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2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 1<br />
<strong>Discipline</strong>,<br />
<strong>Courage</strong> &<br />
<strong>Curiosity</strong> /<br />
2015 Global Report ‘What it takes to win business’<br />
Peter Griffith<br />
Executive Director<br />
Nikki Hobin<br />
Executive Director<br />
rogenSi, APAC<br />
May 2015
“You are what you repeatedly do.<br />
Excellence is not an event – it is a habit.”<br />
- Aristotle
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 3<br />
Contents /<br />
Executive Summary<br />
4<br />
Death of Formulaic Questioning<br />
<strong>Discipline</strong> is the New Black<br />
<strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong> to Shift Thinking<br />
The Real Cost of Discounting<br />
7<br />
11<br />
15<br />
19<br />
Conclusion<br />
About rogenSi<br />
23<br />
26
4 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
Executive Summary /<br />
There is no silver bullet for winning<br />
business. In today’s complex, highly<br />
competitive selling environment<br />
customers have set an incredibly high<br />
benchmark in their expectation of Sales<br />
Professionals, such that only a handful<br />
of organisations are likely to meet - let<br />
alone exceed these expectations. The<br />
professionals and organisations capable<br />
of mastering certain sales disciplines<br />
are the ones who are creating significant<br />
competitive advantage.<br />
Every three years we conduct global research<br />
into “What it Takes to Win Business” based on<br />
the perspectives of 178 global Buyers and Sales<br />
Professionals from a range of industry sectors.<br />
We use the findings to help our clients understand<br />
how their customers make their buying decisions,<br />
become more customer-centric and improve their<br />
win/loss ratio.<br />
The 2015 findings show a shift in Buyer<br />
expectations and suggest the need for increased<br />
discipline in sales. Buyers are asking sales people<br />
to do more, listen more, find out more and be<br />
more disciplined in their approach. They expect<br />
Sales Professionals to be genuinely curious about<br />
their business and to be more courageous by<br />
challenging them with knowledge relevant to them.<br />
The findings from our most recent study highlights<br />
four insights and how they can be applied:<br />
Insight #1 ‘The Death of Formulaic Questioning’<br />
Customers clearly want a conversation, not an<br />
interrogation. The stark difference between the<br />
value customers place on ‘listening’ as opposed to<br />
‘questioning’ shows the criticality of conversation<br />
skills in sales. Great Sales Professionals will<br />
always be prepared with a set of questions that<br />
demonstrate understanding and prompt insight; it<br />
is the ability to listen and drill down that is critical<br />
in today’s sophisticated selling environment.<br />
Insight #2 ‘<strong>Discipline</strong> is the New Black’<br />
Customers are putting a premium on a<br />
salesperson’s credibility, knowledge of their<br />
business, and the ability to communicate<br />
value. This requires discipline in researching,<br />
reviewing and rehearsing that many sales<br />
people don’t possess.<br />
Insight #3 ‘<strong>Courage</strong> and <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
to Shift Thinking’<br />
Customers are drowning in information, but<br />
thirsting for insight. The in-depth understanding<br />
of the customer’s situation and challenges must<br />
be heard and felt in every communication and<br />
interaction. Smart sales professionals will need<br />
to have the courage and curiosity to create<br />
compelling, customised communication - great<br />
storytelling - that will help shift buyers’ thinking<br />
and buying behaviours.<br />
Insight # 4 ‘The Real Cost of Discounting’<br />
It is a simple fact: discounts are costly. Increased<br />
customer price sensitivity means that salespeople<br />
have to be increasingly savvy at ‘getting the price<br />
right’. They must have an intimate knowledge of the<br />
commercial and emotional drivers of customers so<br />
they do not give away too much. Most salespeople<br />
will give away far more than they need to because<br />
they do not know enough about what the customer<br />
is really prepared to pay and why.
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 5<br />
Respondents By Industry<br />
19%<br />
21%<br />
13%<br />
9% 8%<br />
5%<br />
10%<br />
6%<br />
4%<br />
5%<br />
Commercial & Professional Services<br />
Transport & Automotive<br />
Media<br />
Consumer Goods & Services<br />
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals<br />
Banking, Finance & Insurance<br />
Information Technology<br />
Telecommunications<br />
Energy & Utilities<br />
Other<br />
The 2015 data also suggests Sales Professionals<br />
are not leveraging what they say they know.<br />
It is not in the knowing but the doing that makes<br />
the difference. To win business they are not<br />
changing their approach with the discipline and<br />
commitment that our fast-moving, sophisticated<br />
business world demands.<br />
What is fascinating about these insights is that<br />
they are business agnostic, simple and sensible<br />
to execute. It is about replicating what Sales<br />
Professionals already know, doing it more<br />
consciously and with the desire and discipline<br />
to win more business, more often.<br />
Common Sense,<br />
Not Common Practice<br />
To stay in business today, almost every<br />
organisation in the world, regardless of size or<br />
sector, needs to win more business, more often.<br />
Contrast this with the fact that we are operating in<br />
a truly global marketplace where Buyers are spoilt<br />
for choice. In most industries, customers have<br />
three or four highly reputable brands to choose<br />
from, which means they can, and do, demand<br />
more of their suppliers. The bar has been raised<br />
when it comes to winning business. Much of what<br />
customers are asking for is good old-fashioned<br />
common sense, which is just not common<br />
practice. Sales teams are not evolving at the rate<br />
the market demands.<br />
The research indicates that most organisations<br />
have not kept pace with customer expectations<br />
and have still not taken bold enough steps to<br />
transform their sales functions.
