Let’s start with a definition adapted from Wikipedia:

A temptation is something that looks appealing. It’s usually used to describe acts with negative connotations and, as such, tends to lead a person to regret such actions for various reasons – legal, social, psychological (including feeling guilty), health, economic, etc.

Temptation goes back to the Garden of Eden – the tree of knowledge, the apple, the serpent, Adam and Eve and the fall of man. It is rooted in our DNA.

So how does this relate to sales?

The temptation to overpromise always leads to underdelivering, and so we must fight it at every level.

• Sales representatives are tempted to overpromise to secure the sale.
• Sales managers are tempted to overpromise to motivate their sales team to greater performance.
• CEOs are tempted to overpromise to provide confidence to boards and shareholders.

No good can come from overpromising and underdelivering.

Bear in mind that intentions are irrelevant; “results” are the only thing you are measured by. In other words, it doesn’t matter what you intended to deliver, only what you delivered.

So, how do you avoid the temptation of overpromising and underdelivering? By doing exactly the opposite – underpromise and overdeliver!

Avoid emotion at all costs!

This is a toughie because we are emotionally driven creatures and emotion sells. Generally though, those decisions / sales pitches / forecasts / projections are more a reflection of our desires, wants and needs then they are a reflection of the truth. Sometimes truth isn’t all that exciting, whereas emotion is.

When someone in business says, “I feel this” or “I feel that” instead of “I think this” or “I think that” – based on “x” fact, “y” fact and “z” fact – run as fast as you can the other way. Don’t be this person!

Emotions cloud judgment and generally always operate in that gray area between fact and fiction. Gray is the devil’s playground, and the playground of those who can pretty much rationalize any deviant behavior or philosophy.

Stick to the facts!

Just as Sgt. Friday used to say in Dragnet, “Just the facts, ma’am.” Stick to the facts and emotions will play a lesser role.

• What exactly are the terms of your agreement? Specifically?
• What exactly are the agreed-upon timeframes? Specifically?
• What exactly is the promised (and demonstrated) feature / functionality? Specifically?

Everything you state in terms of promises and delivery should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-sensitive!

Prove it!

Generally speaking, you should never promise something you have not accomplished consistently in the past. Using this rule, you should have proof of delivering on your promises. This proof can take many forms:

• Case studies
• Testimonials
• References
• White papers

A good question to ask yourself to make sure you can deliver on what you are promising is, “Do I have proof of having done this consistently in the past?” If so, then you are probably safe. If not, you are being driven by emotion rather than fact and you should reconsider your approach.

If you do these three things you will not fall victim to overpromising and underdelivering!

• Stay away from emotion
• Use facts
• Prove it

We are proud of the fact that in more than 10 years as a consulting firm we’ve achieved 100% success with every client that has fully implemented our recommendations.

We are more proud of the fact that we’ve always delivered what we said we would. Or more!

Be that person! Be that company! All the other pieces will fall into place.

Brian

For a sales representative new to a particular product or industry, there is an exhilaration that comes with being green; opportunity abounds, and the only thing that can hold me back is my own ignorance.

But that’s a double-edged sword. Because if ignorance is my biggest obstacle, it’s also in my hands, as a sales rep, to make sure I climb the learning curve – scale the mountain, if you will – as quickly as possible.

There are numerous ways to learn about the products you sell and the industry in which you’re competing. For the purposes of this discussion, let’s assume that your company either doesn’t offer a comprehensive new hire training program, or it’s insufficient to meet your needs.

There are still many things you can do.

Company training program – Having just stated what we did about training programs, one thing to keep in mind is that a good place to start may nevertheless be exactly there. Indeed, maybe the program your company offered fell short in grounding you in the basics. But perhaps if you were to go back through the material in a self-paced way, holding yourself accountable for memorizing/internalizing the material, the repetition alone may do the trick.

Industry programs / certifications / publications / conferences – Most industries offer tools, programs and events designed to bring newcomers up to speed. Review industry websites, publications and other resources to see if, at a minimum, there are ways in which you can learn more. There may even be formal training programs or certifications that you can take advantage of to truly solidify your knowledge.

Company website and marketing collateral – Whether there is or isn’t industry information available for your use, your company almost certainly has a website and marketing collateral that provides terrific background on the products and services you are selling. Yes, this source of information is limited to the level of customer-facing detail the person behind the website chose to share, but the advantage here is that it will be presented in a way that gives you a head start on your elevator speeches and presentation approaches. After all, the company is clearly comfortable with presenting its products in this way, or they wouldn’t have published the information.

