Sales Midterm

What are the key elements in any effective story?

-Relatable Characters -Worthwhile goals -Risk/Conflict -Resolution/Change

Name the two main "dangers" to sales reps of potential customers gathering large amounts of information from the internet before they ever engage with a salesperson?

-They are self diagnosing -forming their own opinions about solutions

According to Professor Zippi, what are the three main things that make a sale complex?

-new paradigm -change in approach -new job to be done

when founder's stories are done well, they connect with the hearer in what four key ways?

-quickly grab attention -connect emotionally -allow them to feel they are part of something bigger -memorable

What are the six steps of the Purposeful Choreography, as Dixon and Adamson call it, of Teaching for Differentiation?

1.Lay out what you are hearing and seeing in the market 2.Present a big, bold reframe 3.Create Rational Drowning 4.Emphasize Emotional Impact 5.Show a New way 6.Introduce Your Solution

Name the four items included in The Challenger Sale that are expected of Solution Vendors today.

1.Understand their problem(s) better than they do 2.Identify a new and better means of addressing their challenge(s) 3.Articulate clear benefits of choosing to solve the problem you address instead of a different one. 4.Determine the right metrics to measure success

What are the specifics you use to apply the elements of any effective story to make an effective founder's story?

1.What caused you to recognize this opportunity? (worthwhile goals) •What was the job to be done? How did you recognize it? •Look for a common (hopefully emotional) connection with the hearer 2.Who are you? (Relatable character) •What did you leave behind to do this? •Where did you come from? 3.Challenges you had to overcome to get to the solution (Risk/Conflict) 4.Show how the three items above informed the product/company you are building (Change/Resolution)

According to CEB's study, how far are prospective buyers through the purchase process before their first engagement with a sales person?

57%

What do large tech organizations base their "solutions" on?

Bundles

when we sell to multiple stakeholders, it is not as much about our ability to sell as it is their ability to _______________.

Agree

What words does Professor Zippi prefer as a replacement for "Pressure the Customer?"

Inspire action from

If there are obstacles to completing a job to be done, our role as salespeople is to ___________ address those obstacles.

Proactively

When the solution is more complex you can focus the founder's/genesis story a little more on ______(1)_______ and not as much on ______(2)________.

Problem to be solved, person who figured it out

Name the four categories of Sales Methodologies in the market

Research-based Research-derivative Here's what I did Motivational

According to the pummelo exercise we did in class, what is a key technique we can use to maximize the amount buyers remember about our presentation?

Schemas

The research done that ultimately resulted in the writing of The Challenger Sale indicated that the principles discovered applied to what type of sales (the answer has two parts)?

Solution selling, in any economy

when does surprise occur?

When expected patterns are broken

Great sales approaches sometimes reside in simply ___________ the job to be done.

better defining

How does a one-product software company avoid being cast as a commodity?

focus on differentiators that solve the job to be done

In the "order of selling" today, customer relationships are the _____(1)_____, not the ____(2)______, of successful selling.

result, cause

According to our reading from Clayton Christensen, just needing something is not enough. For a customer to want to buy, it needs to fulfill a job ________________.

they want to have done

Name five takeaways from the "tappers and listeners" exercise we did in class.

we need to step back to -find out what tunes are playing in their head -help them understand new tunes realize that buyers are -bringing info to the table they didn't have before -coming with preconceived solutions they didn't bring before -not automatically able to "hear" what we "hear"

what should we strive for as the maximum number of words in an email body?

•100

what should we strive for as the maximum number of words in an email Subject Line?

•7

According to Robert McKee (the screenplay guru), what two characteristics of a situation make us curious?

•An intellectual need to answer questions and •A need to close open patterns

what is the first thing you should do to establish a date for the next step in the sales process?

•Ask the buyer when it would be reasonable to have that next thing accomplished

what should you do if your company does not have a Sales Engagement Platform and you cannot secure budget from the organization to buy one?

•Buy one yourself - (that includes getting one that is free)

when most companies selling to enterprise accounts talk about cold calling, what are they really referring to?

•Calling "once warm" leads

When you receive an RFP, Professor Zippi suggest it is reasonable to bid if what three things are true?

•Can I answer "yes" to virtually every question •Am I allowed to explain my answers? •Is there a section for me to include anything else I think might be important?

for the surprise to be memorable and useful what two additional things must go along with it?

•It must be consistent with your core message. •It must be resolved credibly

five unintended consequences in class arising as organizations increase the number of decision makers in the buying process. Name four of the five we discussed.

•Competing Agendas •Longer Buying Cycles (to accommodate all voices) •Core Issues can get buried by information abundance •Compromise waters down original strategic advantages pursued •"Impact to the business" of projects is decreased

According to The Challenger Sale, what four things are buyers doing in today's software world to mitigate their risk.

