The new customer behaviors that have led and then
accelerated the digital transformation of organizations, are causing an
upheaval in marketing strategies and sales techniques.
In just a few years, we have gone from a “self-centered”
vision on the product / service / brand to a client-centered vision and
solutions.
So inevitably, if your customers are digital in the
purchasing journey, that means that your salespeople must develop their methods
and their tools, in order to offer an irreproachable customer experience and to
sell always more efficiently.
The distance selling becomes unavoidable for the year 2021 ,
at a time when the health crisis is still very present. This is a major change
for many companies, but it is essential to support the smooth running of
business. According to CRM publisher Hubspot: 64% of sales managers with a
distance selling strategy (and the tools that go with it) have met or exceeded
their revenue targets in 2020.
We take a look at the 11 sales techniques your sales reps
must master in 2021 to identify prospects, understand their needs and sell
brilliantly while building for the long term.
Before we begin, let's take a look at “two-and-two”, as
Pablo Mira would say, on what a sales technique is.
A sales technique (or method) allows a salesperson or sales
team to sell effectively by creating value and ultimately generate income for
revenue growth.
There is not ONE but sales techniques .
Some are more suitable than other contingent on the
customers, the sales cycle or purchasing journey, but also the market and its
developments. The Hubspot editor has 10 for its own process.
Each manager and each salesperson must develop their own
techniques to improve themselves, contextualize the approach and increasingly
personalize the discourse . These techniques can be similar but also be
perfectly complementary. They provide a framework, which does not mean that it
is forbidden to go out and adapt your speech to the interlocutor, while
remaining curious.
We will not discuss in this article marketing strategies and
tactics to attract or influence a prospect such as inbound marketing , social
selling or even the very trendy Account
Based Marketing which, if they are
fundamental upstream of the sales process , are not fully part of sales
techniques but many marketing techniques and strategies to identify, attract,
“attack” or seduce a prospect.
Before delving into these 11 techniques (some of which we
use Editor's note) , it is also important to distinguish between the terms
“sales technique” and “sales process” :
• A sales
technique can be adapted to almost any sales process, but it concerns only one
step of the process
• A sales
process brings together the stages of a sale and its structure: from the
generation of a prospect , to the actual sale or the signing of a contract,
passing through all the stages: lead, lead qualified by marketing, lead
qualified by sellers, opportunities, quotes, quote transformation.
So to schematize, a sales process could be the strategy
(hybrid sales for example, distance and terrain for 2021), and a sales
technique the tactic to achieve it .
Each technique can be applied at one or more stages of the
process. For example, the SPANCO process (Suspect, Prospect, Analysis,
Negotiation, Conclusion and Order) which was initiated by Xerox, the manufacturer
of photocopiers, has 6 phases and to each phase we can add one or more
techniques.
The BEBEDC sales technique
Not all opportunities are good for your business. You have
to know how to accept it and anticipate the "go and no go" The BEBEDC
sales technique aims to quickly qualify a prospect, in other words to know
whether or not it is worth starting or continuing the sales process . And
therefore to ask yourself the following questions:
• Need:
does the prospect really need my solution? Am I in the best position on the
market to help them solve this problem?
• Issue :
What will happen if you do business with this potential client? And what if you
weren't doing business? This is used, among other things, to assess the impact
of purchasing or not purchasing your solution.
• Budget:
this involves quickly determining whether the prospect has (or not) the budget
that would allow him to solve his problem
• Deadline:
is it the right time? Why would he act now? Locking the deadline allows you to
control the sales cycle but also the impact on your production / resource
planning and therefore your profitability.
• Decision-makers:
who will validate? Who are the people who can support, favorably influence or
on the contrary “break the sale”?
• Competitors:
it is a question of finding out who are the competitors in this opportunity and
why were they solicited?
The BANT method
BANT stands for Budget, Authority, Need, Timing . This
technique, popularized in the 1960s by IBM, has lived well but is still used
today, especially in software companies. The BANT method is like the BEBEDC
technique, a kind of canvas to know in particular whether or not we are
continuing a sales process with a prospect.
• Budget:
Does the prospect have the means for his ambitions? What is the cost of
inaction?
• Authority:
Who are the decision makers? Who can derail the sale in the company or on the
contrary accelerate it?
• Need:
does the prospect really need our solution?
• Timing:
the challenge is to control the sales cycle and the decision-making at each
stage of the process. Is the customer's problem / need a priority?
We consider that at least 2/3 points out of 4 of the BANT
are needed to go further . Imagine, for example, that you have validated 2
elements but that the project is in 12 months .... or that everything sticks
but the prospect does not have the necessary money to solve his problem. Is it
worth going further for the moment, and wasting your cartridges on a
time-consuming pre-sale that you know with little probability of going to the
end?
Active listening
“If you want to sell, listen” hammered an eminent sales
professional in pronounced Oranese intonation, while I was barely waxing the
benches of the BTS Sales Force in 1999. This sentence came back like a
leitmotif and was asked to all the alternate sellers of our promo, every 3
weeks. Basically, “if you want to sell… shut up”!