Intranet / contracts – Neither of these are necessarily exciting, but both can be helpful in providing the types of operational and/or technical details that will round out your knowledge. If your company uses a standard contract when it sells a new piece of business, for example, there is a wealth of knowledge about terms, applications, limitations and expectations in the small print. Likewise, the company intranet usually is a repository of reams of operational documents that can bring you up to speed on processes and procedures.

Colleague meetings – Take advantage of your “newness” and schedule meetings and phone conversations with colleagues, whether they’re in sales or not. Ask questions. Be curious. Find out how their particular area of responsibility complements yours, and ask how you can be most helpful to them.

Customer visits / trial and error – Even when you are still learning, one of the most useful things you can do is get out and meet with existing customers. Simply by sitting with them and asking questions about their history with your company and use of your product, you’ll be “forced” to come up to speed on the real-world issues and situations they describe, since you’ll want to be helpful to them. There is, of course, a certain level of fake-it-until-you-make-it involved here, but if you’re sincere and candid with your customers, they will not only understand, they’ll be appreciative that you took the time to meet with them.

Personal use – It depends on what you’re selling, of course, but first-hand experience actually using the widget or service can be irreplaceable.

Other resources – Remember that this information-driven world is full of possibilities, from competitor materials and blogs to industry textbooks and white papers. Search engines are a terrific way to quickly identify and assess the wealth of data available.

One final tip, regardless of the source of your educational information, is to keep notes for yourself in a place that you can do quick reviews during non-productive down time. Index cards are a favorite of many sales reps. Likewise, I knew one company-leading rep who would keep his notes on 81/2-by-11 pieces of paper, which he strategically placed in the back of his presentation binder. When he was sitting in a waiting room for a customer meeting, he’d take the opportunity to review his educational materials for a quick refresher.

You may have other ideas of your own. The most important thing to remember is that coming up to speed on your industry, your company and its products ultimately is in your control. Being in control, of course, means you can scale the mountain that much faster.

And the view from the mountaintop can be spectacular!

Mike

I had the privilege of being associated with over 100 sales professionals during the course of 2011. I was able to watch as they created and attempted to execute their individual business plans. I saw many successes and many failures, but most of all, I saw opportunities.

One of the opportunities I realized was you must start with a SMART Business Plan. It must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Sensitive.

Specific means you have documented who, what, when and how. For example:

• Document the accounts you will target in Texas, not that you will spend more time in Texas.
• Document new products you will sell to each account, not that you will look to sell more products.
• Document the frequency with which you will contact your accounts, not that you will increase your activity.
• Document what you will do to gather more referrals, not that you will gather more referrals.

Measurability is a key in determining success. What is success if it has no measure? In fact, what is success if it has no timeline (Time Sensitive)?

If someone says they want to make $100,000, that is measurable but not time sensitive. So, would I consider myself successful if I made $100,000 over my career? Probably not. Thus, defining success should be supported by measurements and time.

In addition, your business plan should have short term and yearly measurements and timetables. When you put all this together, your business plan will provide you with multiple points of reference on your progress throughout the entire year. For example:

• Document how many sales you need to close weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly.
• Document how many referrals you need in order to obtain your six prospect appointments per week.
• Document that you need 50 contacts a month in order to contact all decision makers four times a year.

Attainable and Realistic mean “can” and “will,” respectively. Attainable means what you are documenting CAN be done; it is possible for you to accomplish this. If it is not possible, then why set it as an objective within your plan? That would be like me setting as a goal to run a 40 yard dash in four seconds. I am 6’4” and 320 pounds; it is not happening! Also, you must be willing to do what it takes in order to accomplish your objectives. This may mean working 50 hour weeks, or role-playing your presentations in the evening before you deliver them, or purchasing and implementing a sales automation system. Whatever it takes is what you will do. That’s the WILL.

In addition, be sure to use the resources you have to make your business plan as solid as it can be. Analyze the past and use that to help build your plan for better results. Ask yourself what you did in 2011 that you should stop doing immediately. What did you do well in 2011 that you should focus on continuing, or even improving, in 2012? What skills did you use well in 2011? What skills need work in 2012? Which accounts did I do well with, and why, in 2011?

