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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Sales Tweet #62

by Rick Baker
On Oct 12, 2010
Sales Tweet #62 What's your company's Differential Advantage? Are you thrilled about it? Are your Clients thrilled?
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Why should people buy from your company rather than buy from one of your competitors or do nothing? If you can not answer this then ask your boss. Or ask the Marketing Vice-President. Check your marketing literature. Check your website. Can you see how your company's Differential Advantage screams out to Probable Clients?

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Questions?: The Art of Asking Good Questions | Sales | Thought Tweets

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Sales Tweet #59

by Rick Baker
On Oct 7, 2010
Sales Tweet #59 Check your journal...how many C-level people did you connect with during the last 30 days?
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
It is relatively easy to connect with C-level people. Many sales gurus have written numerous chapters, full of suggestions. Yet - as we talk with sales people we find the vast majority rarely meet C-level people and very few sales people have set a goal for meeting C-level people.

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Questions?: The Art of Asking Good Questions | Sales | Thought Tweets

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Using R.A.D.A.R. to succeed at complex sales

by Rick Baker
On Oct 6, 2010
If you sometimes feel your major sales efforts are a little out of control then an injection of organized sales process will help.
 
If you have any of the following symptoms then your major sales process could use a tune-up:
  • You have this feeling of discomfort about your overall sales...you know budgets are not being met or you worry they won't be met
  • While enough major deals are being done you believe money is being left on the negotiation table when your team works with major Clients
  • Your sales team is doing lots of deals but the deals are too small; you wonder if your sales people are afraid or unable to take on larger challenges...when you talk about this with your sales team you get the sense results could be much better
  • You do not have enough major 'Marquee Clients'...or, borrowing from the Heath brothers, you are not passing 'The Sinatra Test'
There are several ways to solve this problem.
 
One way is to use R.A.D.A.R.
 
For military applications, R.A.D.A.R. was developed to provide early information - early warning - and that allowed smaller forces to do the right things, at the right time, in the right place.
 
In his book 'Hope Is Not A Strategy, The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale', Rick Page outlines the R.A.D.A.R. process he developed to help sales teams manage a portfolio of sales opportunities. Page presents his R.A.D.A.R. Sales process as: R.eading A.ccounts and D.eploying A.ppropriate R.esources™.
 
Concentration of force is Page's first principle of strategy. 'You must pick the battles you can win, then win the battles you pick.' That means sales people can not waste time on lower-quality prospects.
 
Page outlines 6 keys to winning a complex sale:
Challenges     R.A.D.A.R. Process
Value.   1. Link solutions to Pain (or Gain)
Resource Allocation.   2. Qualify the Prospect
Competition.   3. Build Competitive Preference
Strategy.   4. Determine the Decision-Making Process
Politics.   5. Sell To Power
Teamwork.   6 Communicate the Strategic Plan
The first 5 steps are inputs and the last step is the plan. The steps are performed simultaneously.
 
The sales team receives the following benefits when (Step 6) Communicate the Strategic Plan is fully performed:
 
• Increases competitive advantage from consistent, effective execution • Crystallizes your thinking and forces a decision • Provides early detection of blind spots and visibility into the future • Leads and empowers your team with a clear direction • Prioritizes the urgent from the important • Increases your ability to control and manage multiple accounts • Develops respect with peers and management
 
R.A.D.A.R. can be used on its own if your sales team presently has no defined major-sales process. Or, R.A.D.A.R. can be used to complement your existing major-sales process. And, small sales teams or even individual sales people will benefit from the injection of some discipline like that provided by R.A.D.A.R.

Tags:

Sales | Seeking Simple!

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Sales Tweet #57

by Rick Baker
On Oct 5, 2010
Sales Tweet #57 How are your FAQs? How impressive is your repertoire of Client-emotion touching questions?
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
I am not talking about being manipulative. I am talking about appealing to emotions that are higher than the base emotions. I am talking about asking questions that are designed to discover the Client's true desires.

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Questions?: The Art of Asking Good Questions | Sales | Thought Tweets

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Sales Tweet #55

by Rick Baker
On Oct 1, 2010
Sales Tweet #55 How do you react to Clients' FAQs? How deal-getting is your repertoire of answers to your Clients' FAQs?
 
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
This is similar to Sales Tweet #50. It is about working to understand Clients and working to anticipate what will likely happen when meeting with Clients. And, it is about tailoring communication to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of sales calls. And, efficiency and effectiveness are important to both the Client and the sales person. Planning ahead - thorough-planning ahead - increases the likelihood of completing action steps in a smooth and comfortable way...the Client will appreciate the time you have taken even if he or she doesn't mention it.

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Questions?: The Art of Asking Good Questions | Sales | Thought Tweets

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Your Customer's Brain is 100,000 Years Old

by Rick Baker
On Sep 30, 2010
Your Customer's Brain is 100,000 Years Old. That's the title of Chapter 3 in Dr. A.K. Pradeep's new book 'The Buying Brain, Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind'.
 
And, this introduction to Chapter 3 follows:
 
“At the end of this chapter, you'll know and be able to use the following:
  • Key ways to engage the primal part of the human brain
  • Core mechanisms the brain uses to determine whether to pay attention to your message
  • The three ways in which the brain can be frustrated, and how to avoid them in your marketing
  • The four triggers the brain loves and how to use them in marketing”
When I first saw this book on the shelf at Chapters I couldn't believe my good fortune...it was like Made to Stick[1] meets Executive BrainSmarts[2] or like Jeffrey Gitomer, Napoleon Hill, and Sigmund Freud might be having a little get-together.
 
Anyhow, Chapter 3 continues with 'Caveman In A Wired World'. And, that reminded me of the message I was trying to communicate when I wrote about the cave-people in Stories & Questions[3].
 
Dr. Pradeep ends Chapter 3 with a summary of what we learned. Here is some of that summary:
  • Honor the brain's precious resources - its limited processing ability, and its restricted, focused attention
  • Be interesting. The brain loves puzzles and humor
  • Use emotion to reach out to consumers, especially women
  • Clear your message of clutter
  • Use active, direct verbs to guide the brain swiftly and directly to its goal
  • Indulge the brain in messaging, images, displays, and environments that celebrate sensuality and deep pleasure
  • Celebrate the multi-tasking wizardry of your female consumers in images and copy
  • Provide networking opportunities through your brand, product, or environment for female consumers
Dr. Pradeep has written a very interesting book.
 

Tags:

Brain: about the Human Brain | Sales

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