New Face Of Selling

Your career, your company and your cash-at-bank rely on the new face of selling...

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Your firm will be more successful when you embrace non-sales selling

Are you aware that your team are your best ‘non-sales’ sales people?

Are you and your team embracing ‘non-sales’ selling?

Build a better business by ‘non-sales’ selling…

There is a new way of selling – a better way to bring your business real success

Can you create greater success for your business by embracing ‘non-sales’ selling?

The old type of ‘car sales person’ is outdated, learn how to make the new way of selling work in your business

What happens when you embrace a new way of selling where the buyer has the power?

Make your buyer trust you and your business will succeed

Stop thinking in this modern world that your buyer is buying JUST your products and services…

Make your business more successful when you think about your buyer’s needs, not your’s…

Grow your business by accepting the buyer already has an opinion before the sale takes place…

What happens when your buyer has more information than you?

How did this business achieve £82.5M of sales without a single sales person?

Stop thinking that you need sales people to make your business successful…

When it comes to your business success, ‘non-sales’ selling is the key…

How to grow your business without a sales team – lessons learned from software company Atlassian

The future of your business relies on your ability to master ‘non-sales’ selling

Make changes to the way you sell, just like the software business Atlassian did…

Take the Atlassian approach to selling and watch your profits soar…

What can your business learn about successful selling from software company Atlassian?

The ABC of selling will help your business succeed

Learn the new ABC of selling and protect the future of your business

Time to learn your business ABCs…

Are you tuned in to what your buyers really want?

Your business success comes from listening to your buyers’ needs

Buoyancy is the key to keeping your business above water…

How do you use ‘self-talk’ to keep yourself and your business buoyant?

Optimism is the best business tool you have…

A positive mental attitude will guarantee business success…

What happens to your success when your self-talk is ‘self-questioning’ rather than ‘self-affirming’?

‘Bob the Builder’ has the right attitude, do you?

Why risk the future of your business by letting the negative get in the way?

Time to be like ‘Bob the Builder’ and believe in you and your business success…

In the ‘shark-like’ world of sales it is important to stay afloat…

Your business depends on you embracing the new face of selling

Your business succeeds when you accept that everyone in your business sells

Time to embrace the ‘non-sales’ selling approach in your business

Start developing the skills of non-sales selling in your business and watch if transform your results

Stop thinking that selling is only for the sales people in your business

Here are 4 helpings hands to build your team’s non-sales selling skills

Use the ABC of selling to build a better business

Build business success by making things crystal clear for your buyers

Time to sell insights to your buyer’s…

Make your business successful by helping your buyers find problems they did not know they had…

Start providing absolute clarity for your buyers and make your business the only option

When your business helps clear the trees your buyers will be able to see the wood!

LinkedIn Updates

1) The world of sales – love it or hate it, we are all involved in it. Most of us sell something or are sold something every day. Probably without even realising it…
Click here to learn how a new form of selling can grow your business

2) Selling is no more the exclusive remit of the sales person. Click here to discover that a new view of sales now determines your success, the success of your team and ultimately the success of your business…

3) Most people don’t like sales people…
If you ask your team to describe a typical sales person, they may use the words pushy or aggressive or describe the car salesman in a shiny suit trying too hard to sell you a car you are not sure you want, at a price you're not comfortable with...
But this version of a sales person no longer exists in successful businesses. Click here to learn why…

4) Now with the internet and social media the balance has shifted.
Before it used to be ‘buyer beware’ because sales people held all the information and consequently the power.
But now the internet allows information equality. So now it’s ‘seller beware’.
Sales people no longer wield the power! Click here to learn how to turn this to your advantage in your business…

5. Each of us – because we’re human – has a selling instinct. Everyone can convince, persuade or influence people by confronting and realising this basic premise…
Click here to understand that there are no ‘natural’ sales people because we’re ALL natural sales people!

6. Atlassian are a large software company and work with the likes of Microsoft and Samsung.
They manage large software projects and have $110 million sales, and yet they have no sales people?
Click here to learn that the principles they put in place to make their business successful can be applied to yours too…

7) How often do you consider your buyers’ point of view when selling your business’s products and services?
Tuning into your buyers’ perspective rather than your own will bring better results…
Click here to learn that in his brilliant research based, yet easy to read book ‘To Sell is Human’, Daniel Pink lays out a new formula for success.