And always remember what Albert Einstein said: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Happy New Year and good luck in 2012!

Dan

Wouldn’t it be terrific if we could anticipate our customers’ needs, and actually know what they required before they said anything?  How much better could we align with them and sell the proper solution if we could do this?

There are a couple good tactics we’ve learned over the years to do just that!

Remember that history is the greatest predictor of future behavior!

To more accurately predict the future, learn from the past.  The companies we work with – just like us – are creatures of habit.  We don’t like change; we like consistency.  To more accurately predict customer needs, take a look at their past buying habits.

• Project history – which projects go well, which do not and why?
• Purchasing history – how do they decide what to buy and when?
• Decision-making process history – who is involved in the decision-making process and how have they arrived at past purchasing decisions?
• Historic buying criteria – what criteria have they used to make their decisions?  Has it been price?  Quality?  Delivery?

With customers – as opposed to prospects – it’s fairly easy to anticipate future needs by reviewing their historic needs.  That said, let’s dig a little deeper into future needs.  What can you do?

• Ask them – meet with them and ask them about plans for the next year, three years and five years.
• Look for trends in their industry – by reading industry news you can oftentimes predict what your customers will be working on and how you might be able to help them.
• Determine what their competitors are doing (particularly the industry leaders) – do periodic competitive analysis and bring your findings to your customers, asking them their thoughts on how their competitors’ moves may impact their future decisions. It’s important to use the tools available to you to keep up on your customers’ industries and competitive information so you can properly position yourself to anticipate their needs.

But what about your prospects?  How can you anticipate their needs without a relationship or prior purchasing data?

Do your homework!

When it comes to anticipating your prospects’ needs, it gets a little more complex, but it’s not impossible. The easiest method to anticipate your prospects’ needs is to do research.

• Read industry news, blogs and press releases.
• Keep up on what’s happening with them and their industry by “following” them using social media tools like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Once your research is done, you have to do some educated guessing at what their needs may be.  A great way to do this (post research) is to spend time on their website.  What does their website tell you about what their needs may be now or in the future, and how might you align your products or services to meet those needs?

Let’s use our website to demonstrate how you might go about doing this. What do you see?

• We have a 4-stage approach to building better sales forces – strategy, recruiting, training and management. Do you have tools or offerings that could help us execute our model?
• We have a case study and testimonials page that lists some of our clientele. What industries do we have experience in that align with your industry experience and what you see as needs in those industries as they relate to the products and services you sell? How can you familiarize yourself with the industries we are in so that you can bring new ideas, trends and recommendations about how your products/services can help us achieve our goals?
• We have a blog on which we muse and opine. Based on our subject matter and questions, perhaps you can learn ways in which to connect with us so that we are familiar with you and want to talk to you further about your products and services.

Better yet, you can actually engage with us, participating in the dialogue and actually helping shape our future needs that align with your product / services!  Now that’s an idea!

And so on.

It seems to me that, in order to anticipate our customer or prospect needs, we need to do a little homework and research, then apply some common sense based on our findings!

Either that or we could use your handy dandy 8 Ball.

Do you attempt to anticipate your customers’ needs? How do you go about it? What’s your method?

Brian

Role-play your company image presentation while doing 20 jumping jacks. Perhaps close three times in between push-ups. Better yet, do 10 sit ups between every prospecting phone call. Is this a sales workout regimen? Of course not!

So what do we mean by a “daily sales workout regimen”?

Any change of habit or development of skill requires preparation and practice. Sales success requires the proper habits and skills, too. Therefore you must prepare and practice (work out) in order to be ready and able to perform (habits and skills). So, what are the types of “exercises” you should use?

• Role playing your company image presentation
• Scripting how to handle your most common sales objections
• Creating an email template to promote a new product
• Analyzing your wins and losses
• Taking what you learn to increase your close rates

With a physical workout regimen, you must change the muscles you work and the types of exercises you do in order to continue to develop; you must do the same with sales. One day you may work on your elevator speech – before, during and after your foot prospecting activities. The next day you concentrate on handling sales objections – before, during and after your phone prospecting session.

Be sure to prepare and practice the habits and the skills you need to develop. Set a schedule that enables you to cover it all while ensuring your accountability. And lastly, prepare and practice, but then also perform (live sales activities) and analyze so that you can better prepare and practice going forward.