•Consensus based decisions •Vendor responsible for success of customer' business not just their product •Greater demand for (free) customization •Relying on third party consultants

Name two key advantages, shared by Joey Barry, of using a pitch deck in a sales call?

•Controls the flow of the meeting •Gives you a "leave behind" for your Mobilizer to use

.The most important technique in creating a good competitive analysis is

•Creating Favorable Comparisons

In the Solution Selling 9 Box methodology, what are the three things you use questions to do?

•Diagnose Reasons •Explore Impact •Visualize Capabilities (Create a Vision of a Solution)

if a prospect already has a Vision of a Solution when you arrive, what should you do first?

•Directly ask how they came to their vision

List two questions from the reading that you can ask to identify jobs to be done.

•Do you have a job that needs to be done? •Where do you see nonconsumption? •What work-arounds have people invented? •What tasks do people want to avoid? •What surprising uses have customers invented for existing products?

Name two potential areas of vulnerability we might be able to identify by closely examining a company's employee situation and history.

•Employee Churn •Missing key roles

What are the two types of Situational Fluency we must have in order to sell successfully?

•General about the contextual space •What the prospect's pains are likely to be.

statistics help people believe when we . . . (This answer has three parts)

•Generate a human context •Use a schema that •Is unambiguous for your listeners •Matches your analogy

statistics help people believe when we . . . (This answer has three parts)

•Generate a human context •Use a schema that Is unambiguous for your listeners •Matches your analogy

give two reasons why competitive analysis done by those outside of sales tends to be insufficient for salespeople's needs.

•Generic and random •Focused on the obvious

what three stakeholder profiles do High Performing Reps traditionally focus on?

•Go-Getters •Teachers •Skeptics

what three stakeholder profiles do Core Reps traditionally focus on?

•Guides •Friends •Climbers

what are the two main determinants of how often we can reach out to prospects?

•How much they are likely to value what we are providing •The variability of our messages and calls to action.

According to the research The Challenger Sale is based on, 53% of customer loyalty is based not on what you sell, but _________________.

•How you sell it.

If SPIN Selling and Solution Selling are Question Based, according to what we discussed in class, what is Challenger Selling based on?

•Hypotheses Based

Name two reasons why is it important to have a good Founder's Story you can draw on in competitive sales situations.

•If competitors are not using one, you have an advantage (you begin to differentiate. •If competitors are using one, you stay on par

When doing a competitive analysis, why do we care what roles the original founders are currently in within the company?

•If they are not leading it may present a vulnerability

Why do you want to present even capabilities where you believe both of you have a genuinely similar approach to your offering?

•If you present it, and they don't, you "own" that capability. They will have weakened credibility if they bring it up later. If you both bring it up, you are equal.

35 years ago, what were the only three alternatives you had for finding new leads?

•In Person •U.S. Mail/FedEx •Telephone

four elements of effective tailoring. Please list them in the order they say you should address them.

•Industry •Company •Role •Individual

there are several phrases that are particularly good for validating verbal agreement with a prospect. Name one.

•Is that fair? •Does that seem fair? •Does that make sense?

what is the main problem with proactively offering a discount to try to accelerate a deal to close?

•It does not address the real issue of why it is not ready to close.

Our natural inclination when there are multiple stakeholders in our deals is to track them down and make sure we create a custom message for each of them that will resonate with their specific issues. According to CEB research, what happens to the likelihood of our making a high-quality sale when we do that (especially when we do our teaching particularly well)?

•It goes DOWN!

Why is looking at customer comment's a great place to start when doing a competitive analysis?

•It indicates things we should try to research more deeply to understand the details

What are the five key rules of Commercial Teaching (4 from Dixon & Adamson and 1 from Professor Zippi)

•Lead to your unique strengths •Challenge Customers Assumptions •Catalyze Action •Scale Across Customers •Solution is perceived as easy to implement & use

five reasons in class for why organizations are turning to more collaborative decision making in the buying process. Name four of the five we discussed.

•Mitigate Risk •Include Diverse Perspectives on Business Issues •Scale to the Enterprise •Consistency across the entity •Comply with Regulations

4.what is the one thing you should never include in a confirming email?

•New information that was not discussed in the call

What are the three main steps for creating an effective competitive analysis?

•Note your "best" response to each of their strengths •Note which items you appear on the surface to hold in common that are not that at all when you get into the details •Make a list of the top five areas where your offering can be presented as significantly better than theirs based on the details you have assembled

Name the six key selling attributes associated with Challengers. (PCVEMI)

•Offer the customer unique perspectives •Strong two-way communication •Know individual customer's value drivers •Identify economic drivers for the customer's business • Comfortable discussing money •"Inspire action from the customer to move" when appropriate

What three types of questions did we discuss that are a part of Solution Selling as defined by Bosworth and Eades?