8) The old-fashioned shark like view of sales people was typically linked with the sale of double glazing or used cars. Then, the famous acronym ‘ABC’ stood for ‘Always Be Closing’
Click here to learn that Daniel Pink believes that the new face of selling relies on this acronym being very different…

9) You know who Bob the Builder is… you even know his mantra: “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!”
And of course, he normally does!!
Click here to learn how Bob the Builders positive mental attitude can bring your business success

10) Daniel Pink believes that positive self-talk works better when it’s a self-questioning ‘Bob the Builder’ style, rather than self-affirming statements of brilliance.
Click here to learn the affect to you, your team and your business when you start saying “Can I do this?” rather than “I can do this!”

11) If Atlassian can sell $100m of computer software without a sales team and Mentos can boost their profits by cutting back their product lines and sometimes recommending their competitors’ products, then click here to learn how your business can also enjoy the pay-off of your team building ‘non-sales’ selling skills.

12) Research demonstrates that we all sell and that 41% of our lives have us selling time, effort and attention, whether to our colleagues, buyers, friends and family and many suggest that such non-sales selling skills are vital to their success. Click here to learn the difference that the RIGHT kind of selling can make to your business

13) Clarity is vital to your business success – your job is to help your buyers filter the information threatening to overwhelm them, make sense of it and get rid of the rubbish.
Click here to learn what happens when you ask questions that will uncover unexpected problems and possibilities to give your buyers clarity on the issues that need the attention.

14) ‘Selling’ becomes more about advising and consulting… offering insights and enjoying a partnership with your buyer. Click here to learn how the right kind of selling transformed the fortunes of the Sweet Seller Mentos…

Facebook Posts

1) The world of sales – love it or hate it, we are all involved in it. Most of us sell something or are sold something every day. Probably without even realising it…
Click here to learn how a new form of selling can grow your business

2) Selling is no more the exclusive remit of the sales person. Click here to discover that a new view of sales now determines your success, the success of your team and ultimately the success of your business…

13) Clarity is vital to your business success – your job is to help your buyers filter the information threatening to overwhelm them, make sense of it and get rid of the rubbish.
Click here to learn what happens when you ask questions that will uncover unexpected problems and possibilities to give your buyers clarity on the issues that need the attention.

14) ‘Selling’ becomes more about advising and consulting… offering insights and enjoying a partnership with your buyer. Click here to learn how the right kind of selling transformed the fortunes of the Sweet Seller Mentos…

Blog Posts

BLOG 1 – Train your team to challenge your customers for increased sales growth

Whether you sell complex solutions or simple products and services, one thing is clear, buyers are more informed than ever before.

With the information they can gather online, including all the good, the bad and the ugly from social media, most buyers can determine who they want to buy from without even seeing a member of your sales team.

And if they do see someone, buyers have normally worked out what they want, when they want it, how much they are willing to pay and from who.

So how, in this ‘customer-knows-everything’ world, do you stand out, make a difference to your customer, get noticed, get chosen?

If you want your customers to buy more, evidence says you should avoid building ‘the-customer-is-always-right’ relationships…

The key to loyal customers and sales success is to challenge and probe your customers to think differently.

Click here to learn how to create a sales team of challengers and the difference this will make to your business

BLOG 2 – Make your sales meeting about the experience rather than about the relationship

We all want to be liked by our customers, we want to have a good relationship with them, it makes the interactions easier after all.

Building a relationship with your customers, being nice and likeable, thinking ‘the-customer-is-always-right’, being generous with your time and working hard for your them are all worthy skills…

BUT

Do they mean you win a sale, or future sales?

How likely would existing customers be to re-purchase from you just because you get on well?

Here’s what a global head of sales in the hospitality industry had to say about this:

“…this is really hard to look at. Because for the last ten years it’s been our stated strategy to hire effective relationship builders…”

What’s reassuring is that even big businesses make this mistake, they also prefer to focus on building submissive, non-assertive relationships with their customers rather than challenging them…

However, Neil Rackman, founder of a world-renowned sales training company says:

“It (a customer relationship) is a reward that the sales person earns by creating customer value.

