Recently I was having a conversation with a VP of Sales and the top two salespeople for their company.
The objective of the call was to discuss the attributes of what they do and how we could take those items and get the rest of the organization to implement them too.
What became very clear early on in the call is how these two top performers have a sales process that allows the customer to buy them. At no time in the conversation did either of the salespeople mention any of the company’s products or features they offer.
This conversation was not unlike other conversations I’ve had with top performers.
Top-performing salespeople are top-performing salespeople because they exude a level of confidence the customer can buy into quickly.
What makes the confidence they exude so powerful is it allows them to have the discussion focused on the outcomes the customer is going to receive. Think about this for a moment. Unless you’re confident, the customer is not going to be confident and there is little chance they will buy into anything but a tangible feature.
Another item I found so interesting in this discussion and and other discussions I’ve had with other top performers is how infrequent the issue of price comes up.
Top-performers aren’t concerned about price. They are way past that issue. To them the objective is to sell themselves to give the customer confidence to believe in the outcomes they need.
What are you selling? Are you selling features or are you selling yourself?
If you’re selling features, you’re going to be far more concerned about price, because anyone can replicate another person’s features. This sounds simple and yet the vast majority of salespeople remain fixated on features.
Next time you find yourself in a discussion about price with a customer, ask yourself this question: Is the customer discussing price because you’ve allowed the discussion to be focused on features rather than yourself?
Copyright 2014, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