Active listening is an excellent technique that allows you
to better qualify the needs of your prospect by discovering the problems ( pain
points in VO or pain points) and customer needs.
“It's simple: two ears to listen, one mouth to speak”
repeated over and over again our speaker with the strong Blackfoot accent.
For having accompanied salespeople on tour, this yet basic
facet of the profession is often neglected , because the more you know the
customer the less you come back to the discovery. But your client is changing
... and new challenges, just like you.
Customer Centric Selling
“Customer Centric Selling” is a book by Michael T. Bosworth
published in 2004. The Customer Centric Selling technique has a dual purpose:
• offer the
solution best suited to the client's needs
• create
favorable conditions in order to build a long-term relationship
Close to active listening, “Customer Centric Selling”
aspires to fully grasp and understand customer needs with specific questions .
It is not a question of selling for the sake of selling but of finding the most
suitable solution .
And as with active listening, this “good commercial sense”
technique is currently very suitable since it is customer-centric .
It also approaches (and remains complementary) to the
so-called consultative selling method where the seller positions himself as an
expert consultant to build a long-term relationship by always placing the
customer at the heart of the priorities (“ customer first ”).
HIS CASE
Back in 1999, when I was a young B2B / B2C salesperson, I
learned the theory to understand the motivations of the customer.
The SONCAS then appears as the popular sales technique. In
my class, there are 80% of young automotive salespeople, so it is natural that
we adopt the method created six years earlier by Jean-Denis LARRADET, then a
sales executive at the GNFA (National Group for Automotive Training) .
This technique is a “psychological” and emotional approach
to sales and is again based on active listening to find the prospect's buying
motivations:
• Security
: Among the essential needs according to Maslow, the need for security is often
essential for people who need to be reassured by guarantees and supported in
the acquisition of your product or service.
• Pride: If
we “talk about the car” for example, we can all imagine the prospect who needs
to be recognized at the wheel of a large German sedan, at the height of his
ego. The objective of the salesperson is therefore, without any sycophancy, to
provide arguments aimed at touching the client's self-esteem and enhancing it.
• New :
“Come and try the new over-equipped XXX“ Do you have the latest smartphone from
XXX ”or even the“ latest trendy streaming series ”. In short, this good old
marketing spring still has a bright future ahead of it because some are more
sensitive to it than others.
• Comfort :
“This premium model has all the options and a leather interior…”. Some
prospects are more attached to their own comfort. A famous appliance salesman
had made it his contract of confidence, a pack that covered comfort and safety.
We can add that what relates to the customer experience today falls into the “comfort” box for the
user who can benefit from new services.
• Money :
How to make the customer understand that an acquisition is not an expense, but
an investment on which we expect a positive ROI?
Some will always only look at the price (or the discount if
we stay in the dealer jargon), especially in very competitive markets where the
price is the determining factor. But the majority of customers are not price
sensitive but rather value for money and experience. According to PWC, 86% of customers are willing to pay more for
a better customer experience .
• Sympathy
: The sympathy of the seller, the image of the company or the product can play
an important role in a sale. So, for a similar product / price, being a warm,
merchant and attentive salesperson, while offering an unforgettable customer
experience, can be decisive in the conclusion of a sale.
Note that the SONCAS evolves and recently becomes the
SONCASE. The final E corresponds to the psychological lever of Ecology and can
also include corporate social responsibility.
CAB and CAP or how to build your sales pitch
Directly linked to SONCAS, the CAB (Characteristics,
Advantages, Benefits) and the CAP (Characteristics, Advantages, Proof) are the two
techniques which make it possible to build and structure a sales pitch.
• Characteristics:
or how to technically describe your solution: functionalities, options,
technicality… According to the SONCAS typology of the customer, it is a
question of listing the relevant characteristics in relation to his profile and
the problem to be solved.
• Advantages:
They correspond to the perceived benefits according to all the characteristics
of the product. The advantages must be highlighted according to the customer
profile and meet their needs precisely.
• Proof: It
is a question of proving the benefits of the product according to the detailed
characteristics on a given case. These arguments must convince the customer
that he too needs this product.
WHERE
• Benefits:
By listing the benefits for the person, we play on the emotional aspect. In
particular, this allows the customer to project himself into the use of the
product or service you offer.
CAP and CAB were necessarily in my arguments when I was
dragging my gaiters in supermarkets, then a young Sector Manager at William
Saurin in the 2000s. "This relocation and this merchandising earned us the
gold meter of the IFM (Institute French merchandising. On average, it is 8.7%
of additional turnover generated .... "
SIMAC
By presenting the characteristics, advantages, and evidence
or potential benefits, the salesperson has a structured discourse that allows
them to anticipate and deal with objections while valuing your prospect.
Another acronym for the SIMAC method. The purpose of this
sales technique is to help sales people follow the 5 phases of the
argumentation process to convince potential customers and to conclude.
