The Chart

Getting to the Next LevelFrom The Accidental Salesperson

By Chris Lytle

The Categories

• Level 4: Sales & Marketing Professional

• Level 3: Professional Salesperson

• Level 2: Salesperson or Problem Solver

• Level 1: Account Executive

Level of Trust

• Level 1: Neutral or Distrustful

• Level 2: Some Credibility

• Level 3: Credible to Highly Credible– Based on Salesperson’s History

• Level 4: Complete Trust– Based on established relationship and past performance

Goal/Call Objective

• Level 1: To open doors, see what’s there

• Level 2: To persuade & make a sale, or to advance the prospect through the process

• Level 3: Customer creation and retention; find the fit; upgrade client & gain more info

• Level 4: To continue upgrading and increase share of customer’s business

Approach and Involvement

• Level 1: Minimal or Nonexistent

• Level 2: Well-planned; work to get prospect to buy into the process

• Level 3: True source of industry information and business intelligence

• Level 4: Less formal and more comfortable because of trust and history

Concern or Self-Esteem Issue

• Level 1: Being Liked

• Level 2: Being of service, solving problems

• Level 3: Being a resource

• Level 4: Being an “outside insider”

Pre-call Preparation• Level 1:

– Memorize a canned pitch, or “wing it”

• Level 2: – Set call objectives; prescript questions; articulate

purpose-process-payoff

• Level 3:– Research trade magazines, Internet; analyze client’s

competition

• Level 4: – Thorough preparation, sometimes with proprietary

information unavailable to other reps

Presentation• Level 1:

– Product literature, spec sheets, rate sheets

• Level 2: – Product solution for problem they uncover

during needs analysis

• Level 3: – Systems solutions

• Level 4: – ROI proof and profit improvement strategies

Point of Contact• Level 1:

– Buyer or purchasing agent

• Level 2:– End users as well as buyer or purchasing agent

• Level 3:– Buyers, end users, and an “internal coach” or

advocate within client’s company

• Level 4: – “Networked through the company; may be

doing business in multiple divisions

Change in Attitude I

• Sales techniques and pressure took precedence over solving a prospect’s problem.

• Silent close: Ask a question and listen.– First one to speak “loses.” Right idea, wrong

attitude

• Pushy vs. Professionally Persistent

• Take your relationship with each client to the next level.

Change in Attitude II

• Align your sales behavior with those things that buyers value most in salespeople.

• You buy time when you gain trust.

• Your clients and prospects can teach you a lot about selling by the way they react to you. LEARN!

Dealing with Tough Customers I

Car dealer who cancelled his order

Dealing with Tough Customers II

1) Tough customers don’t want to deal with pushover salespeople.

2) You’ve got to be different.

3) Pre-call planning is vital.

4) The customer is always right, unless the customer is wrong.

5) Be willing to walk away from a bad deal or a bad character.

6) Have friends inside the organization.

Magic Phrase

• “This is the way I work…”

• Tell your prospects how you are going to sell them before you try to sell them your product or service.

• Transparency: If they buy the way you sell, they’ll buy more of the things you sell.

• Sell them on how you sell, and the pressure is off; less pressure; less defensive.