If you help customers think differently and bring them new ideas – which is what the Challenger sales rep does – then you earn the right to a relationship”

So successful selling and a profitable relationship with your customer comes from challenging them and not from just having a cosy relationship with them.

A subtle but vital distinction.

To be successful in sales you need to recruit Challenger sales people, not Relationship Builders, and then train all your existing sales people in the skills of being a Challenger – click here to find out how…

BLOG 3 – Change your sales team into Challengers and change the fortunes of your business

Selling is not easy, because buying is not easy, they are many factors in play when it comes to a buyer making the right choice.

This becomes even more important when you realise that in a recent study a notable finding was that 53% of the buying decision is based on the overall sales experience that the customer receives, as opposed to price, quality, reputation, product or branding, like many businesses believe.

This means that the sales person who represents your business at a sales meeting plays the largest part in determining whether your customers will be loyal to your business or not.

A buyer’s decision and loyalty are based much more on how your sales person sells your product or service than what it is he or she is actually selling.

A large study of 6000+ sales people across 90 companies points to 5 different profiles of sales people that categorises them by the skills and behaviours they use while interacting with customers.

Which one best describes your team’s current approach to selling?

The Hard Worker - Doesn't give up easily, is very self-motivated, interested in feedback and personal development. Will be the first to arrive at work and last to leave, always does the extra work and will go the extra mile. The hustle never stops for hard workers.

The Challenger – They have a different view of the world, like debate and will push the customer to think about their business differently. They have a depth of knowledge and understanding about the customers business. They will challenge the customers thinking, they will express controversial views and are excellent communicators. Among star sellers, Challengers are the most common.

The Relationship Builder – Classic sales rep, wants to be the customers friend, thinks that the customer liking them will lead to future business. Their primary focus is the relationship with the customer, they bend over backwards to meet the customers needs. Much sales training encourages Relationship Builders, but they are the least effective of them all.

The Lone Wolf - Follows their own instincts, very self-confident, often arrogant, delivers results, but is difficult to manage, they break rules, they do what they want often ignoring the sales strategy of the business

The Reactive Problem Solver - Highly detail-oriented, highly dependable, is very focused on the detail, will deliver a quick response to the customer and is always good at following up with the customer.

The evidence says it’s the Challenger is the most likely to be the sales star in more complex sales.

Click here to build the Challenger skills in your business to grow your sales, business and profits.

BLOG 4 – Xerox leads the way with their Challenger sales approach

Whether you are a small or large business, there is always room for improvement, change, new ways of thinking.

When was the last time you looked at the current sales experience you offer your customers?

Xerox looked at their sales experience and found a lack of training, an unfamiliarity with the customers and several other issues that were resulted in the customers receiving an uninspired sales experience.

Taking on board the phrase ‘How you sell is more important than what you sell’, they adopted the Challenger approach in 2013 and consequently achieved sales growth worth £52m.

They moved away from their old selling approach and started challenging customers on the importance of colour.

By using a Challenger insight (research showed that 77% of students agreed that colour boosted focus, interest and memory) they transformed the way they sold to their customers, sharing this insight and challenging their customers thinking…and saw a 17% increase in sales.

Kevin Warren the CEO of Xerox US sales said:

“We want our sales force to deliver insight and value, not sales pitches. That’s why our entire organization is being trained on the skills and behaviours that make Challengers successful”

How many Challengers do you think you have in your sales team?

Time to make a change and start challenging your customers? What have you got to lose?

Click here to start delivering business insights to your customers with the Challenger approach to selling.

BLOG 5 – Make time to teach your sales people to be Challengers – the future of your business depends on it…

Over the years, the world of the salesman has dramatically changed. Customers now go into sales meetings well prepared, with a raft of information and have more choices before them than ever before.

This means that the sales/buying process for both sides can be more complex and creates a great burden to get it right.

The best businesses make this work by challenging and probing their customers way of thinking.

Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson were driven to find out what made for successful selling in 2009. Their findings are in their excellent book, ‘The Challenger Sale’.

Matthew Dixon believes:

“The Challenger approach has evolved into a new and different approach to deliver an uncommon experience to customers because buyers are demanding a better sales experience.