6 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
This requires evolving their customer engagement<br />
strategies so they are loaded with the discipline<br />
and commitment that today’s fast moving,<br />
sophisticated business world demands.<br />
We challenge sales organisations to go beyond<br />
what they know and really test what they are<br />
doing to create competitive advantage because<br />
it is the doing that makes the difference. Buyers<br />
are demanding sales people do more, listen<br />
more and find out more. They expect them to be<br />
more disciplined in their planning, to be genuinely<br />
curious about their business and to be more<br />
courageous in developing insights that can help<br />
them grow their business.<br />
Put on your Buyer’s hat for a moment. Do you<br />
go looking for the best product at the very best<br />
price, but still end up paying the ‘buy it now with<br />
assurances’ price to a supplier who appears<br />
organised and reliable? Do you prefer dealing with<br />
someone who understands you, gives you a great<br />
product or service, offers convenience, peace of<br />
mind and a low risk option, and charges you just<br />
below the price tag so you feel like you’re getting a<br />
good deal? Is this the experience your entire sales<br />
team is consistently giving your customers? If<br />
not, your revenue is increasingly at risk as Buyers<br />
become less tolerant of mediocrity.<br />
What is interesting about these research findings<br />
is that they suggest solutions that are easy and<br />
simple to apply regardless of your industry or<br />
company size. The challenge lies in mastering<br />
them with consistency. It can be easy - and risky<br />
- to underestimate the competitive advantage<br />
created by getting these things right. Almost<br />
universally, we find organisations that have a clear<br />
vision and strategy for sales disciplines and quality<br />
customer engagement, combined with strong<br />
execution disciplines, will inevitably lift their win<br />
rate significantly. Most have a clear roadmap for<br />
creating a cultural shift in how their organisation<br />
approaches winning and retaining business,<br />
particularly major bids and tenders, making this<br />
part of their embedded processes.<br />
If you are not sure where to start, we suggest<br />
asking your customers. More than likely they<br />
will be happy to tell you where you are getting<br />
it wrong. We would suggest taking a structured<br />
approach and engaging with a large, broad sample<br />
of customers – those that seem to love you or hate<br />
you and those who are indifferent to you. If you<br />
ask enough people, you will tend to find that the<br />
sum of subjective estimates is often the truth.<br />
Many organisations have one or two significant,<br />
consistent Achilles heels that are holding them<br />
back. When you have identified your key gaps,<br />
there are a number of the Top Tips we recommend<br />
in this paper that can help get you back on<br />
track. Just remember, it is not about knowing it,<br />
it is about creating a culture where everyone is<br />
consistently doing it.<br />
For those doing most of these things well, there<br />
is real opportunity to create daylight between you<br />
and your competition by taking your discipline,<br />
courage, and curiosity to the next level. We wish<br />
you all the best on the journey.<br />
The Gap Between<br />
Knowing & Doing<br />
Before publishing the results of our research, we<br />
shared the insights with a select group of Sales<br />
Leaders and asked them what they thought of the<br />
findings, to which some responded, “Nothing we<br />
did not already know” or “Nothing much new here”.<br />
We then asked them how many of the insights and<br />
recommendations they had specifically developed<br />
a strategy for. The response was very different.<br />
None of them could articulate what they were<br />
specifically doing to address the issues raised.<br />
They knew what they should do, but they were not<br />
doing it.<br />
This ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ gap is limiting the<br />
performance potential of most sales organisations.<br />
You may have seen the Nike poster that says,<br />
‘Everyone loses games, few change them’.<br />
The findings from our research show that there<br />
are some simple and powerful ways for sales<br />
organisations to ‘change the game’.
