Dr. Stephen Timme & Melody Astley | Insight-Led Selling: Adopting an Executive Mindset to Learn How Buyers Think

How can you interact with potential buyers (especially enterprise clients) that encourage a dialogue? After all, landing the sale isn’t the only part of the equation; you first have to get their attention! In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Dr. Stephen Timme and Melody Astley to discuss their recent book Insight-Led Selling, which details how to learn how buyers think.

But first, why did they write a book?

• Ultimately, Stephen and Melody wanted to create a resource their clients and community could utilize.
• It’s harder than ever to sell to enterprise sellers (yes, people say that every year. But it’s true!) And COVID-aside, the subscription-based economy is growing.
• There are more stakeholders than ever before in traditional buying processes. At the same time, implementation costs for platforms are lower, making it easier to switch between service providers.

They interviewed many executives to see how they felt about sales. 

• From AT&T, Coca-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, and even Honey-Baked Hams, Stephen and Melody interviewed executives to learn firsthand how they felt about salespeople. (If you were curious, Honey-Baked Hams didn’t even give them coupons. We’re just as disappointed as you are.)
• They asked one simple question: what could sellers do better? Below were the three overwhelming responses:
• First, tell me something I don’t know.
• Second, how does what you’re selling align with my goals and strategies.
• Third, make my life easy (and don’t give me a 30-page proposal.)

Personalization is more than inserting the name of each person in an email blast. 

• It’s developing a point of view that is interesting to the person you’re talking to.
• Hold on, let’s say that again for those who missed it: spend a moment to develop a point of view interesting to the person you’re talking to.
• As a sales leader, we expect output from our BDRs. But we can’t do this and expect results from a spray-and-pray method. The game has changed.

How can you implement these sales techniques?

• For publicly-traded companies, you have access to specific financial figures; use that to align your selling proposition with their capabilities. 
• Explain the “how” you can help them before you can get into the “how much.” 
• For sales leaders, equip your salespeople with the specialized knowledge they might need. 
• You can self-learn if you feel unsupported by your organization, or (and an even better strategy), ask your organization for support.

Their final takeaway? Understanding the language of how a customer speaks (and relating that to financial objectives) is a skill that will last the rest of your career.  Insight-Led Selling is available for purchase on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. To contact Melody and Stephen, reach out at info@finlistics.com or connect on their business’s