment level is very useful when trust has not been established. It allows your dream client to agree to low level commitments that have little or no risk attached to them—other than you not making that time valuable for them.
Big Deals Require Big Commitments
Later, as the deal progresses, you need to ask for higher-level commitments. Lowering the commitments can and will unravel the deal you are putting together. If you are working in front of the deal, then you need access to the buying team members so that you can understand their needs and ensure that what you present reflects their needs and their vision of the right answer. You need access and information from all kinds of people in a complex sale, so that what you sell not only wins, but so that you can ensure that it succeeds for your client.
As the deal progresses, you have to ask for greater and greater commitments, never lowering the commitment level so low that you cannot obtain what you need to win and what you need to later succeed. The resistance isn’t usually a lack of trust; the resistance is usually the lack of time and resources. To obtain greater commitments, you are going to have a history of being a value-creator, and you are going to have to be able to explain the return you intend to generate on their investment of their time and effort.
You have to be prepared to say, “I know that other salespeople haven’t asked for this access to the members of the buying team in the past, but meeting with your buying team members allows us the opportunity to listen to them describe what they specifically need from any solution we propose, and we get a chance to talk through any issues that might prevent what we propose from succeeding. Ultimately, it allows us to work with your team to make sure what we do produces the outcome that you need, as fast as possible, with fewer missteps, and a lot less disruption. I promise I’ll make it worth their while.”
At the very end of our sales process, we have to ask for the big commitment: trusting us with their business. Along the way, you will have moved from commitment to commitment, increasing the level of commitment the whole way.
Not asking for the commitments that you need extends your sales cycle, decreases the likelihood of winning the business, decreases the likelihood of your solution matching their needs, and making obtaining the commitments you need for a real transformation later next to impossible.
Conclusion
It can be very useful to lower the commitment level early in the sales process, especially to get in. But you cannot get trapped in too small commitments later, when they will unravel your deal and cause you to fail for your dream client.
Questions
- What commitments do you ask for that you make easier to obtain by lowering the commitment level?
- At what stages of your sales process do you find it useful to lower the commitment level and make it easier for your client to agree?
- When do you need to ask for greater commitments in order to get what you need to win the deal and to succeed for your dream client should you win?
- What causes you to reduce the level of commitments that you are asking for as a deal progresses? What are willing to go without that, had you obtained the commitment you really needed, you would have better positioned to win and to succeed?
- How can you obtain the greater commitments that you need to win and to succeed? How can you make sure that your dream client knows how agreeing to those commitments benefits them in the long run? What language do you need to use to most effectively ask for and obtain the high level commitments that you need?
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7 Steps to Building A B2B Social Media Lead Generation Pipeline
By Kipp Bodnar
Social media is about selling and can be directly monetized. I understand that this goes in the face of social media purists, but it is true. However, selling happens differently in B2B social media than it does in other channels.
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B2B Lead Generation: Learn the New Rules for Selling to Crazy-Busy Prospects
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7 Habits of Highly Successful Sales Professionals
by: Maura Schreier-FlemingSuccessful salespeople are different. That’s what I’ve noticed. You may have noticed this in your company, too. These behaviors seem to work for them. Don’t you think they should work for you, too?
1. They have a huge Rolodex. Selling is finding customers who need or want what you have to sell. Successful salespeople find their customers differently than less successful salespeople. One sales manager found that salespeople were more successful when they had more people resources to tap into. It didn’t matter if salespeople had much sales experience or came from a non-sales area. If they had maintained contact with their mentors, peers and managers over the years they were able to use their contacts as a source of sales leads and information. They were also more successful. You can start by maintaining meaningful contact with your customers. What better people than satisfied homeowners to recommend you to new prospects?
2. They read fast. Customers value salespeople who possess knowledge and offer unique insights. To get these insights, you have to be current on a variety of topics. Business and non-business reading is essential. How do you process all that you need to? You’ve got to read fast. Taking a speed-reading course can increase your reading from 250 words a minute to almost 1000 words a minute. You’ll be able to acquire much more information that can be of use to your customers.
3. They apply technology. How do you use the information you acquire to serve your customers? Is it easy to access that information when you need it? Having the information and being unable to access it quickly is the same as not having it at all. Time spent looking for something is time that could be spent supporting your selling. Do you want to refer a past customer to a new client? The sales greats use technology to manage information. Their databases make it easy to retrieve information. With the data they can see where their sales are and what they need to do to meet their goals. They can quickly locate the information they need. They spend time selling with information, not looking for information.
4. They’re naturally curious. When they talk with customers and prospects, they use the word “why” a lot. They intuitively know when to ask “why” to get more information. They know that information is more powerful if the reason behind it is known. They don’t guess why a customer prefers a certain location. They ask why and find out from the customer’s point of view. In addition to why, they also ask great questions learning far more about their customers than less successful salespeople.
5. They love what they do. Ask a sales great what they love about selling and they say, “Everything.” Being around them is like being around an energy source. Their attitude of optimism and belief in the value of their work portrays this enthusiastic attitude to others. As one executive told me, “Passion is infectious. It’s more important than what you know. Maintaining the passion is the biggest challenge in business.” Great salespeople are able to maintain their passion.
6. They do the unexpected and more for their customers. Salespeople can go out of their way to do something special for their customers. Getting customers for your customers, creatively showing a home if you’re a realtor, or making personal introductions for prospects are what talented sales professionals do. They think it is their job, not something extra. In fact, most salespeople don’t make the extra effort.
7. They’re very creative. Being creative means the process of coming up with new ideas for business. Sales greats see possibilities where others give up. Getting told “no” by a worthwhile prospect is not the end for great salespeople; it’s just the beginning. Using their creativity they find news ways to get to “yes” with the prospects who are a challenge. Creativity is the foundation of selling. It’s useful for questioning, presenting and strategizing. Believing in your creativity is the first step to being creative.
You may have noticed these habits in other successful salespeople. When you adopt these seven habits, the success that others achieve can also be yours. read more
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