The New Business Dingo

I came across an article by Lee Salz today at Sales HQ that spoke directly to a core challenge that many ad agency new business people face daily, the close.

He suggests that there are two words that you can use that will ‘skyrocket’ your new business process, revenue and commissions. These are two words that you can learn, and even train your team around to include in their selling repertoire. I've certainly circulated them around the Catapult office's a few times.

The two most powerful sales words are synergy and priority. I’ve included Lee’s application of both words below.

First Word: Synergy
Synergy is the process by which matches between the needs of a prospect and the capabilities of the supplier are identified. Synergy means you are crafting a solution, not pitching wares. Synergy means you understand the buying players as individuals, not just their company. Keep in mind that, to date, a company has never bought anything…people do.

To master synergy, there are a few actions that need to be taken. The first is to study your buying players and make sure you fully understand them and what makes them tick. As they lie in bed at night thinking about their work, where is their mind focused? If your buying player is a CFO, he is probably focused on profits. How does your solution help the profitability of the company?

The second is to fully study your company and understand its capabilities. What is it that your company does that solves the awake-at-night problems for your buying players? If you cannot identify these synergies, now you know why you cannot get meetings with the people you want to engage. Your solution has to be congruent with their focus.

The third action is to develop a template needs analysis program that includes questions that expose the prospects’ perceived challenges, and positioning questions that expose opportunities where your firm can improve upon the present situation. This part takes work, but it becomes the foundation for your sales success. Needs analysis, also two words, drives sales.

I use a Velcro metaphor to make the point about synergy. As you know, there are two sides of Velcro the cotton side and the hook side. If you evenly overlay the two sides, there is a tight bond and it is difficult to separate the two pieces. If you only match a corner, it is easily separated. Synergy in sales means that you are forming a tight bond between a supplier and a prospect based on a match of needs, wants, and desires. As you can imagine, the needs analysis discussions are critical to a sales person’s ability to identify the synergy. And, needs analysis plays a role with the other most powerful sales word…priority.

Second Word: Priority
Priority is what leads a prospect to buy today, not tomorrow, not in the future…today! Synergy gets the prospect into the pipeline. Priority leads a prospect to become a client. The same tools earlier referenced for synergy are also necessary for priority. A sales person’s ability to facilitate effective needs analysis discussions are the key to mastering priority.

“Why should they buy this today when they can just as easily buy tomorrow?” Sure, there are motivators that can be employed…discounts, incentives, etc. However, if you truly understand your prospect, their challenges, and the solution, you are armed with the information you need to get the deal done without those motivators being offered. Priority’s arch enemy is status quo…and don’t under-estimate the power that it has. It is the number one killer of sales pipelines. Status quo will win every time if you don’t have the information you need to understand why the buyer should buy today.

Ah, but the decision maker is a busy person…"She is a heavily influential person in the company and it will be difficult to get her attention." Bet I can get your attention. Imagine you checked your email and you see a note from your CEO who wants to meet with you at 1:15pm tomorrow to discuss tripling your salary. You won’t even check your calendar before responding, “I’ll be there!” Making money is a priority for you. All else gets cast aside when someone wants to put more money in your pocket.

The same concept applies to sales. If the solution that you have designed is aligned with the priorities of the decision making buying player, the deal happens. If not, status quo will win it.

Two more powerful words…Go Sell!

Happy Hunting,
Dave Currie
The New Business Dingo