BrickSeller Jonathan Brickman

This is a common debate among business people. Many think it’s all about the product and many think it’s all about the sales process. I happen to think it’s a mix of both but the real question is what is the mix, what are the ingredients, who does what in the process?



I once had to open up some old text books and relearn statistics again trying to figure out what a Z Score is and what that really means…Did I really need to know that the Z Score is the observation less the mean of the population over the standard deviation or do I need to know what it represents from a business perspective?



Probably not :-)



I think complex sales are like a sports team with different positions and I just need my tackle to block for me so I can run through the hole. Learn the concept and the big picture solution to the problem and leave the details to someone who can figure out the Z Score!



Business always comes back to the basics no matter what you are selling so work on those because we can never be good enough at listening and building meaningful relationships. You don’t have to know what a regression analysis is but you do have to help your client solve their business problem so use your team!



Go team.



Brick


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Price is your best lever.  Don't be afraid of it, but make sure you can defend it with vigor.  

Many of us still shy away from price and think a low price strategy is what will win the day...but buyers don't really buy on price, rather value and ROI.  The reality is for most businesses, particularly B2B, you will get less clients than expected and they will pay more because they recognize the value. Price buyers come and go where value buyers tend to stay with you.

Set an appropriate price for your product or service and defend it with conviction.

Brick


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Many of us are looking for that silver bullet

...the one approach that will open doors and accelerate demand and pipeline, allow us to hit quota...

In my opinion:

We don't have to throw away all things we are doing. We don't have to end mass emailing and move to just personalized outreach.  We don't have to abandon cold calling for LinkedIn connections and clever videos. We don't have stop going to events and turn everything over to technology.

Yes, we can still do all of these things and we must do all of these things to meet our buyers where they hang out. But, we have to make it count!

I think the challenge is around content...

What do we say when we do top of the funnel outreach?

What do we say when we follow up after the first meeting?

What do we say when we get someone on a cold call?

What do we say when we have that first meeting?

What do we say when we meet someone at an event?

What do we want our prospects to learn when they land on our website?

Content is the answer, not which channel you use or the new shiny sales tool you add to your stack.

Learn your client's business as well as they know it. Understand their challenges, what they think about, where the business is going...and then you will know what to say, what content will resonate. Then you will know what to say, what to send.

Content is king.

Brick


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My mother still holds out hope for me to get my professional engineering license. LOL Sorry mom 🙂

The truth is, I took the first half of this exam when I graduated from college, but never finished the second…which was based on practical experience, because I was done with engineering and on to the next branch of my career.

But, it wasn’t a waste, because I still lean heavily on my engineering approach applied to the business world. Yeah, it’s not structural mechanics or civil engineering anymore, it’s process engineering…but the same principles hold true.

I live in the start up world and I have been through the early stages countless times. Building a scalable model with process and laser focus is the only way to manage the moving parts and the onslaught of data, trust me. Regardless of the industry, the process is what allows you to manage chaos and keep the trains running on time.

I was engaged in some debate about rev ops recently and we can argue about when it makes sense to bring someone in to take on this role full time, but no question about it, without process, scaling is really hard.


Leads fall through the cracks
Outbound email marketing is unorganized
Account management is scattered
Pricing is all over the place
Projections are missed

Stay focused and build a process to follow and stay on course. Otherwise, navigating without guardrails is treacherous sledding.

Brick


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I had a conversation yesterday with a salesperson...and among other things discussed, this person went on and on about the culture of their business and how important it was.  Couldn't agree more and reminded me of a Post from my blog some time ago, but very relevant. 

April 20, 2015

There is lots of discussion about the importance of culture these days.  Some argue that culture is more important than strategy.

In fact, in a recent study by Booz & Company, their findings were revealing,

Key Findings

Some of the key findings from the survey are as follows:

Overview


84% believe culture is critical to business success.
96% said some form of culture change is needed within their organization.
51% think a major overhaul is currently needed in their culture.
60% think culture is more important than strategy or operating model.
Only 35% think their company’s culture is effectively managed.

I agree and have a hunch Enterprise believes so too and does it right.

I love their television campaign that conveys such a strong company culture that oozes with a positive vibe.  What I find interesting about the ad campaign, as compared to other product focused ads, is the focus on culture and not the client solution.  The implication is that culture is what drives the customer experience…it’s all connected.

When I was involved with my first M&A transaction, we discussed the importance of culture and the desire to bring “our company” culture to the combined entity. Long story short, our great culture was subsumed by the new leadership.

I witnessed firsthand the impact of a changed culture.  We changed and we lost clients, we lost some key talent…even to this day I hear stories about they way we were…although I am long gone.

A strong and winning culture is a powerful force.

Brick


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Change on it's own is hard.
Let's face it, most of us have a hard time with change. We're creatures of habit and we get into a groove operating inside of our routines and most of us are just fine with that. 
So, when you show up with your new solution, your new shiny object, you are asking someone to change what they've been doing in order to take on whatever it is you have to offer. 
Change your approach and you will see results.
Rather than pitching your solution, ask questions that will surface challenges or things that could be better.  When you are able to create that dialogue with your prospect, you're on your way to motivating change. Now you can start offering solutions. 

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