If there were just one guiding principle to commercial excellence, what would it be?
Having observed sales forces for many years, if we had to sum up the commercial relationship, and therefore sales, to ONE principle, we would say that the role of the salesperson is to MAKE DECISIONS!
Indeed, the only thing the salesperson does, which is complex and subtle, is to lead his or her interlocutor(s) to make a decision, which in the end will be in his or her favor.
His role is therefore to be the leader, the pilot of a change to take his customer from state A to state B.
As a result, everything in our interactions has to work together to steer this change towards a decision: the way we build relationships, the way we carry out the steps involved in moving from A to B.
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So what are the pillars that will enable us to achieve this change?
First of all, commercial excellence implies a relationship of trust, and trust is built - well beyond the transparency and honesty that help maintain established trust, the trust that is built is inspired around 2 axes:
- Depth of expertise - enables solution quality to deliver value
- Sincerity of empathy - enables you to focus your value on your partner, taking their interests into account and for their perceived benefit.
So trust, an essential asset in the relationship, enables rationality (expertise, arguments, facts) and emotion (relationship, empathy) to converge. This is where the dynamic of change takes place - the dynamic we see in top sales performers.
What's more, Champions are also known for influencing their business partners to speed up the decision process: they know how to create the right momentum to trigger a purchasing decision.
Firstly, the pillar of trust, to position yourself as a Trusted Advisor, and then, in parallel, the pillar of influence, to get out of the traps of the status quo and indecision.
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But how does this 3rd sense, "influence", work? How does it overcome the 2 main obstacles to decision-making?
At this specific moment, when the "trusted advisor" relationship and value are established, the best salespeople have a3rd sense, a unique perception: they have the ability to perceive 2 obstacles, which are the 2 locks in the purchase decision.
What's most striking is the observation that Champions will naturally position acts of influence that aim to concretize the desire for change directly in the minds of their interlocutors.
Their influencing behaviors will instinctively enable them to unlock 2 typical obstacles in their interlocutor:
- the 1st obstacle is the status quo bias - a cognitive bias which highlights the fact that it's easier and less risky for a buyer not to decide than to take the risk of deciding - and therefore potentially make a bad choice, and be reproachable.
- The 2nd obstacle is indecision bias - lack of market vision, lack of perception of value and ROI.
Where average salespeople fail to perceive the manifestation of these biases, and where good performers fail to distinguish between status quo and indecision, Champions not only know perfectly well how to perceive these biases, they know how to differentiate them and act specifically accordingly to address each one in a distinct way. They provoke movement towards a purchasing decision.
The others, on the other hand, will jeopardize the sale because they fail to trigger the decision. That's why 60% of sales pipelines end in dismissal. It's also why the performance gap between the good and the champions has widened, with the sales gap between good and top performers rising from 54% to 200% over the last 20 years.
Having analyzed and modeled these excellent behaviors, all that's left to do is train your teams in the most sales-intensive moments, to give them all the keys that will impact their sales. A crucial contribution!
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To conclude
In conclusion, sales excellence is the ability to make interactions converge towards a decision. Making a purchasing decision requires not only creating trust, but above all influencing the urgency to change. In other words, the decision is driven, the purchase is provoked - qualities that only a few salespeople intuitively master. Imagine the power of a sales team where most of them have mastered these techniques...
If you have any questions on this subject, don't hesitate to send us an e-mail: mcr@mcr-consultants.com
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