i2isales

[i2isales]

ACE - Structured Questioning

There are lots of good sales people out there… but there are also some really great ones. What distinguishes the great ones from the good ones is their ability to really listen to the customer with the express intention of putting the customer and their interests first. They do this by asking relevant questions in a structured manner. i2isales have developed a questioning model for this called ACE. It works like this:

A = AREA Questions

These questions explore the background to the situation being discussed. They are open questions that often start with: How, Why, Who, What, Where. Simple questions that invite the customer to respond. Examples are:

What would you like to achieve from this meeting ?

What are the business drivers for this project ?

What are the key things that you are working on ?

How do you do this today ?

What are the results that you expect ?

C = CONCERN Questions

These are questions that explore the issues and concerns that the customer is experiencing. Examples are:

What are the challenges/issues that you face today ?

Where is the pain being felt in the organisation ?

What must improve ?

Who else is involved ?

What would happen if you did nothing ?

This is often the point that good sales people get to. They have found out some background information about the customer and the situation….. but then they STOP !

There is a magic line here and those that cross it move into the area that great sales people operate in. The magic line is crossed when sales people go here:

E = EFFECT Questions

These questions explore the effects of the concerns and issues raised above. They are designed to drill down and quantify the problem(s) - ideally in monetary terms. Examples of effect questions are:

What effect does that have on the business ?

How much does that cost ?

What are the risks of doing / not doing this ?

What are the implications for you personally ?

Who will benefit from this ?

How will it improve your business results ?

This stuff takes practice but if you really want to be a great sales person (or even an ACE one) then plan carefully and give it a go.

“The more that you concentrate on the customer and their needs - and the less you concentrate on your needs, targets etc - the more successful you will be”

Jon Gooding

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[i2isales]

Sales and Marketing is Dead, Technology and Social Media are the New Kings. 

This could be a headline in an article near you!  I also believe it would be nonsense. Have you noticed the increasing tendency for organisations to use short and provocative articles, criticising existing industry practices and advocating the new silver bullet answer? 

What’s your view on them? 

We have recently been in several discussions with customers around the ‘End of Solution Sales' article by Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon and  Nicholas Toman.     

Many have asked for our view on the content and validity of  this article and of insight and challenger selling. Some extracts from our view:  

‘Sales and marketing has changed for good. The agenda for the business professionals we are working with has been rewritten because of the huge economic changes and technological advances that affect us all. Certain principles are, and will remain valid when doing business, that not withstanding the methods and approaches need to change, and fast, to respond to todays opportunity. … ’

 ‘…There are some distinctions that we often help customers with, including:

Imagine, create, and innovate - Helping business professionals look at things differently, to find distinct ways of serving their customers. Introducing new and different ideas and offers. Marketing and selling in a way that captures the imagination. 

Provoke, challenge, and stimulate – it’s important to help business professionals look outside of the 'me too' agenda that sets so many customers buying criteria and RFP's. This means being able to excite the customer and bring new things to the table. It also means having the skill, courage and wisdom to have difficult conversations that bring more value and changes of direction. 

Research, synthesise, and project -  To win today you have to borrow from both sales and marketing disciplines (and many others too). The 'winners' we see use diverse capabilities, collaboration, social media, networking, and all the resources at their disposal to understand the customers business and how to improve it (sometimes) better than the customers themselves and (often) before the customer has seen the opportunities: 

• They work collaboratively with those inside and outside of their business and especially with the customers themselves to bring exciting new offers to the table. 

• They make sure that the innovators and early adopters know about what they can do for them before the competition gets a hold.  

• They bring real value to the customers table early and in a way that is distinct, cuts through inertia and sets them apart from the competition.   

Insight and challenger selling incorporates all of these distinctions. Many who we have worked with who use a solution selling approach have been applying them too.

Solution and insight selling are choices on the most appropriate marketing and sales approach. One is built upon basic, tried and tested, methodologies. The other driving a more provocative, energetic and innovative response to the market. Both reference many common principles, capabilities and practices - the differences or distinctions in insight selling appear to open the door to new and much needed possibilities for improvement in the lot of the sales and marketing professional.

The modern business  professional needs to have an extended tool kit and be encouraged and trained to have the confidence and skill(s) to make a real difference to their customers. It’s important that they create and innovate, trust their instincts more to learn, apply the best fit approach, evaluate, and improve. To take considered risks and act. This alone is not enough.

Perhaps the bigger challenge is supporting organisations rethink the way they market and sell from the top to the bottom, and side to side, ensuring everybody is focused on adding real value to the customers better and faster than ever before. 

We are all for being creative, imaginative, and provocative, we sense a sea change in the industry and also see a lot of good stuff in the article.  Whilst we are uneasy about the use of ‘sensationalised headlines’ that may mislead to us the article does signal a wave of change that is long overdue.’   

What’s your view?

Barry Hennessy