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Managing Change The most successful people in sales recognize that for their customer in the process of buying, is all about making a decision to change. Everyone is all in favor of change as long as it doesn't mean me and it doesn’t mean right now. When salespeople are working with a customer, they are actually helping the customer navigate through the change process. The smartest way to create change in other people is to develop their awareness of the elements that create discomfort and dissatisfaction with staying the same. We must focus on the emotional side of change. You can sum up a typical customer's emotional state with three simple axioms: Buying requires changing. Change is difficult to accept. Avoid change until it is clear that staying the same is more difficult. Successful selling is about managing the customer's emotional acceptance of change. The initial job is to ensure that the customer's negative present state actually exists and that he or she fully understands it. Once that is firmly established, your next job is to help the customer design a solution capable of transforming that negative present state into a positive future state. The more complex a sale becomes, the more radical change the customer must undertake and the greater the perceived and actual risk. The hidden costs of the customer staying the same are much greater than the risk they run of doing something different. When your customers are continually moving forward in a circle, they end up in the same place. The most successful salespeople are noted for their ability to understand and guide the customer's change progression. When the complexity of the solution increases, and the decision elements of the change involved in the purchase are more complicated and more difficult to understand, the risk of changing is that much higher. The investment, the requirements of implementation and the emotional elements, all impact on the buyer's career and livelihood and create that higher risk. Change and risk management both play a major role in the decision and the sale of strategically complex products.
Analyzing Change. A key insight is that the decision to change is usually made as a response to negative situations and is driven by negative emotions. People change when they feel dissatisfied, fearful, or pressured by their current problems. Customers are more likely to buy in those same circumstances. Conversely, people who are satisfied with their current situations are unlikely to change and are unlikely to buy. All too often, a sales professional will uncover a serious problem that the customer is experiencing. The customer agrees that it is a problem and agrees to solve it. They have discussed the solution options, and agree that Page 1 of 3
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the solution can eliminate their problem, yet they do not buy. It's not that the customer doesn't have a problem, and it's not that you don't have a solution; it occurs because the customer cannot or will not go through the personal or organizational changes needed to implement the solution. When real salespeople approach the sales process from a risk and change perspective, they deal directly and in real time with the critical change in risk issues that their customers must resolve. They focus on helping their customers to identify the consequences of staying the same or not changing the negative present. They are not dealing with an optimal future but with the immediate reality of a problem that must be solved. If we work with a customer from the perspective of a decision to change, we set aside conflicting agendas. Now both salesperson and customer can work toward a mutual objective of understanding the problem and aligning the best available solution so that the customer can make the highest quality decision about the proposed change.
The Levers of Change. The diagnostic conversation is a dialogue with the customer the progresses from job responsibility to indicator to cause and consequence to priority. Indicator. The indicator is the physical symptom, the evidence of the condition or problem affecting the job performance; it tells us and our customer what is happening. Cause. The cause is the problems origin; it tells us why it is happening. Consequence. Consequences are the problems impact and its severity; it tells us what and who is being affected and how bad the problem is. Priority. Priority is the problems' position relative to other issues in the customer's business; it tells us whether and when the problem's worth resolving from the customer's perspective or job responsibility, indicator, cause consequence and priority.
The Progression to Change. Just as complex sales feature multiple decision-makers, they also require multiple decisions about the content and sequencing of those decisions. This is what allows us to connect our customers and the problems they face to the solutions that we are offering. Satisfied. The" life is great" customer has strong feelings of success. They feel their situation is very good and see no need to change. Neutral. The "I am comfortable" customer has no conscious feelings of satisfaction or of pain. They are not actively exploring their problems nor are they considering change. Aware. The "It could happen to me" customer has some discomfort, understands that a problem exists, has had some exposure to Page 2 of 3
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solutions, but is not directly connected to their situation. They most likely tell you that they will consider a change in the future. Concerned. The "It’s happening to me" customer sees all the symptoms of the problem. They recognize that they are experiencing the problem and that it is potentially harmful. They are ready to define and explore the problem. Critical. The "this is costing me too much money" customer has a clear picture of the problem. They are ready to quantify its financial impact. Crises. The "I must change now" customer recognizes that the cost of the problem is unacceptable and they can no longer avoid change. They have reached the point at which the decision to change is made.
To Accomplish This Goal … We need to establish an ordered and repeatable sequence of questions that will lead to a high quality decision. This sequence is called the bridge to change. It guides salespeople by establishing a questioning flow capable of meeting the needs of their customers through complex decisions. It allows salespeople to pinpoint the areas in which they can construct value connections that will benefit their customers. It starts at the organizational level by examining the customer's major business objectives or drivers and the critical success factors that must be obtained to achieve those objectives. It seeks to identify the individuals responsible for each critical success factor and to understand their personal performance objectives. It prompts the salesperson to identify performance gaps, identify potential shortfalls in the customer's key performance indicators by probing for symptoms, uncovering their causes, and quantifying their consequences. Its’ bridge helps define the expectations and alternatives for solving the customer's problems and then narrows the search to a final solution.
Successful Salespeople Think like Business Owners than like Salespeople They take the time to understand the financial, qualitative, and competitive business changes at work in their customers’ companies. In order to succeed, they realize that the most successful salespeople constantly interact with their customers by building relationships based on professionalism, trust, and cooperation.
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