All of this becomes your sales workout regimen and creates stronger sales results.

Dan

Sales are down! It must be the marketing department’s fault. No? Can I blame the down economy? Not that either, huh? Well, I better get back to work then.

Ever notice the best sales professionals don’t need ideal conditions to perform at the highest level? Give them a phone and a chance and they’ll succeed. When you break it down, being a successful sales professional takes nothing more than determination and unwillingness to fail. There are no excuses; there are only results.

So, what happens when you find yourself in a situation where conditions are not perfect? You have no administrator pre-screening your calls or scheduling your appointments. Your office space resembles more of a college frat room than an ivory tower corner office. There are no billboards of your company posted on the highways, and there are no radio spots. It’s just you, your call sheet, and stale lukewarm coffee.

In today’s downsized, wear-multiple-hats society, most of us are asked to do more with less. This means that our marketing budget, if we even ever had one, is now small to nil. We still need prospects to find us and consider purchasing from us. So what do we do?

Here are 5 ideas for marketing your business when you don’t have any support:

1. Utilize what social media has to offer
2. Create advocates and referral partners
3. ABM – Always Be Marketing
4. Automate processes whenever possible
5. Create content that’s stored online

Utilize what social media has to offer

Social media can be a wonderful outlet to connect with other business professionals. When you communicate online, you’re marketing yourself and your business. The more effective you are, the better your results will be. Over time, you have the opportunity to develop a large network of “brand ambassadors” that share your content or information with their networks.

Create advocates and referral partners

Whether you develop your advocates online or in person, having others who are willing to proactively tout your business is the goal of any successful organization. Having an army of referral partners who regularly introduce you to targeted prospects can replace even the most expensive marketing campaign. This requires treating each customer or client like they are the most important one to you.

ABM – Always Be Marketing

You may be at a networking opportunity or a professional sporting event. Regardless, when the opportunity arises, share your passion with those around you. Passion is infectious and resonates with other passionate people. Look to have conversations with people that are as serious and excited about their business as you are. There’s no time sheet to fill out when it comes to your marketing efforts. Like 7-11, you’re always open for business.

Automate processes whenever possible

Busy, successful professionals automate things like emails, so that whenever someone signs up for their newsletter or asks a question, there is an automated email response ready. It allows you to spend the bulk of your time on income-producing activities and in essence creates a virtual administrator. Your ability to market your business could be heavily automated if you understand the sales funnel process – moving serious prospects along without having to be there.

Create content that’s stored online

Creating content like blogs, white papers, newsletters, podcasts, webinars, and the like, is the backbone of today’s marketing efforts. When you create awesome content, your network shares it. If enough people deem it worthy of sharing, your content can go viral. In layman’s terms, send out your content once and watch it spread like wildfire. Housing this content on your website and other portals that you maintain gives people a chance to find you on their own through search and recommendations.

There are many more things we can do as professionals to market our business without having much, if any, support. What are some other suggestions you can provide for us? Feel free to link any content you’ve created that supports this topic.

David

“Danger, Will Robinson!”

Anyone of a certain age will clearly remember this urgent warning message from the beloved Robot to the adventurous young man on the classic TV series Lost in Space.

I use this reference not to reflect upon my youth, but to communicate an obvious message: If you do not have a robot to warn you of upcoming sales dangers, you need a solid sales strategy to eliminate them.

What might those dangers be? Ask yourself these three simple questions:

• Is your time being used effectively in order to maximize your sales results?
• Do you have a set of targeted accounts (by industry and market) that can increase success?
• When calling on accounts, do you have sales process that takes you from qualification to close?

If you answered “no” to any of these, you are susceptible to lower or less-than-possible close rates, revenues, margin and customer satisfaction; and fewer referrals, qualified appointments and product presentations.

Here are some short recommendations that will help:

If you answered no to #1, develop a strategy that considers where you should be spending your time (selling versus non-selling activities), and develop a calendar, plan or program that enables you to engage in the proper activities, with the proper contacts, as frequently as needed, in your to realize your desired results. For example, articulate and work toward a goal that says, “From 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. on the first Tuesday and Thursday of each month, I will set four appointments for the last week of the month.”

If you answered no to #2, look at who amongst your customers benefits most from what you offer, and why. Then create a successful customer profile including decision makers, size of company, market, industry, needs, situations they experience, etc., so you can make decisions on who should now be on your targeted list of accounts. For example, determine that “I will call on facility managers in the food industry on the East Coast.”

