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FIRE YOUR SALES TEAM TODAY

Greenleaf Book Group Press

Contents

Preface..................................................................................ixChapter 1: The Internet Permanently Changed the Sales Process............................3Chapter 2: The Sales Trap................................................................11Chapter 3: Setting the Stage: The Reality Marketing™Revolution.....................21Chapter 4: Putting the Big Picture In Focus..............................................29Chapter 5: Check The Competition.........................................................39Chapter 6: Strategy Before Tactics.......................................................45Chapter 7: Being Remarkable is Everything................................................51Chapter 8: Living the Remarkables........................................................57Chapter 9: What's Your Company's Voice?..................................................67Chapter 10: The Guided Sales Process.....................................................77Chapter 11: Why a "Guided" Sales Process?................................................91Chapter 12: Discovery: The First of the Five Ds..........................................101Chapter 13: Qualifying Your Opportunities................................................109Chapter 14: Diagnosis: Asking The Right Questions........................................115Chapter 15: Design: Cocreating the Solution..............................................125Chapter 16: Display: Unveiling the Plan..................................................133Chapter 17: Delivery: No Close Required..................................................143Chapter 18: Don't Stop Now!..............................................................153Chapter 19: Put Some Chocolate in Your Peanut Butter.....................................167Chapter 20: Unmasking the Revenue Maestro................................................177Chapter 21: You Can't Bake a Cake Without a Recipe.......................................185Chapter 22: Every Factory Needs a Foreman................................................195Chapter 23: Better Sales Through Storytelling............................................207Chapter 24: Good Data Beats the Blame Game...............................................219Chapter 25: Twelve-Month Action Plan.....................................................229Chapter 26: The Big Wrap-Up..............................................................251About the Authors........................................................................259

Chapter One

In the beginning, marketers held all the power.

Think back to ten-plus years ago when marketers got this new tool called the Internet. All marketers, regardless of the size of their companies, now had the power to reach more buyers in more markets. They added new tactics that included online tools like websites, search engine optimization, and pay-per-click. The Internet gave marketers low-cost tools to push out the messages they wanted buyers to hear.

Today, however, the power has shifted to the buyer.

Buyers have access to more information from more sources than ever before. They ask questions, get answers, read reviews, make comparisons, and start conversations with people they've never met—all on the web, all on their own terms, and all on their own time schedule.

Look at the buying patterns of your own prospects and clients. Aren't they becoming more familiar with the act of researching the purchase of services and merchandise via the Internet? Marketers who are unable to adapt to this new pattern of buyer behavior are going to have a rough road in the near future. Anyone who is looking to gain an advantage in the years ahead should be testing, utilizing, and measuring the impact of Internet buying behavior on his or her marketing tactics.

Let's take a look at the typical car buyer. Not too long ago, anyone shopping for a new or used car would spend hours scouring the newspaper and waste precious time and money driving from dealership to dealership to compare models, options packages, and prices. Today's smart, Internet-savvy buyer will do it all with just a few clicks from the comfort of their own home or office (remember that today, over 80 percent of U.S. households have Internet access). The Internet has become the primary information and shopping source for busy, time-crunched car buyers.

The stats are incredible. Nearly 85 percent of all new and used car purchasers shop online first, before ever visiting a dealership. They spend an average of four hours researching and comparing vehicles and prices on a wide variety of manufacturer, dealer, and third-party sites such as Kelly Blue Book, Edmunds, and Yahoo! More than ten million used-car searches are conducted on Yahoo! alone each month. According to a poll conducted by Capgemini, 44 percent of people surveyed said they were likely or very likely to purchase a car or truck entirely over the Internet, if that capability were available.

So how have dealers responded to this revolution in car buying? Not very well. Dealerships have been closing their doors at a rapid rate. The ones that remain still plow a significant percentage of their marketing dollars into price-driven local TV and print advertising, despite the fact that their customers are watching less TV, reading less print media, and primarily using the Internet to compare prices.

Successful car dealers have learned to respond to the new marketing and sales environment. Acme Chevrolet in South Bend, Indiana, built a fabulous web page that lets buyers check inventory and compare prices. They featured the service department and allowed customers to check the status of repairs online. In addition, they began selling cars on Craigslist and used Groupon for a promotion that brought one thousand people to their location one Saturday. This dealer is not going to be closing its doors any time soon.

Profile of the New Buyer

Grasping new buyer behavior is vital to survival for any business. Consumers have changed the way they find, learn about, and ultimately make purchase decisions. It's crucial to understand three key shifts in buyer behavior in order to adapt your marketing and sales efforts for sustainable success:

BUYERS EXPECT TO BE EDUCATED, NOT SOLD.

Buyers are using the Internet to get information about the products and services they purchase in advance of contacting suppliers. They're looking for a deeper, more detailed level of information, and they expect the businesses they solicit to provide it.

Forget about what you want them to buy for a second. Instead, focus on truly understanding what your buyers are looking for. For example, if your buyers typically ask for a rate calculator on your website, provide it. Content that is highly relevant to the buyer (because it answers their questions) will be perceived as more valuable. The more helpful content you provide, the more trustworthy your company becomes in the eyes of the buyer. Provide consumers with information that helps them solve their own problems and they'll love you for it.

BUYERS ARE LISTENING TO WHAT OTHERS SAY.

While buyers are coming to your site to hear what you have to say, they're also looking for validation from...