Regards,
Marge Kane
Vice President, CorpGrowth
987-123-8833
(Fax) 987-123-8833
(E-mail)
P.S.- Please feel free to visit our web site at www.corpgrowth.com to see what we have done for other companies in your industry.
Note Like any correspondence, make sure you do a spell check and read it aloud before sending it. Also, if you segment your Web site by market segments, insert the hyperlink to that section instead of to your home page.
Exhibit 6-4: Sample e-mail agenda.
Using an Assistant to Obtain MPC 1 and Set Up MP 2 Calls
Granted, not everyone has a sales or marketing assistant. However, if you do, and you use him to qualify and obtain MPC 1 and set up MP 2 sales calls, his productivity and yours soars. The following are some effective ways to do that:
Set up MP 1 phone calls by market segment.
Supply the appropriate Spark Interest Statements for those segments.
Role-play on how to conduct MP 1.
Communicate the blocks of time you have open to make sales calls (various software program with scheduling functions are available for this purpose).
Have your assistant send a follow-up e-mail to the customer (make sure the assistant references your name and contact information). Your assistant then can e-mail the customer’s reply to you. He or she should also be familiar with leaving voice messages.
MP 2: Measure Potential
MP 2: Measure Potential has four steps. You use these steps to help customers gather specifics about their goals and filters. You both perform a test of reasonableness to see if customers first, you second, can achieve their goals.
If customers have multiple goals, rank them. Their goals are not equal in importance or value; the top one counts most. The secondary goals are typically luxury items rather than necessities. If customers have two or three number one goals, it is a sign that they have not yet assigned value to achieving them. When you make their goals measurable, they choose the one that produces the most value.
Prioritizing their goals helps you to understand why they ranked them as they did. Often, numerous filters surface when you ask customers to explain why they chose a goal as the most important one to achieve. Use their top-ranked goal to uncover their filters. You will find that the influencers (goal motivation, current, situation, plans, alternatives, and past keys) will change, but the prerequisites (decision maker, dates, funding, and attainment measurement) will not. The attainment measurement of the top-ranked goal sets the purchasing requirements your products must meet.
You also have a tough choice to make if your products cannot achieve their primary goals. You can focus on their secondary ones if you think you can show them that they can produce as much or more value than their primary one. The difference between the measurable benefits of the primary and secondary goals will determine the outcome. The tough choice is whether this uphill battle is worth the effort.
Note Customer etiquette dictates that you fulfill customers’ expectations of a meeting—even if it means mentioning specific products in MP 1: Spark Interest and MP 2: Measure Potential. Therefore, make sure customers understand that the purpose of the meeting during MP 2: Measure Potential is to better understand what is involved in achieving their goals (measurable benefits, filters, and systems of evaluation). Be patient, customers expect product presentation at the first in-person sales calls. Keep reminding them and receiving agreement that it is their goals that will determine their product selections rather than the other way around.
Yet, one glaring exception exists when it might be necessary to describe specific products during MP 1: if it becomes the only way to spark interest. With technically advanced or unique products, customers might not have any reference points to relate to them. A description, sample, or demonstration might be the only way for them to realize that previously unattainable goals are achievable. However, make sure when you meet during MP 2 that you shift the focus from the product’s features to the goals it can help the customer achieve. (See Exhibit 6-5.)
Exhibit 6-5: MP 2— Measure Potential.
In addition, customers usually do not have all the details about goals, measurable benefits, filters, and SOEs at their fingertips. They need time to research information as do you. Typically, MP 2 takes at least two in-person sales calls to gather all the specifics and to find out any information you forgot to ask. However, this additional investment in the details shortens your sales cycle, not increases it. You and the customer only gather data that will decide if you can help them to achieve their goals. You then can make advance-or-abandon decisions sooner to prevent wasted efforts.
Step One: Market Focus
Display your knowledge of the customer’s market segments by citing relevant facts. Technical statements about your features and benefits do not demonstrate expertise; your questions about their goals and filters do. Therefore, do not mention specific products during this phase either.
Note Ask the customer if anyone else will be at your in-person meeting. If there are other people attending, ask for their titles and their fields of interest. Be prepared to discuss goals that are relevant to their positions and/or fields of interest.
Case Study
Steven Smartsell mentions how long FutureTech in general—and he, specifically—has worked with computer manufacturers like Positron. He stresses how he is familiar with the issues that confront highly competitive industries like hers—such as fluctuating demand, high-dollar downtime for interrupted production, short product life, reliance on fewer suppliers, and constant manufacturing changes to accommodate new technological advances.
Step Two: Purpose and Goals
Start with dialogue questions to build rapport. Using customers’ cues, be ready to shift into business gear. You achieve your first yes of the day when the customer agrees the meeting’s purpose is to determine the potential of achieving her goals and your ability to help accomplish them. You then verify her stated goal(s). If you did not set a specific meeting purpose in MP 1: Spark Interest, ask customers, “What would you like to accomplish today that would make you feel that our time together was productive?” Once you acknowledge their purpose, then share with them what you would like to accomplish to make it productive. Remember, it’s your business time also.
Case Study
Steven Smartsell confirms that the meeting’s purpose is to get a better understanding of Olivia’s stated goal of reducing downtime and whether FutureTech can help in this endeavor. He also verifies that Olivia has no other goals she wants to pursue at this time.
Olivia asks Steven to review with her some of his products and services that he thinks might be helpful to her operations. Steven tells her that while he has some general thoughts on what products might apply in her situation, he would not venture a guess until he understands her goals and purchasing considerations (filters) better. He will leave her some case studies of how FutureTech has helped other customers in her industry achieve goals such as reducing downtime or improving efficiency. He also offers to leave a general product and service catalog when their meeting concludes.
How to Handle the “Tell Me About Your Products” Request
As previously discussed, customers often want you to describe your products before you ask them any questions. Customers feel that you only ask questions to posture your products as the right solutions for them—regardless of whether you know their goals or not. Therefore, they figure that they might as well ask you to become a “feature creature.” When you finish your pitch, they will then let you know whether they are interested. Unfortunately, customer “interest” without defined goals can lead to unfulfilled expectations and disappointments for all involved.
The following is a more-detailed example (with strategies and tactics in italics) on how to handle a product pitch request at the start of either MP 1 or 2.
Example
Customer: Tell me about your products and services.
Salesperson: Nothing would make me happier than having the opportunity to talk to you about my products and services. However, I wouldn’t know where to start without first understanding what you want to achieve.
I thought our objective today was to better understand your priorities and what it would take you to achieve them. Once I fully understood your parameters (goals, measurable benefits, SOEs, and filters), I’ll take your information back to my team. Then, after careful analysis of the specifics of your situation, we’ll see if we can custom-tailor a program (Connecting Value sheet, Chapter 7) that achieves your goals.
I promise that I’ll send you a summary of our findings for your review (see Scope of Work in Chapter 7). How does this plan sound to you (verifies agreement)? Finally, I’m confident that you’ll find out more about what we do by the questions I ask you about your company than any product presentation I could make (positioning himself as a customer expert).
Step Three: Eliminate Unknowns