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 7<br />
Insight #1<br />
The Death<br />
of Formulaic<br />
Questioning<br />
Conversations, not interrogations
8 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
The Death of Formulaic<br />
Questioning /<br />
Conversations, not interrogations<br />
If you have been “sold to” in the past, you<br />
will remember being subjected to inauthentic<br />
salespeople operating from a prescribed list of<br />
questions. They were not really listening, just<br />
waiting to pounce on anything you said that<br />
opened the door to a sale. Those days are over.<br />
Sophisticated, informed Buyers are looking for<br />
authentic, knowledgeable Sales Professionals<br />
who can conduct a meaningful conversation.<br />
Compared to our global findings in 2012, there<br />
have been a number of significant changes in<br />
Buyer expectations. It is now evident that the<br />
thought of being ‘sold’ to or participating in an<br />
obvious, contrived sales dialogue is not an<br />
experience Buyers enjoy or even respect.<br />
The latest research highlights the need to sell<br />
through the art of conversation. Exceptional and<br />
effective Sales Professionals must demonstrate<br />
both unique knowledge and genuine curiosity<br />
about the Buyer - more than anyone else selling<br />
to them. In 2015, exceptional sales people are<br />
great researchers who leverage the vast ocean<br />
of information available to them and turn this into<br />
insight that engages and excites their customers.<br />
They also use this intelligence to develop better<br />
negotiating positions based on value rather than<br />
price. All of this is underpinned by the desire<br />
and ability to continuously improve the level of<br />
discipline they apply to their sales approach.<br />
2015 heralds the death of formulaic questioning.<br />
Customers clearly want a conversation, not an<br />
interrogation. The research highlighted a spiked<br />
difference between the value customers place<br />
on ‘listening’ as opposed to ‘questioning’.<br />
This reinforces the importance of great<br />
conversations skills throughout the customer<br />
engagement life cycle.<br />
Interpersonal<br />
Skills<br />
The most important<br />
interpersonal skills in securing<br />
major pieces of business.<br />
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 9<br />
“60% of buyers<br />
disagree that emotion<br />
plays a smaller role in<br />
the buying decision.”<br />
Asking questions in a relaxed and authentic<br />
manner, rather than in an overly structured<br />
and formulaic way, is a fine balance of art and<br />
science. Great salespeople will always have a<br />
set of carefully crafted questions that demonstrate<br />
understanding and prompt insight and they will<br />
have the ability to truly listen and carefully<br />
probe - essential in today’s sophisticated<br />
selling environment.<br />
This is a strong endorsement of the importance<br />
Buyers are placing on organic, connected<br />
conversations, rather than a thinly veiled attempt<br />
to sell them something. Price does play a role in<br />
the decision, but it is not the only factor.<br />
This gives companies seeking to win new business<br />
a distinct advantage. In an existing supplier<br />
relationship, it is easy to fall into assumptions<br />
about the customer’s needs and it may even feel<br />
uncomfortable conducting deeper conversations<br />
because “we should already know this”. Existing<br />
suppliers need to thoroughly examine what<br />
customer knowledge is assumed and what is<br />
explicitly known, or find their bread and butter<br />
accounts at risk.<br />
At many of our keynote presentations at sales<br />
conferences, we pose the question, “Who likes to<br />
buy things?”, to which almost every hand in the<br />
room goes up! When we ask, “Who likes being sold<br />
to?”, the response is much less enthusiastic. As we<br />
discuss why this dichotomy of preference exists,<br />
there is almost universal agreement that it is mostly<br />
down to how the sales conversation unfolds.<br />
Trends<br />
Select whether you agree (A)<br />
or disagree (D) with the<br />
following statements.<br />
A D A D A D<br />
93% 7% 73% 27% 40% 60%<br />
A D<br />
87% 13%<br />
As ‘Buyers’, we want to feel we are in control of the<br />
conversation. We ultimately make the decision on<br />
what to purchase based on our own preferences,<br />
supported by insight and advice. There is a fine line<br />
between feeling we have ‘bought’ something and<br />
feeling we’ve been ‘sold to’ – ultimately it is about<br />
ownership of the decision. An authentic, organic,<br />
and professional sales conversation is the key to<br />
navigating the Buyer towards owning their decision.<br />
Sales Professionals are often sceptical about<br />
the role emotion plays in the sale: “Surely, at the<br />
end of the day, it’s about getting the price right?”<br />
This is not surprising, given that they continuously<br />
find themselves in conversations around price,<br />
delivery, warranties, and product or service<br />
specifications. To test this belief, we asked our<br />
Buyers if they agreed with the statement: “Emotion<br />
is playing a smaller role in the buying decision”,<br />
60% of Buyers responded this was NOT the case.<br />
Organisations expect much more for<br />
their spend than two years ago<br />
Our competitors are pitching much<br />
better now than ever<br />
Emotion plays a smaller role in the<br />
buying decision now<br />
Buyer decision making is far more<br />
rigorous than ever before
10 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
Compared to our 2012 report, ‘chemistry’ as a<br />
key buying criteria is up significantly, rising from<br />
13% to 25%. We believe the verdict is in: formulaic<br />
questioning is dead.<br />
We Recommend...<br />
5 ways to improve the<br />
Sales Conversation.<br />
Decision<br />
Making<br />
2015 Research Findings.<br />
Key factors in the customer<br />
buying decision.<br />
29%<br />
30% 25% 16%<br />
One<br />
Teach ‘conversation skills’, rather than<br />
‘diagnostic skills’ – focus on listening and<br />
drilling down on responses.<br />
Two<br />
Limit the use of contrived, ‘formulaic’<br />
questions – never ask the customer:<br />
“Tell me about your business”.<br />
Offer best solution<br />
Understanding my situation<br />
Chemistry<br />
Politics<br />
Three<br />
Four<br />
Coach and develop listening skills as<br />
a critical competency.<br />
Ensure enquiry is tempered with insight –<br />
lead with a point of view, then discuss how<br />
this fits with the customer’s circumstance.<br />
Five<br />
Practice conversation skills in team<br />
meetings – practice difficult conversations.