•Open Questions •Control Questions (Directed) •Confirming Questions

According to Lowenstein, what should we do to get people's attention and keep them engaged on more complex topics?

•Open a gap in their knowledge

who do Decision Makers (Senior Execs and Procurement) see themselves as buying from? who do Influencers and End Users see themselves as buying from?

•Organizations •People

for details help to people believe they must support what?

•Our core idea

1.As you orchestrate the process of closing a deal, what phrase does Professor Zippi repeatedly used to remind you of your role?

•Remove the friction

what is the definition of polling in marketing?

•Searching for people who are already looking for a solution

where is the biggest disconnect between the stages sellers have traditionally used and the stages buyers have been using?

•Sellers have been hesitant to fully engage in precisely the stages where the buyer is formulating her vision of a solution

what are four key things you should look for in a Sales Engagement Platform?

•Set up a cadence that includes all actions - beyond just emails •Automatic scheduling of all your emails ahead of time •Campaign performance insights •Ability to associate specific contact lists to their own campaigns

what stage of the buying journey is where organizations have the most trouble coming to consensus?

•Solution Identification

in most major sales, who has the most ability to influence the sale with the Executive Suite?

•Stakeholders (definitely NOT the salesperson)

what five things must exist before we have a solution (what is the definition of a solution from a sales standpoint)?

•Starts with a problem •Recognized by both seller & buyer •Provides an answer to the problem •Mutually agreed upon by seller & buyer •Where improvement can be measured

what is the definition of prospecting?

•Stimulating and create interest where there currently is little or none

According to the research The Challenger Sale is based on, what are the two main drivers of customer loyalty that are not directly tied to the sales rep's approach?

•Supplier has widespread support across the company •Supplier is easy to buy from

From a general standpoint, why did cold calling work better 35 years ago than it does today?

•Talking to another person was the main way people had for understanding what was available in the market.

What do you do if someone has no (or very little) knowledge about a topic you want to "exploit?"

•Teach them enough so that you can then create gaps.

We named eight specific resources in class that you can turn to when gathering competitive information. Name four of them.

•The Competitor's Website •LinkedIn.com •Capterra.com •G2.com •Glassdoor •Twitter •Google •Crunchbase

You are on a sales call where you lead with a thought-provoking insight. The hearer is engaged, but he doesn't ask any thought-provoking questions. However, he does share useful information. There are two stakeholder profiles he probably fits. What are the two?

•The Guide •The Friend

Where does the credibility for our statements come from when we rely on testable credentials?

•The hearers themselves

We use visualization when selling to help prospects see what two things?

•Themselves using your product & •How it benefits them personally.

According to what we discussed in class, what is the challenge most people have when they help people visualize?

•They are too low on Maslow's hierarchy - safety instead of knowledge and understanding

when you are significantly smaller than your competitor, what are the three things you should bring up?

•They will receive Direct Attention from the Entire Company, not underlings •Including our Founder/CEO from time to time •They will have Direct Input into product direction •Including direct contact with our CTO from time to time •You must make this offering succeed. It is all there is.

What is the pitfall we need to avoid when we Teach for Resonance with the other stakeholders on the team after we have buy in from our champion?

•To not skip Job to be Done and Vision of a Solution. OR To not just focus on Vendor Selection

Teaching for Differentiation needs strong support from throughout the organization to succeed. According to what we discussed in class, 1) when is this true and 2) when is it not necessarily true?

•True when you have lots of products you represent •Not as necessary when you have one, or very few, products

What is the main premise of the Sinatra Test from a selling standpoint?

•Use an existing customer as an example when it is clear that if you could meet their needs, you can also meet the current prospect's needs.

the Conventional view of what our Critical Stakeholder profile should be is not so much wrong as it is ____________________

•Virtually impossible to find

when you are digging deep for understanding, what are the four things you need to know for each point?

•What they "say" they do point by point •Exactly what they "mean" for each point •Exactly how they "provide" each point •How each point compares to what you can do

what is a key exception when you do want to present to multiple people?

•When you want to get someone on record in front of their peers

why do we generally want to avoid sales presentations to large groups of people?

•You cannot tailor you pitch to a group of people

How do "back up" slides in a pitch deck help with your credibility when you end up using one of them?

•You don't lose "ownership" of the point

As a company, why is having the best customer satisfaction scores in your industry not a recipe for long term differentiation?

•Your competitors will do the same thing