Understanding How Your Psychology Affects Sales Success Article "We offer a full range of services for the modern cetacean..." An OCEAN of Sales Talent Success in enterprise sales is about playing to your strengths and covering your weaknesses at each stage of the deal. Psychology tells us we have five dimensions of personality that can define our behaviours. The Big Five personality traits model: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN), can provide...
about 13 hours ago • 3 min read
Unpacking Customer Needs Can Drive Real Action Article It dawned on Jill that all these people were...different Customer Needs Need Nuance We use the term “customer needs” like we all know what it means. But it is actually a phrase that has a whole set of meanings beneath its surface. There are various types of need that a client can have, each with its own significance in terms of the actions it will trigger when satisfied. I have found there are four distinct flavours of need a customer can...
about 13 hours ago • 6 min read
If you can't solve a customer's problems, they'll buy from someone who can. Article Silo mentality can often be an issue in problem solving sessions Problem Solving For Salespeople Every company has problems, recurring problems, one-off problems, even structural problems. Very few small and medium sized companies have a proper method for dealing with them. It is like they expect to get better through a mix of random chance and miracles. The only sensible way is to have a continuous...
about 13 hours ago • 6 min read
"I thought you were ordering the sandwiches" Dawn of the DEAD When the lady on the till at Cafe Comunal in Schipol airport said, “Here again, eh, another late flight?” I knew it was time to leave European sales and go back into operations. The beginning and end to most of my days for 15 years I found a gig as Supply Chain Director at a company in my own city. There was still a lot of selling involved; convincing customers to take on our services, convincing staff I knew what I was on about...
about 13 hours ago • 3 min read
Make The Most Of Summer With These Six Strategies Turn The Summer Slump Into Your Sales Advantage Summer is often a slow period for sales, unless you sell ice cream. Enterprise sales activity typically drops around 20% in July compared to peak months. August can be worse in Europe. "No, thanks, I don't want a new IT system just now..." The dip is down to summer vacations, fiscal year planning and the tendency for the “C” suite to delay major decisions until after the holidays. But, let's flip...
about 13 hours ago • 3 min read
Issue #129 Turns out that procurement are just human(ish) after all! It's Not Procurement, It's YOU! You keep telling yourself procurement is blocking your deal. They are not, they are just doing their job: Reducing risk Controlling spend Protecting reputation Ensuring supply continuity. The problem is not procurement. The problem is you haven't given them a reason to respect you. They respect competence and compliance, not charm, not nice slides, not your ability to chat about football. Here...
4 days ago • 3 min read
Issue #128 Time for a coffee break or detailed numbers? Read The Room Buyers Don’t Think Like You Think They Think Enterprise selling looks rational from the outside. There are decks, forecasts, financial models, decision gates and very serious people nodding at spreadsheets. It feels like a world run by logic, but that's only half the story. Attention rises and falls. People switch between careful evaluation and mental shortcuts depending on risk, fatigue, politics and exposure. If you miss...
11 days ago • 3 min read
Issue #127 A fair deal is not an equal deal, ask Daffy here... Asymmetry Is Money in Enterprise Deals There is inherent imbalance in the value of deals for small companies selling to large enterprises. This can be a source of huge competitive advantage for you, or a danger to avoid. Enterprise buyers rarely struggle to understand what you sell. They nod and agree, they say it makes sense. Then the deal drags, procurement turns up, and price becomes the only thing anyone wants to talk about....
18 days ago • 3 min read
Issue #126 "The numbers look great, can it microwave a sausage roll?" How to Weaponise AI in Real Deals Enterprise deals can be like being trapped in a political drama written by a bored toddler. There’s always a finance bloke asking if the numbers are realistic, an ops director whose team is at capacity, and a head of IT auditioning to be a Bond villain. And that’s before procurement shows up with a 37 chapter RFP and an attitude problem. Customer Stakeholders Arrive For The Presentation You...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read