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 11<br />
Insight #2<br />
<strong>Discipline</strong> is<br />
the New Black<br />
Dare to prepare
12 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
<strong>Discipline</strong> is<br />
The New Black /<br />
Dare to prepare<br />
Have you ever been called on to make a wedding<br />
speech? If so, before the big day you probably<br />
did some homework on the person you were<br />
talking about and talked to others to find stories,<br />
anecdotes and evidence. Subconsciously you<br />
would have considered how to make it relevant<br />
to your audience. No doubt you also practiced a<br />
few times, editing your notes as you went, until<br />
you were happy with the final result. Why did you<br />
bother? Probably because you knew you had one<br />
chance to make a great impression. You spent<br />
time preparing and the investment you made in<br />
time and preparation created a better outcome.<br />
How often do we apply the same thoughtfulness<br />
and disciplined approach to sales situations?<br />
Face<br />
To Face<br />
Interactions<br />
The most likely reasons that<br />
would reduce your willingness to<br />
buy from the seller.<br />
10% 25% 23% 3% 8% 5% 10% 16%<br />
<strong>Discipline</strong> is as essential to the sales process<br />
as the presentation of the solution. Without it,<br />
sales people will not measure up to the exacting<br />
standards their customers are now expecting.<br />
The sales process has become more sophisticated<br />
and competitive, demanding a more deliberate<br />
and focused approach. There is no room for<br />
improvisation. Our research shows that credibility<br />
and understanding carry as much as 50% of<br />
the vote in the decision process. That requires<br />
disciplined and authentic interactions with every<br />
customer. Like a good wedding speech, our<br />
business conversations must be organised and<br />
authentic, not engineered.<br />
What the buyer wants<br />
The research tells us the Buyer is looking for value<br />
in the conversation and that interactions need to<br />
have a sense of purpose and intent.<br />
More than half of respondents identified that a key<br />
part of their decision making process was based<br />
on the sales professional’s deep knowledge of<br />
the Buyer’s industry, business drivers and needs.<br />
Each interaction needs to be considered and<br />
prepared - but not scripted, because the Buyer<br />
will be continuously assessing your credibility and<br />
ability to bring value.<br />
Talking about themselves too much<br />
Not listening<br />
Lack of subject area knowledge<br />
Poor quality questioning<br />
Lack of awareness<br />
Lack of compatibility<br />
Lack of responsiveness<br />
Poor preparation
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 13<br />
Imagine the Buyer drafting an advertisement<br />
for a Sales Professional with the headline:<br />
‘Only disciplined people need apply’. What<br />
other selection criteria do you think a Buyer<br />
would list as the qualities they most wanted in<br />
their salespeople?<br />
Awarding<br />
Business<br />
The Buyers in our survey listed the top four<br />
attributes that had the most positive impact on<br />
their buying decision. These were: credibility,<br />
knowledge, listening skills and an ability to<br />
communicate value. If you’re in sales, you need<br />
to ask yourself: “Am I the Sales Professional my<br />
customer wants?”<br />
The people winning business today are disciplined<br />
as well as driven. Their customers trust them to<br />
have knowledge - and to deliver.<br />
Earning trust<br />
On a scale from 1 to 15, the<br />
importance of the following<br />
statements as the reasons why<br />
a seller is awarded a major piece<br />
of business.<br />
Average response<br />
1<br />
Most Important<br />
Trusted Advisor is a much-lauded phrase in<br />
business. It is a label that salespeople often apply<br />
to themselves with a fair bit of poetic license.<br />
In reality, Trusted Advisor is a title bestowed<br />
upon them by their Buyers; trust is earned by<br />
demonstrating credibility, reliability and intimacy.<br />
The phrase was popularised by David Maister,<br />
author of ‘The Trusted Advisor’ (Maister, Green<br />
and Galford, ed.2001 Simon & Schuster). He<br />
summarised how to earn trust in the formula:<br />
Trust = Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy<br />
Self Interest<br />
They understood my needs<br />
The level of insights provided in their solution<br />
Their ability to bring innovation into their solution<br />
15<br />
Least Important<br />
Maister’s formula highlights that the level of trust<br />
we gain can be significantly diluted if there is<br />
evidence of self-interest on the part of the Seller.<br />
Today’s winning business conversations are all<br />
about the Buyer. Our research confirms the need<br />
to demonstrate understanding of the customer’s<br />
situation. As much as 75% of the decision to<br />
purchase is based on the same qualities Maister<br />
identified, and highlights the role that trust plays<br />
in winning and retaining business.<br />
Building credibility and intimacy requires research,<br />
knowledge and curiosity. Sales Professionals can<br />
demonstrate curiosity and kick start conversations<br />
that gain a better understanding of the Buyer’s<br />
need through a few considered rich questions.
