Data.com Connect Presents: Steve Andersen & Craig Jones - How Top Performers Win the Battle for the...

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How Top Performers Win the Battle for the Customer

Steve Andersen / President and FounderCraig Jones / Managing Partner

April 19, 2017

© 2017 Performance Methods, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential 3

Webinar Objectives

• Discuss our findings from Beyond the Sales Process: 12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World.

• Explain how top performing salespeople and account managers are winning the battle for the customer.

• Describe how they are applying the Engage/Win/Grow™ model to capture customer mindshare and preference.

• Reveal the elusive factor that is the most consistent customer driver in successful sales “plans to win.”

• Explore proven approaches for how you can engage differently in 2017 with your customers and drive mutual success… before, during and after the sale!


About Beyond the Sales Process

• Influence: Top Performing Salespeople!• Evidence-Based: How They Go Beyond

the Sales Process• Provides an Implementable Approach to

Sustained Sales Success w/Customers: Engage/Win/Grow™

• Detailed Case-Studies− World-Class Companies− Leadership, Management, Sales− Real Customers

• Industries Represented− Banking− Chemicals− CPG− Electronics− Food− Healthcare

− Hospitality− Insurance− Manufacturing− Pharmaceutical− Technology− Workforce Solutions


Why Beyond the Sales Process?

• Today’s Selling Environment Is Tough− Buyers are more educated and have more choices than ever

• Buyers Are Under More Stress and Pressure Than Ever− To deliver value to their organizations on time and on budget

• Post-2008, Procurement Has Become More Empowered− Sometimes they behave as if their primary function is to devalue the seller

• Winning on Product Is Getting More and More Difficult− It’s almost impossible to maintain product superiority

• By the Time the RFP Arrives, Many Buying Decisions Have Been Made− And even when they haven’t, they’re almost always tilting

• Yet What Still Matters Most to Your Customers Is Their Own Success− But to help them get there, you’ll have to go Beyond the Sales Process


Winning the Battle for the Customer

Individual?

Individual?

Company?

Please select a Customer that you consider to be critical to your success in 2017.



50% 1000 hours

25% 500 hours

10% 200 hours

5% 100 hours

2% 40 hours

1% 20 hours

How much of this Individual Customer’s annual working time will they spend actually buying something from you?



Participant PollReflecting on this customer/individual that you consider to be critical to your

sales success in 2017, how much of their working time this year will they spend actually buying something from you?

a) 25% 500 hoursb) 10% 200 hoursc) 5% 100 hoursd) 2% 40 hourse) 1% 20 hours


When and Where Does the Battle Begin?

Before the Sale1. Research the Organization2. Explore the Possibilities3. Vision the Success4. Elevate the Conversation

During the Sale5. Discover the Drivers6. Align the Teams7. Position the Fit8. Differentiate the Value

After the Sale9. Realize the Value

10. Validate the Impact 11. Adapt the Approach 12. Expand the Relationship

Beyond The Sales Process12 Proven Strategies for a Customer-Driven World


Strategy 1: Research the Organization Becoming a Student of Your Customer

Winning the Battle…Before the Sale

• Their organization

• Their news and developments

• Their company culture

• Their industry

• Their drivers, objectives and challenges

• Their value proposition

• Their customers

• Their partners

• Their competitors

• Their buying and decision-making processes

• Their people

• Their history with you

How Much Do You Know about Your Customer’s Business (vs. How They Use Your Products)?



• Their organization

• Their news and developments

• Their company culture

• Their industry

• Their drivers, objectives and challenges

• Their value proposition

• Their customers

• Their partners

• Their competitors

• Their buying and decision-making processes

• Their people

• Their history with you

Why Should Your Customer Want to Engage with You (rather than one of your competitors)?

Strategy 2: Explore the Possibilities Giving Your Customer a Reason to Engage


Strategies 1 and 2: Research and Explore Giving Your Customer a Reason to Engage

The #1 reason reported by sales executives for salespeople not hitting quota is their inability to connect their offerings with the business issues

of their customers.SiriusDecisions: The #1 reason for past 5 years!

.


Discussion QuestionWith all of the focus that has been placed on sales training, selling solutions and going “beyond the product” over the years…why is this still such a significant issue for so many

sales professionals?



Top 6 Areas for Visioning Customer Success

Accelerating Growth

Creating Value for the Customer’s Customers

DrivingInnovation

Increasing the Loyalty of Their Customers

Gaining Competitive Advantage

Reducing Their Operating Costs

Strategy 3: Vision the Success Visualizing Future Potential Value w/ Your Customer


Strategy 4: Elevate the Conversation Defining and Pursuing Customer Value Targets

What Your Customer Needs to Do?

Why This Matters…to Your Customer and to You?

How You Will Help Them Do It?

Customer Value Target



Strategies 3 and 4: Vision and Elevate Defining and Pursuing Customer Value Targets

When you engage in a way that is focused on your value to your customer (rather than their value to you), the customer will be willing, perhaps even eager, to advance their dialogue with you and

collaborate to develop value targets.


Discussion QuestionHow can you justify this approach with the time

pressures that most salespeople find themselves working under in today’s environment?


