Sales and sales development
Arvid Madland Lyngnes
Believing you will keep scoring and winning by accident, is utopia. There is, at all time, a competitor out there developing a new and special play and going for the jugular of your best customers
Success in sales is, as in sports, dependent on the different plays you as an organization can activate to create goal scoring or touchdown opportunities. As any professional coach will tell you there are several tactical maneuvers that have to be put into place and played out to make those goals or touchdowns. And companies who are better at developing these plays, will as in the sporting world, win a lot more games.
Think about the difference in buying behavior between small, medium and big clients. A small client has a small administration and this administration represents all the needs, wants and personalities you must present, argue, negotiate and sell to. With a mid cap entity the administration is just a barrier you have to get by to find the real decision maker inn the board or with the CEO. For a large entity you must first play your way through a set of professional negotiators, who only job is to “squeeze the deal.” Before your proposal lands at a completely different desk with a whole new set of needs, wants, and personalities.
A good play is all about getting your “negotiator/closer” in a goalscoring position. So you must develop different tactics to identify your opponent. You must develop different tactics to approach your opponent. You must develop different tactics for gathering the information you need about your opponent. You must develop different tactics on how to present your services to different opponents. Just to make sure that you, as often as possible, are able to get the ball to your goal scorer or to make the touchdown.
"Presenting your service to a negotiator is all about knowing what you can give and what you want in return without compromising your service. Ensuring it's still a good offer and the negotiator will recommend it to their superiors. While it still meets the needs, wants and personality of the actual decision maker."