14 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
If a customer says to you, “That’s a good question”,<br />
it probably is. Stay focussed on the customer<br />
and ask questions that shape a conversation as<br />
opposed to following a prescriptive questioning<br />
formula aimed at enabling you to tick boxes<br />
against the appropriateness of your solution.<br />
Any level of self-interest will probably be fairly<br />
obvious to the Buyer, so the conversation needs<br />
to be genuinely about them. The conversation<br />
should be memorable for all the right reasons.<br />
A few years ago we were having an important<br />
first meeting with a large global company within<br />
a sector that was known to be traditionally male<br />
dominated. Our pre-meeting research revealed<br />
the company had recently won an award as<br />
the “Employer of Choice for Women”. We also<br />
noticed their competitors had single digit figures<br />
for gender diversity. As we explored ways to<br />
grow the capability of their team we were able to<br />
say, “Congratulations on winning the employer<br />
of choice award for women. What is it that<br />
you’ve have initiated in the business that has<br />
put you so far in front of your competitors?”. By<br />
demonstrating awareness of a key strategy, the<br />
information they went on to share with us gave<br />
a much deeper insight into their culture, strategy<br />
and focussed activity. This helped us respond with<br />
a very specific and appropriate solution for their<br />
business. We still work with them today. Why?<br />
Because this approach does not only apply to the<br />
first interaction: you must remain curious and add<br />
value throughout your tenure with a customer.<br />
Being a “one-hit wonder” may win you the<br />
business, but discipline, courage and curiosity<br />
will help you keep it. Purchasing and Procurement<br />
Officers tell us that complacency of the incumbent<br />
is the single biggest reason why they look for<br />
alternatives and issue new tenders. This means<br />
that we cannot risk improvisation at any point in<br />
our relationship with the Customer.<br />
We Recommend...<br />
5 activities for a more<br />
disciplined approach<br />
One<br />
Two<br />
Three<br />
Create an evidence bank you can draw<br />
on to support your case.<br />
Develop simple, consistent disciplines pre<br />
and post sales calls – send agendas and<br />
follow up emails capturing actions, owners<br />
and time frames.<br />
Leverage company profile report services<br />
to assist with researching, or develop an<br />
internal system.<br />
Coming back to the Maister principles, intimacy<br />
demonstrates an understanding of the customer<br />
that is more substantial than anyone else. It also<br />
helps with authenticity, connectivity and your<br />
ability to put your customer at ease. This practice<br />
does not happen without discipline and research.<br />
Be curious, be prepared, and demonstrate<br />
appropriate intimacy. Be the person your<br />
Buyer wants to deal with and enjoy memorable<br />
conversations that resonate with your customer.<br />
This will drive your credibility and increase your<br />
probability of winning their business.<br />
Four<br />
Five<br />
Ask yourself before every customer<br />
interaction: “what do I want them to think,<br />
feel, and do as a result of this meeting?”<br />
Rehearse the first five minutes of the<br />
meeting – this creates clarity and confidence.