• Situation:
The analysis of the situation which brings together the prospect's context, his
needs, priorities, challenges and issues.
• Idea:
After analysis, the proposal of an idea to the prospect that could solve his
problem. “Do you think XXXXX could be the solution….”
• Mechanism:
Once the idea is exposed, it is a question of detailing how to implement the
idea, in particular with an action plan.
• Advantage:
As for CAB and CAP, it is necessary to list the various advantages of the
proposed solution by personalizing and contextualizing the approach.
• Conclusion:
It is the prospect who must approve the solution and validate the chosen action
plan.
Inbound Sales
Popularized by the publisher Hubspot, “inventor” of inbound
marketing , inbound sales consists of comfortably placing the customer at the
center of an ultra-personalized sales process , rather than praising the merits
of the company, the seller, or product.
The entire sales strategy is focused on the buyer, as with
“customer centric selling”. The only difference is that the entire sales
experience is personalized in the context of the buyer.
Like Inbound Marketing, Inbound Sales is based on a 4-step
methodology
Be careful, implementing this philosophy in your
organization requires time and method.
On the other hand, this modern sales technique is very
suitable for B2B buyers:
• personalization
in a specific context
• support
for the buyer throughout the sales cycle
• providing
personalized value at every stage of the sales cycle.
It is one of the main commercial innovations of the
champions of growth: Amazon, Netflix, Zoom etc.
In the approach, it remains very complementary to Account
Based Marketing and social selling.
SPIN Selling : or the art of asking the right questions
SPIN Selling is the acronym for 4 types of questions
highlighted by Neil Rackham in the 70s / 80s:
• The
“Situation” questions : they allow you to take stock of the business context.
• The
“Problem” questions : they are oriented towards the obstacles and difficulties
encountered.
• The
“Implication” questions : they are intended to project onto the scenario that
is likely to happen if nothing is done.
• The
“Need-payoff” questions focus on the valuation of profits, once the brakes are
lifted.
The goal of SPIN Selling is to gradually gain the confidence
of your prospect so that he can then listen to your solution.
“SPIN Selling is a very effective and topical technique
since it allows you to sell, without selling. “
Or the art of asking the relevant questions to fully
understand the problems of the prospect and the challenges he must meet. Then
“get bought”.
The 4C sales technique
The so-called 4C sales technique aims to improve conversion
rates. This is about not leaving opportunities in your pipeline for too long.
Behind this acronym, we find:
• Contact:
the good old rule of the first 20 seconds, the first 20 gestures, the first 20
words and the first 20 facial expressions. Whether on the phone, video or
physical, this 4X20 rule does not change.
• Know:
this is about identifying the customer's needs while letting the prospect
express himself. We still use active listening while asking the right
questions, rephrasing to be sure of having understood the prospect's issues.
• To
convince: by following for example the arguments resulting from the CAB or the
CAP (see above)
• Conclude:
know when and how to sign (or “ closer ” in original version)
Challenger Sale: the best for last?
If you haven't heard of Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson's
book “The Challenger Sale,” you'll probably revisit your approach to selling
once you find out.
This method is based on the “education” of his prospect in 3
phases, namely:
1. to inform
2. customize
(tailoring)
3. taking
control so that he can choose the solution you have defined for him.
It also classifies salespeople into 5 typical profiles:
• relationship
builder: these are salespeople who seek to create a quality and lasting
relationship with their client portfolio
• hard
workers: they work hard every day and stay focused on their goals
• lone
wolves: those who work alone, in their corner (there are some in all the clubs
like Jean-Pierre, 30 years in the house ...)
• Problem
Solver specialists who seek at all costs solutions to all the difficulties
encountered by the prospect
• the
challengers: those who offer a new way of seeing and who are by far the most
effective.
“Why are challengers the most effective? Because they have
the art and the way of knowing how to concoct a unique value proposition ,
different from the competitors and which has already been proven for this
specific problem. ”
The 6 stages that can be found in the profile of the
“Challenger” and which punctuate its commercial discourse:
1. “Warmer”
step : it quickly identifies the needs of the target, its context and its
problems
2. “Reframe”
stage : it redefines the needs of the potential customer by pinpointing an
overlooked problem. His ability to understand the prospect's business (market,
competitors, objectives, challenges, etc.) allows him to offer a new way of
solving the problem of the potential client.
3. Rational
Drowning stage: the challenger knows how to demonstrate that this problem has a
strong impact on the prospect's business and prevents him from moving forward
and achieving his goals.
4. “Emotional
impact” stage: the human being is more afraid of losing than the desire to win.
So a sentence like "you lose money every month" or "you waste a
lot of time managing these tasks with your two mobilized assistants" often
hits the mark because it touches the emotional springs of the prospect.
5. “Value
proposition - A new way” step : the Challenger knows how to present in detail
the solution that could put an end to the potential customer's problem.
6. “Our
solution and implementation way” step : finally he explains how the solution
will be deployed and how his company will support it.
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