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SALES

Product

In the case of capital goods that need to be explained, it basically doesn’t matter what you sell. If you understand the principles of this book, have the right attitude, and if the environment and conditions are right, you can sell anything. The important thing is that you understand the product and work out the right target group. Buyer persona is also referred to here, giving a product to give it a true value, additional benefit or solution to the customer’s problem. Work out the following lists, also called Product Marketing Packages, which will help you to find the right solutions and arguments for your prospective customer.

Technical data

This can usually be found in brochures, but it’s not always sufficient. Find out from the product manager about the essential data of the product and arrange this information for yourself so that it can be looked up quickly again. Be aware that technical data should only conveyed if the prospective customer explicitly asks for it or if you need this data to determine a specific capability. All data that you throw at your prospective customer without being asked will damage you, your reputation and ultimately you closing the deal.

33 Reasons ⁽⁵⁾

why interested parties should buy from your company and therefore from you. It is best to write down 50 and cross out 17 afterwards. This is the best method for this task. Torture yourself intensively in order to find really handy reasons that you can have on hand immediately, depending on what the situation calls for. They will quickly become second nature. During a phone call or a spontaneous situation at the customer’s you won’t have time to think about each reason individually.

Handling Objection

Think carefully about what objections a customer might have towards you, and work out very good answers with the product manager or colleague to rebut these objections. We’ll come back to objection handling later. It is important that you put a lot of energy into this list and recall it on the fly.

10 Negative Consequences⁽⁶⁾,

for the customers who did not buy your high quality. Here you can also use stories that sound crazy but are relatable. It is enough if you can describe them authentically in one sentence. For example, it could be that competitor X has its machines set up by outside suppliers with no knowledge of the German language and has no service department of its own, that customers have had to pay three times as much for the follow-up costs of certain spare parts, or that the consumption costs are extremely high compared to your product (for example compressed air is the most expensive energy in a production plant). You should have this list printed on good paper to use it as brain infection and always at the ready to give to the customer, as sort of last bomb to drop. But use it only when you are sure that you have no other decent chances of closing the deal. The customer will now probably ask the competitor very unpleasant questions that may relate to your list. Now, if the competitor, in turn, doesn’t have good answers, you may be back in the game.

Value Proposition

For prospective buyers of capital goods requiring explanation, there are seven different groups of people who might be involved with purchasing the product. These seven groups of people are buyers, IT managers, production managers, quality managers, general managers/owners, machine operators/users and maintenance managers. Work out the value proposition and the right story around it for each of these groups with colleagues, marketing, product managers or even in discussions with customers.

Each individual has both personal and business interests that they want to have taken into account. A buyer may want to distinguish himself with this project and get promoted. The IT manager will certainly be interested in the ease of installation and maintenance of the software, and it will be important to him that the new software harmonizes smoothly with existing installations. The production manager will be more interested in reducing unplanned stops that would reduce his productivity and possibly make him look bad. A quality manager is certainly very happy about the automated creation of audit reports for his customers, which significantly reduces bureaucratic work. The general manager is more interested in the return on investment or savings he can realize because of the new solution. He wants to know when the investment will pay off. Logically, the user is interested in the intuitive operation, the good sound insulation or the easy cleaning of the system. The maintenance manager is naturally interested in remote service concepts, spare parts prices, spare parts inventory and how easily they can be replaced.

As you can see, each of these seven people has very specific needs and would like to have these taken into account in the project. For this reason, it is essential that you always know who is seated at the table for the meeting. If you have the value proposition for your product under control (and on your list), you can perfectly address each person with his or her own needs and convince them of your solution.

People are categorized into watchdogs, decision-makers and coaches. They each take on a specific role and can also be part of the other groups of people in the same capacity. The guardian is the one who pretends to be the decision maker. If you believe him, you put a lot of energy into it, only to find out later in the project that the decision maker is someone else. That’s why it’s very important to expose this guardian and develop targeted strategies to bypass him without making him feel bypassed. It is very important to understand that the decision maker is not the person who says “yes” last. The decision maker is always the person who can say “no” at the end. I have seen many projects where the buyer and the general manager said “yes”, and the owner said “no” for whatever reason. These projects were never realized.

The coach is the person who wants you or your company to get the job. He is your internal source of information and provides you also personal reasons that you may not immediately recognize in the interview. You may find out that the production manager doesn’t like the buyer and wants to distinguish himself for management. Such information is extremely important and helps you to act correctly. In my experience, you can’t get a deal without a coach. In some cases, the coach can also be an external consultant of the company who knows the company well or whom the company trusts. In smaller companies, the shareholder is also the decision maker and coach at the same time.

These five pre-prepared documents will grow with each experience with the prospective customer. Reflect on each application of the documents. What was successful or what value proposition did I fail to deliver? This is a continuous improvement process that will stay with you throughout your sales life. Never copy such lists from colleagues or others. The journey is the goal. When you work on these lists, you learn and question a lot of facts at the same time. No one skis to just hop right back on the lift afterwards. You enjoy the ride.

Summary

It doesn’t really matter what you sell. If the attitude and the methodology are right, you will succeed.

The right preparation through templates and idea compilations is half the battle in finding the best answer for any given situation. If you have to think about it for a long time, it may already be too late.

Creating the compilation of ideas is your job. It counts. Again, the journey is the destination. Therefore, it makes no sense to copy these documents from colleagues. However, if you create them together with your colleagues, the overall quality will most likely be better than if you do it on your own.

Decision-makers are not the people who say “yes” at the end. They are actually the people who can say “no”.

What are my top 3 takeaways from this chapter?

What are the changes I may have to make to my current approach?

What can I concretely implement in the next 6 weeks?

“

The decision maker is always the person who can say no at the end

”

(5) , (6) Dirk Kreuter, Vertriebsoffensive 2018