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 15<br />
Insight #3<br />
<strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
to Shift Thinking<br />
Deliver insight, not just information
16 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
<strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
to Shift Thinking /<br />
Deliver insight, not just information<br />
The 2015 research findings indicate that 75%<br />
of the buying decision relates to how well you<br />
communicate your knowledge, understanding<br />
and value.<br />
Buyers are drowning in information and thirsting<br />
for knowledge and value. In this environment,<br />
it is essential sales professionals have the ability<br />
to provoke new thinking and buying behaviours.<br />
Much has been written and discussed in recent<br />
years about the need to transform sales teams<br />
from a solution selling approach to an insightled<br />
approach. As the science of this approach<br />
has evolved, there is more and more evidence<br />
to suggest that the discussion is insight led and<br />
brought to life by a crucial ingredient - the ability to<br />
tell a great story. While some people<br />
are natural storytellers, this is an art form that<br />
often needs to be developed in terms of how<br />
sales professionals communicate both verbally<br />
and in writing.<br />
We often tell stories to children because they<br />
have a point – a lesson that is creatively packaged,<br />
told in a spellbinding way, yet subtle and powerful<br />
enough to provoke new thinking and behaviours.<br />
This is the challenge and opportunity for sales<br />
professionals today. Even the most experienced<br />
Buyer can have out-dated beliefs and buying<br />
behaviours based on previous situations, advice,<br />
or experiences which may not be relevant in<br />
today’s marketplace. The rapid pace of technology,<br />
social change, communication, and globalisation<br />
means that many buyers are still taking a 2005<br />
approach to solve a 2015 problem. This can be<br />
frustrating for some sales professionals who<br />
then resort to a ‘velvet sledgehammer’ approach,<br />
drowning the customer in rational arguments, facts<br />
and figures and hoping to convince them to adopt<br />
new buying behaviours.<br />
This involves striking the right balance of courage<br />
and curiosity. <strong>Curiosity</strong> comes in the form of<br />
disciplined research and preparation, combined<br />
with clever, insightful questions that truly make<br />
customers think and consider new possibilities.<br />
<strong>Curiosity</strong> really pays off when the knowledge<br />
gained about the buyer is leveraged to tell a<br />
compelling story. The story must have a strong<br />
point or lesson for the buyer, or it is unlikely to<br />
create a strong case for change.<br />
Great stories, not cut and paste<br />
With a growing emphasis in the sales process<br />
on written submissions, applying cut and paste<br />
from your company template is not enough to get<br />
you through to the final stages in the decisionmaking<br />
process. Often the written document is<br />
all the person reading the proposal has to form a<br />
perception of you, your business and your brand.<br />
Imagine your document is passed to a senior<br />
executive with considerable influence over the<br />
buying decision.<br />
“If you can’t explain<br />
it simply, you don’t<br />
understand it well<br />
enough.”<br />
- Albert Einstein<br />
Smart sales professionals are taking a much<br />
more subtle and creative approach to help buyers<br />
upgrade their thinking and update their approach<br />
to solving problems.
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 17<br />
What reaction will your proposal provoke? If your<br />
document draws them in and gets them thinking:<br />
“They really seem to understand our business and<br />
our challenges”, and, “I’ve never looked at it that<br />
way before...we’ve been looking at this the wrong<br />
way”, then you’re on the right track.<br />
Proposals<br />
On a scale from 1 to 9, the<br />
importance of the following<br />
aspects in generating a<br />
successful proposal.<br />
If your document leaves them thinking: “So what?”,<br />
then the point of your story is missing and you are<br />
unlikely to find yourself in the winner’s circle.<br />
Once you submit your response, you have no<br />
power: no power over who reads it, how they<br />
read it, when they read it or even if they read it. It<br />
sounds terrifying, but it is true! What you do have<br />
power over is how you present your document.<br />
Do you remember the last time you picked a book<br />
off the shelf at the airport? Was it the intriguing<br />
title or attractive jacket design that got your<br />
attention? You may have turned the book over to<br />
read the synopsis of the story on the back cover.<br />
If you liked what you read, you would flick to one<br />
of the inside pages to assess if the writer’s style<br />
appealed to you before deciding to buy.<br />
Average response<br />
1<br />
Most Important<br />
9<br />
Least Important<br />
Linked offering to my needs<br />
Ease of reading<br />
Clear executive summary<br />
Succinctness
18 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
Writing a good story can be challenging when a<br />
response document dictates a specific question<br />
and answer structure. Follow the same principles<br />
an author would when writing a book. Compile<br />
the information and research into a page-turner<br />
that will sell. The art to great storytelling is having<br />
a story, making a point and making it relevant.<br />
Winning stories have great structures that work<br />
like a roadmap, taking your reader on a journey.<br />
Include rational data and insight-led evidence<br />
to help you reinforce your point. Think about<br />
the emotional connection created through the<br />
technique of story telling that will bring your<br />
solution alive.<br />
We Recommend...<br />
5 ways to upgrade your<br />
buyer’s thinking<br />
Aim for writing a best seller that will give you a<br />
better chance of getting a return on investment<br />
and keeping it on the best seller list. Make your<br />
document the one that connects and compels.<br />
If you tell a story, have a point. Make it memorable.<br />
Make it recommendable.<br />
One<br />
Two<br />
Develop a key insight for a targeted<br />
customer segment, supported by evidence<br />
(statistics, case studies, anecdotes).<br />
Create frameworks (not formulas) for quickly<br />
and effectively producing customised<br />
documents and collateral for customers.<br />
“Next time you tell a<br />
story, have a point!<br />
It makes it so much<br />
more enjoyable for the<br />
listener.”<br />
- Steve Martin<br />
(Planes, Trains and Automobiles)<br />
Three<br />
Four<br />
Five<br />
Check how often documents reference the<br />
customer’s company name as opposed to<br />
your own – theirs should appear at least<br />
twice as often.<br />
Engage with marketing and data analytics<br />
to support the insights and points of view<br />
you take to market.<br />
When reviewing documents, put yourself in<br />
the customer’s shoes and ask yourself if it<br />
answers the “so what?” question.