If you answered no to #3, look at and document the typical steps of your sales process (what occurs first, second…), then determine what gets in the way (obstacles, objections) of you closing business. This analysis will help you determine the adjustments you need to make while conducting your sales activities. For example, you have lost sales due to your prospects feeling more comfortable with a competitor. Therefore, you must deliver better company image presentations.

Using your time properly, calling those you should be calling, and calling upon them with a sales process that works is a solid strategy. Be sure to document what is needed to accomplish this. The documentation helps ensure execution and provides a baseline from which to adjust.

Consider yourself warned!

Dan

Within the business community, there is a renewed focus on prospecting and driving new business. And business owners as well as sales professionals are realizing this can no longer solely be done within an existing customer base. The conclusion – companies and their sales staffs must prospect (yes, old-fashioned prospecting) in order to find and sell new customers – has been reached by leaders of most industries across the U.S.

For many, it has been far too long since “true prospecting” has taken place. So, where are the best fishing holes to find qualified leads for your products and services?

Here is an idea: all over the place! (I know…I know…)

Here are some more specific ideas:

• Look at associations and their memberships based on your targeted verticals. If you target project engineers at automotive manufacturers, go to the Society of Automotive Engineers.
• Use LinkedIn to uncover contacts at targeted prospects. If you are targeting Farmers Insurance, look up relative contacts at Farmers Insurance on LinkedIn / People / Search.
• Ask your customer base who they may know. Orthopedic surgeons know other orthopedic surgeons, so ask your existing customers who are physicians about other doctors they know.
• Review your targeted industries’ trade magazines, publications and journals. For the boat and yacht industries, for example, look for mechanical or body shops you can sell to.
• Review your targeted markets’ newspapers and other publications to identify new businesses that have opened to which you can sell your services.
• Buy prospect leads. Try a Google search of “buy sales leads,” but know these are not going to be 100% accurate. Typically we will realize a 70% accuracy rate. These can usually be purchased based on the size of the company, location, and industry code, and you can usually purchase only specific contacts within the prospect leads.
• Network with other sales professionals who may have the same or similar targeted prospects. These folks may know of projects or needs that perhaps you can help with. Someone who sells meat to a grocery store may know of a new grocery store opening that will need all new refrigeration equipment, for example.

The best prospectors (hunters) are always on the lookout for leads or ways to generate leads. This is a commitment, a way of thinking and a habit that you must have, develop and maintain.

Good luck and let us build America’s economy!

Dan

In a recent post, we uncovered some key points with regard to differentiating yourself depending not only on who you are selling to (purchasing agents or financial decisions makers) but also what you sell (commoditized products and services or non-commoditized products/services).

I’d like to dig a little deeper into this differentiation concept.

Differentiating commoditized products/services

Let’s start with the toughest first. Assume you are selling a commoditized product/service. For the purposes of this post let’s keep it simple and say commoditized products/services are those that can be purchased anywhere, in great abundance and with great ease. Groceries, automobiles, computers and supplies are all examples of such products. Auto services, churches and counselors are examples of services that are oftentimes commoditized.

So if you sell these products/services how do you differentiate yourself? Let’s start with what you should not do (that almost all sales people and companies do): You should not say you differentiate yourself based on service.

Why not? Find me an example of a product or service company that says they offer crappy service. Then I’ll retract my statement!

Of course everyone says they have great service. But, of course, they don’t. So this is not an effective differentiator (unless of course you can define what “service” means).

So how do you differentiate terms like service, convenience, selection or price?

• If service is your thing then you need to define what that means to the customer and why you are better — “Our technicians answer calls immediately, no call backs or waiting necessary.”

• If convenience is your differentiator, then you need to define what that means and why you are better — “We are the rare dental office that acknowledges people have jobs and need to work during the day, so we are open evenings and weekends.”

• If selection is your advantage, then define this as well — “We believe having computers, without all the peripherals that should accompany such purchases and cause you to shop in multiple stores, is not the best use of your time, so we are your one-stop-shop for all things technology.”

The key is defining the advantage that enables you to differentiate yourself.

Differentiation through sales people

If you have sales people (or are a sales person), it is easier to differentiate in that you have one-on-one customer interaction, not just messaging.

