It is highly recommended, before reading this post, you first read my previous post, which details the challenges b2b sales organizations are seeing today. To overcome these current day sales challenge, organizations understand they must change their selling motions and invest in areas that enable their ability to deepen their relationship with their target buyers to deliver more value than in years past. The stakes are high as bookings and revenue growth are typically king, queen, prince, and princess for technology organizations, whether a SaaS provider, systems integrator, consultancy, or hardware company.
How To Address the Challenge - Invest in Transforming into a “Trusted Advisor”
There are multiple levels of relationship one can have with their client. On the highest end, it is typically called a “Trusted Advisor”. On the low end it is called “Approved Vendor”.
B2B companies aspire to become “Trusted Advisors” as those are the highest performing sales organizations in the world. Industry research shows only 8% of sales organizations achieve this level of relationship with their clients. Most fail to achieve this level of relationship because they have not invested properly in institutionalizing an organizational sales process or training the team on enhanced skill development that changes sales behavior and selling motion. In fact, less than 50% of companies have a formal sales process and even less invest in skill development such as; lead qualification, objection handling, solutioning, presentation skills, decision management, negotiation, and closing. They let sales do what sales does and that is "shoot from the hip" with little strategy, skills, or plan. The results speak for themselves. Without a sales behavioral shift on a consistent basis the seller is not able to differentiate themselves from the competition, provide enhanced value, and transcend from a vendor to a trusted advisor. As a result, companies see slower sales growth, margin erosion, and expensive attrition of the sales force.
The Sage Customer Centric Selling Framework - What is It & Why is it Important?
Sage Selling is an modern day consultative and customer centric selling framework that enables sales organizations to reach the level of “trusted advisor” with their clients. It is based on a belief that “how you sell is more important than what you sell”. It consists of four(4) components that work seamlessly together;
A Vision to Evolve into a Trusted Advisor
A Set of Guiding Sales Principles - the seller’s foundation of beliefs about buyers, sellers, and process that drives action;
Sales is an act of service
First seek to understand, then seek to be understood
A selling organization's job is to facilitate a process that brings the sale to an outcome (a "yes" or "no" decision) in a timeframe that is agreeable to both parties
Successfully closing a deal on your price and terms has two dependencies; conviction and level of selling skills
Two reasons deals are lost; 1. the opportunity should have not "qualified in" and 2. You were outsold by a more skilled competitor
Sales is all about the buyer's needs, not the seller's
People buy from people they like, trust, and bring unique value to the table
3. A Dynamic Selling Methodology - A six (6) step process/methodology that guides the seller/buyer journey from lead to close.
Mutual Understanding
Recognition
Solution
Money
Decision Game Plan
Negotiation
4. Conversational Selling Skills Development - Teaching and mastering of conversational selling skills that drive behavioral changes to better enhance;
Lead Qualification
Deal Execution
Solution'ing
Decision Management
Negotiation
Closing
When the Sage selling framework is institutionalized within a b2b SaaS sales organization it becomes the common playbook and selling motion that reduces revenue risk and delivers consistent sales performance. The team becomes expert in areas such as; prospecting, lead qualification, creating and elevating value that drives buyer action, objection handling, forecasting, negotiating, and closing. The business value to the organization results in; accelerated revenue growth, increased average selling price, margin expansion, higher quality pipeline generation, increased forecast accuracy, lower attrition, etc.
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