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 19<br />
Insight #4<br />
The Real Cost<br />
of Discounting<br />
The best price isn’t always the right price
20 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
The Real Cost<br />
of Discounting /<br />
The best price isn’t always the right price<br />
Today’s demanding and informed Buyer knows<br />
the asking price is usually the starting point. Our<br />
research shows that over the last decade ‘Price’<br />
as a key selection criteria has risen from ninth<br />
position to occupy second place in the rankings.<br />
Price<br />
2015 (versus 2005) research<br />
findings. Ranking of ‘Price’ in the<br />
top 10 criteria.<br />
2005 2015<br />
Smart retailers have prepared their salespeople<br />
for this scenario. They give you the ‘buy it now with<br />
assurances’ price, which factors in the reality that<br />
you are already there, you probably want it now,<br />
and you would prefer the comfort of a warranty<br />
from a reputable bricks and mortar retailer that<br />
you can return to if you have any issues. This is<br />
better than the risk of getting it shipped from afar<br />
through a web retailer you’ve never heard of and<br />
will never see.<br />
Your friendly local retailer gives you a good<br />
discount from the ‘sticker’ price, but it is still more<br />
than your best online price. They are confident you<br />
will pay a premium for the convenience, peace of<br />
mind, and instant gratification of taking it home<br />
today. And even though you paid a bit more than<br />
your lowest price, you feel as if you have got a<br />
‘great deal’ you can tell your friends about.<br />
#9<br />
#2<br />
This same scenario plays out in B2B transactions<br />
every day, yet salespeople are far less equipped<br />
to deal effectively with it. Increased customer<br />
price sensitivity means salespeople have to be<br />
increasingly savvy at ‘getting the price right’. If not,<br />
they risk giving away far more than they need to<br />
because they do not know enough about what the<br />
customer is ‘really’ prepared to pay and why.<br />
Given the expectations of today’s Buyers, Sales<br />
Professionals need a new level of confidence and<br />
capability to develop intimate knowledge. This<br />
ensures they understand the commercial and<br />
emotional drivers early on in the buying cycle.<br />
Think about your retail experiences. Many of<br />
us now use the vast ocean of information at our<br />
fingertips to research the product or services we<br />
want. We read the online reviews, and get advice<br />
and referrals from people in our network. We find<br />
the right product at the best price and armed with<br />
this information, we may then go down to a local<br />
retailer and see if we can beat the price we have<br />
found online.<br />
While some of this relates to the conversation<br />
skills required to avoid recreating an interrogation<br />
scene, there are some fundamental operating<br />
guidelines and frameworks organisations can<br />
deploy to arm their team for price conversations.<br />
For a number of years we have worked with a<br />
fuel company selling to large mining, transport,<br />
and construction firms – customers who are used<br />
to asking for and getting discounts. Imagine the<br />
level of price negotiation they expect when they<br />
are buying what they believe is a pure commodity<br />
– they can get it anywhere! But the fact is they
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 21<br />
cannot. They operate 24/7 operations in remote<br />
locations spread across countries around the<br />
globe. If one of these locations stops operating<br />
for even one hour because of supply problems or<br />
maintenance issues, the cost is astronomical.<br />
Any discount they might get is insignificant<br />
compared to the cost of even a brief operational<br />
shut down. Much like the person in the retail shop<br />
seeking out a discount against the ‘best price on<br />
the market’, they are subject to the ‘buy it now with<br />
assurances’ principle. The value they get from a<br />
supplier who has a highly reliable supply chain, a<br />
track record of delivering into remote locations, and<br />
a product designed to reduce costly maintenance<br />
trumps the discount almost every time.<br />
“Even a discount of<br />
5% across the board<br />
means you may need<br />
to sell 20% or more<br />
volume to make up the<br />
difference.”<br />
As a simple measure, companies can give their<br />
sales teams a better understanding of the real cost<br />
of discounting. Depending on the margin of the<br />
product or service, even a discount of 5% across<br />
the board means you may need to sell at least<br />
20% volume to make up the difference. When we<br />
ask salespeople if they believe they can increase<br />
sales by 20% as a result of a 5% discount, most<br />
of them get pretty uncomfortable! This simple<br />
education process works wonders. As an added<br />