Think distributor sales reps. These sales reps oftentimes sell commodities. In these cases, the sales reps need to add value to the sales process (especially if they charge more for their products/services).

• “We not only can provide you with the products you need, we also can help show you how to use them so that you can increase your efficiencies and save time and money.”
• “It’s not the tool, it’s how you use it. That’s why you want to buy through us. Yes, we have the tools, but we also show you how to maximize their use with your applications.”

See what I did here? I defined what the differentiator was and what it meant to the buyer. While this seems simple, pay attention over the next week as you shop online or purchase goods/services in person and actually take note of how many companies, advertisers, and sales people fail to do this consistently. I think you will be amazed.

Selling in a non-commoditized environment

If you are selling in a non-commoditized environment (niche markets with niche products/services), differentiation is more easily accomplished. You simply need to effectively state how your products/services benefit the end user.

Note I did not say what features you had that others don’t. Nor did I say what advantages you had that others don’t. I said benefit, which is a very important distinction.

A feature is the thing (or things) your product or service does, such as HDMI output on your laptop computer.

An advantage is why that feature is important, such as allowing you to connect to external HD displays.

The benefit is how the buyer’s life is improved by the product / service, such as flexible output options or the clarity of display for a better viewing experience.

The old adage, “it’s not what you say it’s how you say it,” applies here. I’m not speaking of tone or intonation. I’m talking about the language you use to present your company, your product/service and yourself. That – not your product – is what enables you to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Brian

Several years ago we were conducting a sales training session for a client at a large conference center. Right next to us another training taking place, for purchasing agents. The terrific irony!

I didn’t realize this until one of our breaks when I heard the speaker and the questions coming from the attendees, and then subsequently read their signage. This particular group was talking about how to handle sales people. I heard things like:

• “Don’t fall for their charming demeanor.”
• “They are going to try to convince you that they are different, but they’re not.”
• “They are going to say they can add value, but they can’t.”
• “They are going to want to go above you, but don’t allow them to, as you will lose all control.”
• “It’s about price, and price alone. That is how you are measured, justified and compensated.”

Wow! And I thought they all just made this stuff up on their own? I didn’t realize it was a conspiracy! Now, this is one group, many years ago, and I’m sure not all purchasing agents are trained this way, right?

So, what’s the point in this story and how does it tie into whether or not you want an educated customer or uneducated customer? I think it has to do with further defining the question. Most people would answer – and most advertising campaigns are built around the concept of – an educated buyer being better. The real answer is… it depends!

It depends on what you sell, to whom and how.

What You Sell

• If you sell commoditized products/services, to purchasing agents, and are cheaper than your competition, then uneducated customers are better.
• If you sell products/services (even commoditized) to financial decision makers and can provide value in the sales process, then educated customers are better.

This is so because if you are the low-cost provider and deal with lower level decision makers who have no application knowledge, they will always buy on price. If you have the lowest price, you will always win.

If, however, you are dealing with financial decision makers (those that truly understand the difference between price and cost and the relative ROI) AND you are not the low-cost provider, then you want an educated customer. But this is true ONLY if you have superior products or knowledge of how to apply the products/services based on individual customer need.

Assuming you have superior products, knowledge and a higher price, you want them educated (with you being the educator) on how your products and services, when used correctly for the correct application, benefit the company. This justifies your value as a sales professional and the higher prices of your products and services.

To Whom You Sell

• If you are selling to purchasing agents, assume uneducated and evaluate your ability to sell only on price.
• If you are selling to the end user of your particular products/services, you want them to want to be educated so you can educate them.
• If you are selling to the financial decision maker, you definitely want them to be educated.

How You Sell

If you are a route-type sales person selling to purchasing agents and your products/services are largely commoditized, it’s fine to have an uneducated buyer because it will have no impact on you positively or negatively.

If you are a consultative sales person selling to purchasing agents then you need to get past them to end users or financial decision makers and educate them in the areas of interest to them.

End users focus on ease of use and flexibility. Financial decision makers focus on ROI. Show them the numbers!

In summary, if you have superior products and knowledge to transfer to those that wish to have it, then you do wish to have an educated buyer who is higher in the food chain than purchasing agents. If you don’t have superior products and are locked in with purchasing agents, education is irrelevant, as is your pitch, unless your pitch is lowest price.

What say you?

Brian