Specifically, customers reward suppliers who offer unique and valuable perspectives on the market and educate them on new issues and outcomes.

It’s how you sell, not what you sell”.

Dixon and Adamson discovered that the skills, attitudes, behaviours and knowledge of being a Challenger can be learned.

And if your business installs the tools, training and coaching plus a reward and recognition process you’ll build a more ‘challenging’ sales team.

It worked with great effect at SAP (a global software solutions business).

SAP felt that there was a shift in their customers’ expectations of their sales rep. Their customers were now expecting SAP’s sales people to have a deeper understanding of their business sector, business challenges and processes.

In response to this between 2012 and 2016 SAP enrolled 5,500 sales people in Challenger training.

As a result, they closed 20% more deals than before the training - they also generated 15% more sales opportunities than those sales staff who had not had the Challenger training.

What difference would Challenger training make to the way your sales team sell your products and services?

What difference would Challenger training make to your sales, profits and the growth of your business?

Can you afford NOT to give Challenger training a try, click here to release the potential in your sales team.

BLOG 6 – Sales success comes from the magic of 3 skills to challenge your customers

Most sales training has traditionally been focused on building non-challenging relationships with your customers.

The Challenger approach is very different. It encourages your sales people to challenge and probe your customers’ way of thinking and to deliver insights and value to them instead of maintaining a cosy non-challenging relationship with them.

Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson believe that success at being a Challenger depends on a combination of 3 skills – teach, tailor, control.

They state:

“If you teach without tailoring your approach to the different individuals within an organisation, you come over as irrelevant.

If you tailor to but don’t teach your customers something new, you risk sounding like every other supplier.

If you take control but offer no value, you risk being simply annoying.”

The combination of the 3 really matters.

According to Dixon and Adamson’s book – ‘The Challenger Sale’:

“a Challenger rep is defined by the ability to do 3 key things well”

Teach customers something new and valuable about how to compete in their market

Tailor their sales pitch to resonate with the decision-makers ‘hot-button’ issues

Take control of the discussion around pricing and challenge the customers thinking around the problem

When was the last time your sales people taught your customers something new, or shared a valuable business insight about your customer’s own business sector?

And what about tailoring the sales pitch to include other people involved in the buying process at your customer’s end – for example the engineers, production operatives, quality dept or distribution team?

And when was the last time your people challenged or pushed back on your customer’s wishes on price, delivery date or other issues raised during your sales meeting?

Remember price, brand, reputation, product, quality and customer support are not as important as your customer’s experience of the sales process - 53% of purchase decisions are based on how you sell not what you sell.

Click here to take the time to look at the Challenger approach to winning new and repeat sales in your business.

BLOG 7 – Challenge your customers and your profits will grow

If you believe that you can grow your sales by building ‘the-customer-is-always-right’ relationships, you are going to struggle.

It can be hard to acknowledge that ‘Relationship Builders’ are holding your business back and preventing you from sales growth, but if your sales team are Relationship Builders then this is almost certainly the case.

You need to have a sales team of ‘Challengers’, who are trained and skilled at challenging your customers’ thinking.

Here are 4 tips that can set you on the right path to better challenging your customers:

Relationship Builders are not your best source of sales growth

Relationship Builders have their place, however they are not your best source of sales growth. Challengers are, they create constructive tension in challenging customer conversations, using a combination of 3 skills…

Build your sales people’s TEACHING skills and knowledge

Teach your customers something about their business sector they did not know, or challenge their current approach, share new business insights that deliver value or save them time or money.

Build your TAILORING skills and knowledge

Seek the support of all the people involved in your customer’s team. In a complex decision your customer’s decision will require the buy-in of several of their team, tailor your message to each of the people involved.

Build your sales people’s ability to assert CONTROL when it’s needed

Don’t give in to all your customer’s demands, where necessary, press the customer a little or push back on some of the issues. Remember however, if you take control of the meeting but fail to deliver any value to the customer, you will come across as annoying!

Just 3 skills needed to change the way you sell to your customers.

Just 3 skills for your sales people to learn how to become Challengers.

Click here to discover how to have more challenging conversations with your customers…

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