measure, we sometimes see companies effectively<br />
linking remuneration and bonuses more closely to<br />
gross margin or profit, rather than pure volume.<br />
Giving away even a few more percentage points<br />
than absolutely necessary, particularly in major<br />
deals, can have a significant impact on any<br />
business. Businesses need to arm their sales<br />
teams with the strategies, messages, and skills to<br />
‘get the price exactly right’. Salespeople need to<br />
know that discounts cost money and ultimately it’s<br />
up to them to hold the line – and it helps if they’re<br />
incentivised to do it.<br />
Like the savvy retail shop owner who knows their<br />
customers intimately and achieves the ‘buy it<br />
now with assurances’ price, the best salespeople<br />
understand and act on the basis that most Buyers<br />
will pay at least a small premium to suppliers who<br />
provide convenience, peace of mind, added value,<br />
and mitigated risk for their business. The best<br />
price is not necessarily the right price.<br />
In a fine margin game like fuels, it is essential<br />
to arm every salesperson with the strategies,<br />
messages, and skills to deal with the buying<br />
tactics and price conversations they face on a<br />
daily basis. Good negotiation and price handling<br />
strategies are only part of the equation and ignore<br />
the critical early stage engagement with the<br />
customer. Knowing the customer’s business, their<br />
industry, competitive advantage, risks, and market<br />
opportunities is essential to positioning value that<br />
is a strong counter-balance for price.
22 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
We Recommend...<br />
5 ways to win on price.<br />
Hip<br />
Pocket<br />
Tips<br />
One<br />
Reward and recognise your sales team<br />
on margin and profit, not just volume<br />
and revenue.<br />
Two<br />
Educate the sales team on the cost of<br />
discounting and practice handling price<br />
objections in team meetings.<br />
Three<br />
For complex sales, provide negotiation<br />
training so your sales teams can trade<br />
value effectively.<br />
Four<br />
Educate the sales team on the competitive<br />
alternatives and relative value of each one.<br />
Five<br />
Develop a bank of insights related to the<br />
key business drivers that your offer enables<br />
- focus on reputation, risk, profitability,<br />
efficiencies, and asset utilisation.
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 23<br />
Conclusion /
24 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
Conclusion /<br />
The research in the 2015 Global Report on ‘What it<br />
Takes to Win Business’ indicates that winning is not<br />
about doing one thing 100% better; it is about lifting<br />
performance in a selected number of key areas and<br />
applying them consistently, with discipline. Placing<br />
your Buyer at the centre of your sales approach and<br />
helping them make a stronger emotional and rational<br />
connection with your brand and your sales solution will<br />
win you more business.<br />
The clients we work with span financial services,<br />
building and infrastructure, commodities, media<br />
and professional services. Without exception, they<br />
have all increased their conversion rate significantly<br />
by leveraging the advice and insights detailed in<br />
this paper. Our clients that are really driving for<br />
competitive advantage are now smartly focussing<br />
on creating a cultural shift in how their organisations<br />
approach bids and pitches, making it part of their<br />
embedded processes.
2015 Global Report: What it takes to win business whitepaper / 25<br />
What is absolutely clear is that Buyers are<br />
demanding more disciplined, courageous,<br />
and curious Sales Professionals.<br />
We challenge you to give them what they’re<br />
asking for and shape a different result when<br />
we next undertake this research.
26 / <strong>Discipline</strong>, <strong>Courage</strong> & <strong>Curiosity</strong><br />
About rogenSi /<br />
Established over 45 years ago, rogenSi is a training &<br />
consultancy firm committed to inspiring organisations<br />
and their leaders to achieve exceptional performance.<br />
Operating out of hubs in London, New York, and<br />
Sydney we have a strong presence in Asia and<br />
the Middle East. Our clients include leading global<br />
players from financial and professional services,<br />
telecommunications, media, manufacturing and<br />
healthcare. With our focus on leadership & learning,<br />
we partner with clients who want to execute customercentric<br />
strategies to unlock the value that will grow<br />
their revenue, transform their organisations, and drive<br />
tangible results. In 2014 we integrated with a globally<br />
recognised Customer Strategy Consultancy to form<br />
TeleTech Consulting. As part of the TeleTech family,<br />
our purpose is to bring humanity to business.
www.rogensi.com<br />
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