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Segment 1: Merged Selling As It Relates to the Sales Process
Segment 2: Merged Selling As It Relates to the Seller/Client
Relationship
Segment 3: How to Develop Long-term Engagements With Larger Dollar
Commitments
Week 4: Dealing With Challenges and Obstacles to Merged Selling
Past Training Tips
Non-Verbal Communication
Negotiation Strategies That Win
Merged Selling
The Art of Renewing a Client
Time Maximization Strategies
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"Merged Selling"
How to Remove the Barriers Between Seller and
Client to
Forge Unique "Partnerships"
-By Greg Bennett
Segment 3: How to
Develop Long-term Engagements With Larger Dollar Commitments
Over the past two
segments in this series on what I call “Merged Selling”, we’ve
covered how we should see the world differently – instead of
seeing two sides of the sales process and the seller / client
relationship, we should see one merged process…one merged
relationship.
This is enlightened
selling. This is a new and unique attitude. This is the future of
selling.
In this third segment
in the four-segment series, I’m going to discuss how to “cash in” on
this “Merged Selling Mindset” by forming longer-term engagements
with larger dollar commitments from clients.
Problems With Selling
“One Deal at a Time” vs a Long-Term Engagement:
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We get very focused on selling
in the here and now…one deal at a time. One radio schedule. One
ticket package. One consulting engagement. The problems with
“one-deal at a time” are:
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We usually don’t sell enough
to solve the client’s “issues” when you sell just one deal
at a time (not enough momentum)...sort of like building the
foundation of a house, then stopping before you get to the
structure
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We have to prove ourselves
over and over again with each new sell, when you sell a
long-term deal you sell only once (though you are always
‘reselling’ the client on staying with the program)
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Our sales go up and down
dramatically. Clients don’t like to be re-sold after
they’ve been sold once, even if something is working! (No it
doesn’t make sense) Another factor is the client’s desire
to “rotate the buying cycle” -- buying us a few times, then
buying someone else…“I better not put all my eggs in
one basket”
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When you sell
one-deal-at-a-time you’re opening the door several times for
your competitors to swoop in steal the business.
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This “one-deal-at-a-time”
mindset, where the client may or may not go with you from
month-to-month or deal-to-deal, means that our sales projections
will be very difficult to make, and our results will be all over
the map. Thus, it's very tough to plan where you'll be in 6
months. When you have long-term deals in place you can
count on a set level of sales each month or quarter, giving you
piece of mind and the freedom to pursue new business.
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Another problem with this
mindset is the defensiveness on the part of the potential
client. Clients get used to dealing with salespeople who only
sell one deal at a time, so they get very protective and
defensive about the next deal that is coming up…”We’re not
doing anything this month…come back again next month”
When you get that enough you start to feel like the bar fly who
just keeps coming around begging for that next one-night stand.
Merging the
One-Time-Deals Into Longer Term Arrangements for Larger Dollars:
- Think
about some value-add features you could include when a client
commits to a longer term arrangement.
- Are there discounts that could apply?
- Are there guaranteed price freezes, or
limited price increases?
- Are there additional features you could
add that one-time buyers can't get access to?
- Examples would be, for sports -- meet
the team bar-b-ques
- For media sales -- meet the on-air
talent parties
- For general services firms -- special
golf outings or dinners
- A good long-term client and friend of
mine had a brilliant idea -- every year he had been
presenting long-term deals to a certain client who refused
the offer every time...after 20 years of doing this, my
friend did some 'cipherin' and came up with a total of how
much the client had wasted by going year to year vs the
long-term arrangements he had been presenting...the number
was enormous....the next year, they bought the long-term
deal!
- Plan
long-term even if you’re still going to be selling
one-deal-at-a-time. Just because the client may like to
buy one deal at a time, or if you've got the type of product
that lends itself to one-deal-at-a-time sales, you can still do
a long-term plan with the client.
- Share with the client that
you intend to be working with them over the next several
years (part of that focus on long-term relationships vs
transactional business)
- Because of this, you need to
understand how their annual business cycle works:
- Breaking the year into
quarters, just ask the client to educate you on which
quarters are busy, moderate and slow...
- If you it makes sense
you can continue to break that down into months and even
weeks...
- Once you understand
the annual business cycle, you can then look at their goals
for 2,3 or 4 years out
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Pre-plan your POST buy follow up and maintenance schedule.
Instead of just saying "I promise to stay in touch with you..."
We'll want to create a more scheduled "maintenance plan"
- You can schedule
follow-up meetings...especially if you sell an annual
product
- This allows you to head-off problems
before they become major and could jeopardize renewal
- This will put you in a better
situation to hear about potential competitors who may be
sniffing around trying to work into our business.
- This will also demonstrate our desire
to stay on top of the situation and make adjustments if
things aren't working properly
- Finally, THIS GIVES US PLENTY OF
CHANCES TO UPSELL AND/OR ADD SERVICES
Let me scroll this next point for you:
Asking the Client to Make a Long-Term Commitment:
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Client's generally won't OFFER to buy
long-term...they are conditioned by tons of other sellers who
are selling in a one-at-a-time fashion...WE HAVE TO SUGGEST
IT...
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We must
position this offer as something that is much better for the
client in the long-run
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Highlight
the extra-value features we just covered...
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Talk about
the "dangers" of only building the foundation...
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Talk about
the long-term "partnership" you're trying to establish...
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The worst that
can happen is they say NO...and even if they do, it will make it
easier to buy your one-time deal
When we sell in this fashion we're
saying to the client that we want more than the surface
relationships they may be used to forming with other
salespeople...we want a long-term partnership where we are
BOTH tied to the results. This style of selling also shows the
client that we are totally confident in our ability to deliver
results, and we absolutely expect that the client will want to stay
with us year after year.
In our final segment on "Merged Selling", we'll cover how to deal with
some of the obstacles, stalls and challenges we may face when we're
selling a merged-selling, relationship-building option.
Exercises for the Week:
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Look at your last 2 or 3
one-time-only sales and see if you can circle back and offer a
long-term relationship with your next sale to those clients
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Develop some long-term
relationship value-add features that you can add to the
mix...special meetings? special events? discounts?
etc.
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Add the Annual Business Cycle
questions to your needs analysis
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Add Post Buy maintenance
visits, especially on the annual programs you sell...scheduled
visits alert to problems, keep competition out and allow you to
upsell constantly
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Greg
Bennett, a partner in the innovative brand expansion and
consulting organization, Altitude Premium Consulting, LLC, has been one of the top sales and sales management
trainers in professional sports and entertainment since 1988. He
has created and delivered training programs for over 80+ professional
sports teams and leagues, along with several Fortune 500
companies. Altitude Premium Consulting provides training as
well as the creation of premium-branded goods for pro sports teams,
entertainment companies and
corporate sponsors, and is in a
partnership relationship with Kroenke Sports Enterprises,
owners of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Pepsi Center, the
Colorado Mammoth and several other sports and entertainment entities
throughout the United States. Bennett can be reached at (303)
405-6110, or you can email Greg directly at gbennett@pepsicenter.com
.
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Altitude
Premium Consulting,
LLC
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