Winning the Battle…During the Sale

Strategy 5: Discover the Drivers Understanding What’s at Stake for Your Customer

ACTIONABLEAWARENESS




Customer’s External Drivers

Customer’s Internal Challenges

Customer’s Business Objectives

What are the external drivers and pressures that are impacting your Customer’s business?

What is your Customer doing to address these external drivers and pressures?

What could prevent your Customer from meeting and exceeding their business objectives?

Discovering What Matters Most to Your Customer Relative to This Opportunity (and Gaining Actionable Awareness!)




Congratulations – you’ve developed a new opportunity!

“Discovery allows us to demonstrate our credibility, knowledge, and commercial bandwidth…frontline sales

professionals who are able to manage this stage well are better able to upgrade their status from a ‘me also’

supplier to an ‘only me’ supplier.”

(Jonathan Farrington / CEO of Top Sales World)

Discussion QuestionIf you could only ask 3 or 4 discovery questions of the

customer to begin to position yourself to win the “Battle for the Customer,” what would they be?


Customer Must Do

Business with Us

Customer Needs to Do

Business with Us

Customer Wants to Do

Business with Us

CustomerDoes

Business with Us

VendorStatus

Preferred SupplierStatus

Planning PartnerStatus

Trusted AdvisorStatus

“Strategic”

“Proactive”

“Tactical”

“Reactive”

“Essential”

“Necessary”

“Important”

“Convenient”

Strategy 6: Align the Teams Developing Customer Sponsors and Supporters




Poll #2Reflecting on your selected

customer, how would you assess the status of your organization’s relationship with this account – looking at the situation through

the eyes of the customer?

a) Trusted Advisor

b) Planning Partner

c) Preferred Supplier

d) Vendor


In today’s challenging business environment, most customers are stressed, pressed for results, and under

duress to make things happen within their organizations.

If discovery is the key that unlocks the door to customer value creation, then it’s your alignment with the customer

that swings it wide open.


Discussion QuestionWhy does aligning teams (your team with the customer’s team) seem to be such a significant issue for so many organizations, and what does this have to do with winning the

“Battle for the Customer?”

Strategy 6: Align the Teams Developing Customer Sponsors and Supporters


• Your effective discovery and alignment, as well as your engagement before the sale, provides the foundation for effective positioning during the sale

• Core components of solution positioning:


Strategy 7: Position the Fit Competing for Customer Mindshare

Positioning Is All about the Battle for Customer Mindshare!

Products

Brand/ Reputation

Customer Experience

ServicesExpertise

Resources



Poll #3Reflecting again on your selected customer, which of the 5 selected components have you found to be most in effective in positioning and differentiating the value that your

organization provides?a) Your Resources

b) Your Expertise

c) Your Service Levels

d) Your Experience with Comparable Customers

e) Your Brand and Reputation

Products

Brand/ Reputation

Customer Experience

Services

Expertise

Resources


“Some salespeople get off to a solid start, gaining knowledge and building relationships they didn’t have, only to find

themselves counter-positioned, out-positioned, mis-positioned, or not positioned at all because they failed to have a deliberate strategy for entering the mind of the customer. Then, when they realize they are where they are, it’s too late because someone

else is now occupying that space.”

Geoffrey James, Contributing Editor at Inc. Magazine


Discussion QuestionWhat can we do to ensure that we don’t find ourselves in

the position Geoffrey James describes so articulately above, in the “Battle for the Customer?”

Strategy 7: Position the Fit Competing for Customer Mindshare

© 2017 Performance Methods, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential 26© 2017 Performance Methods, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential 26

Your Customer’s Drivers

Your Customer’s Objectives

Your Customer’s Challenges

Your Solutions

Your Advantages

Your Successes

Your Unique Value


Strategy 8: Differentiate the Value Creating a Customer Preference (for You)


Planning to win is about helping your customer see greater value in what you have to offer. You might think of this as your value edge, the difference between the value you propose to deliver to your customer and what your competitor proposes. When there’s no value edge, there’s no differentiation because

your customer doesn’t see a difference. Relationships don’t matter. Preference is not a concern. Pick one solution or

another; it’s all the same. And if you don’t have a value edge, you better brace for impact: you’re planning to lose.


Strategy 8: Differentiate the Value Creating a Customer Preference (for You)

Discussion QuestionWhat can we do to ensure that we don’t get surprised and keep

a realistic perspective on how well we’re doing in the “Battle for the Customer?”



Strategy 8: Differentiate the Value Creating a Customer Preference (for You)Testing Your Effectiveness

1. Are you better positioned with your customer’s approvers, decision makers, recommenders, and influencers than your competition is?

2. Does your customer believe that you offer a stronger solution fit than your competitors?

3. Have you provided your customer with proof of your ability to create and co-create measurable business value?

4. Have you developed and validated your customer-specific value proposition with your customer?

5. Are your customer sponsors and supporters able to articulate your unique value within their organization?

6. Does your customer’s vision of success and meeting their objectives align with your value/unique value?


When and Where Does the Battle End?






How Top Performers Win the Battle for the Customer

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Data.com Connect Presents: Steve Andersen & Craig Jones - How Top Performers Win the Battle for the...

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