sales success
Lessons Learned from GTM Consulting
For the past two years, I have performed part-time, contract go-to-market consulting. My wife had a surgery that went wrong 18 months ago, so I needed something that would allow me to take care of her, stay sharp, earn money, and help companies grow. What I encountered was quite different from what I expected, so I thought I would pass it along.
Most of the work was with small to midsize companies, but the problems and needs mirrored what I have encountered at larger companies. The main difference is that large companies tend to look to software to address problems. In contrast, smaller companies often lack the budget for what they view as a solution that increases complexity.
Here are my Top 5 findings:
- GTM plans are often developed at the highest levels, often in isolation, without market testing and validation.
- An interesting aside is that the company is often really seeking sales optimization but believes it is doing things “well enough” today and therefore needs to focus on new offerings and revenue streams.
- New perspectives on past performance and failures are well received but more surprising than anticipated. This leads to a better understanding of needs, which builds consensus moving forward.
- Sales teams are sometimes pitted against one another, rather than working together to help everyone achieve more (Coopetition – “A rising tide lifts all boats.”)
- Sometimes the competing team isn’t sales, but support. The team wants to help the customer (which is great), but works outside its defined scope instead of bringing in the services and sales teams to work jointly to solve the customer’s problem.
- Sales teams are focused on selling features rather than solving business problems.
- Training those teams on solution selling and understanding the prospect’s needs pays off.
- CRMs are not consistently used and often reflect idealized fiction rather than reality.
- Old, dead, or unqualified opportunities; lack of recent contact or interaction; deals that have slipped more than once; and a lack of understanding (company, needs, players, business environment) all point to an unrealistic pipeline.
- Sales management and teams are not leveraging AI to help focus their efforts.
- Conversely, they may view AI as a panacea, investing time and money in tools that supplement a strong team rather than focusing on strengthening the team.
Here are the related Lessons Learned:
- Selling is a byproduct of problem-solving. You can’t solve problems if you don’t know what they are. Every interaction with a prospect should focus on gathering information, building trust and relationships, and leveraging prior interactions to demonstrate that your solution will solve their problem and ease their pain.
- Here’s solution sales again. Teaching teams to ask better questions, listen more, and validate their understanding increases their standing with prospects.
- Identifying common business problems and describing how your product or service solves them should be the foundation of the plan.
- Perform market analysis. How do other companies describe those problems? Their terminology, often found in job postings by competitors and your target audience, can help create effective messaging that resonates. Work to become the natural fit for what your prospects are seeking and the problems they are likely dealing with.
- Individual contributors get paid to win, but sales management needs to create incentives for collaborative efforts that lead to both wins and ongoing customer growth.
- Paying sales teams for net new business only causes them to ignore install base expansion opportunities. And, if another vendor solves their problems, it is only a matter of time before they replace you.
- For one company, I convinced them to implement a 2% SPIV (like a SPIFF, but team-focused) for every team member who actively contributed to team improvement. SPIV payments were quarterly, and there was a running total so the team could see the fund growth. Initial indications of a positive impact are good.
- Another benefit of collaboration is that it helps teams focus on approaches that work due to ongoing testing and refinement. Collaboration also helps teams focus on a more accurate ICP (ideal customer profile). Sales management can then feed their findings back to Marketing to tailor and fine-tune their efforts.
- CRMs often either lack information or are full of wishful thinking. They focus on activities, and not progress and next steps.
- Using MEDPICC as a foundation for qualification is a much better start.
- Sales managers need to validate the information independently to ensure their teams are upfront and honest. Trust, coaching, and collaboration work together for the win.
- Chasing deals that are unlikely to close wastes valuable resources.
- AI is not a panacea, but it is very effective for research, market validation, prospecting, and meeting preparation.
- Going in prepared builds respect and credibility, saves time, and helps you quickly qualify prospects in or out.
- There may be opportunities to nurture prospects who have potential but aren’t qualified for immediate deals, seeding the pipeline for future opportunities. This could be a great place to leverage AI for personalized journeys with highly relevant curated content.
So, what are your thoughts? Have you seen some of these problems yourself? How did you handle them? Let me know in the comments below.
And if you are looking for assistance with your business, contact me.
Two Truths of Enterprise Sales
I have been selling products and services to large enterprise organizations for most of my career. I like to tell people, “Everyone is in sales,” because one way or another, they are.
Early in my career, I was a Systems Analyst for a Marketing company. I created what I’ve been told was the first custom coupon system for Subaru, as well as several systems for Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Electric. We would devise several ideas to pitch to the customer, then hold follow-up meetings to flesh them out and help sell an extensive, multi-faceted program. It was a great learning experience in understanding what mattered and how to effectively upsell deals.
Standard sales advice is to sell to a known problem or a project. The thinking behind finding projects is that a tactical or strategic need has already been identified, with executive support and funding to address it. Most companies have some degree of dysfunction (which is why Patrick Lencioni’s books are so popular) that tends to affect projects negatively and reduces the seller’s chances of success.
Focusing on problems is the way to go, but a business rarely comes to you to disclose those problems and their impact. A Consultative Selling approach is helpful in this situation. Upfront preparation can be time-consuming, but the results are often bigger deals that close faster.
The process I use involves understanding the business, its customers, and its competition, as well as potential changes in the business or industry. I will search for clues that indicate potential problems (from financial reports and filings to product-specific forum posts). I will then hypothesize a few potential problems and reach out to the highest-level individuals in the organization likely responsible for these issues. Often they will correct you and fill in the gaps. By doing this, you may uncover things that your prospect has not yet considered.
When you do speak with someone, you need to demonstrate your understanding and potential value-add to learn more and begin gaining their trust, while listening for validation or other information to refine your hypothesis. People buy from people they like and trust, and this approach becomes the foundation. From here, you can guide the process and expand your reach to other areas and layers of the organization. As a seller, your focus is on proposing real, mutually beneficial solutions with a high probability of success.
So, back to the two truths –
- Companies and teams are often biased toward the status quo and the familiar. Problems are rarely solved using the same people, products, and processes that got them into this position in the first place. As a seller, focus on outcomes. Help them visualize what success looks like and how it feels. Overcome negative emotions like fear with positive emotions, envisioning a better future, and then a plan to achieve their desired outcome.
- Change can be expensive at first. It is an investment in the future that should yield both short-term benefits and long-term savings. Your focus as a seller should be on delivering value, which comes from many areas and in various forms – direct and indirect. Help your prospect figure this out, and you are well on your way to winning their business.
This approach and understanding can lead to new customer acquisition and ongoing account growth. You are continually demonstrating your value and commitment to your customers’ success, and that pays off.
Here’s a bonus third truth. If you cannot quickly gain consensus on the root cause problem(s) or traction with your proposed solution, qualifying out is often the best next step. Nurturing the prospect may lead to a future deal, but investing those 3-6 months on another prospect will likely result in more deals closed. Qualify out quickly and move on – that is better for everyone involved.
Remember, hope is not a strategy.
Where Ideas, Experiences, and Lessons Learned Intersect 