Conduct Effective Sales Conversations

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To excel in complex sales, there are four types of sales conversations you need to learn how to master:

1. Identify and initiate optimal opportunities
2. Have intuitive diagnostic conversations
3. Design well-anchored solutions
4. Candidly discuss risks and challenges

Learn how to conduct robust conversations in these four areas and you’ll be well on your way to success.

The Four Stage Process of Complex Sales

Discover: you identify the potential customers who have the greatest probability of actually purchasing what you offer.
Diagnose: You meet with the customer several times and provide them with the incentive to change.
Design: You do whatever is required to provide the customer with the confidence to invest in what you offer.
Deliver: You then follow through and ensure the value promises you made are actually realized.

To make this sequence work, you need to be having sales conversations with customers rather than giving scripted sales presentations. These diagnostic conversations focus on the customer’s actual needs rather than on your company or your products or services. There needs to be a clear outward focus on the customer’s needs rather than an inward focus on marketing yourself, your company or your products and services.

Benefits of the Four Stage Process

This four phase sequence develops information in a logical order so people ideally become emotionally ready to buy.

This sequence will enable you to be perceived as a savvy advisor rather than a pushy sales person.

By using this sequence, you can differentiate yourself and stand apart from the competition.

This is particularly importasnt because in most high stake sales situations, it’s helpful if you can avoid all the usual stereotypes.

The business executives with whom you work through this sequence using a series of diagnostic conversations will appreciate your thoroughness and professionalism.

What’s the Difference Between Two Types of Diagnostic Conversations
1. Discover

Generally speaking, the initial contact with a prospective customer is the most critical and least forgiving stage of the sale. You are considered guilty of being yet another pesky sales person until proven innocent. As a rule-of-thumb, you will have about 15-seconds to establish your relevance and credibility before the discussion is terminated and doors are closed.

A standard sales approach would be:

“Hi, Mr. Jones, how are you today? My name is Mike Bailey. I’m an account executive with Ace Industries. We are a leader in fuel station safety solutions. Our programs can improve your safety record and even save lives. I would like to get together with you and explain how we can make your business a better place to work.”

In addition to suggesting you know this industry better than the client, this approach is also used by so many people the knee-jerk reaction is: “How can I get rid of this pesky sales person?” A better approach is to frame your inital contact as a research conversation: “Mr. Jones, Mike Bailey with Ace Industries. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate that I speak with you but I’d like to run what I’m trying to do past you and see if it makes sense from your perspective. Do you have a moment to talk? I was listening to your recent analysts conference call and a number of questions came up about the volatility of your sales pipeline. I’ve spoken to a few of your sales managers and they mentioned this is partly due to the fact your company’s enterprise software doesn’t have the ability to capture that information. We talked a bit further about the suftware you currently use and they estimated that based on your current volume of business and production schedule, if we could make any improvements in this area, it could bump up your monthly revenues by another $2 to $3 million per month. Would that sort of revenue gain be worth looking into from your perspective? What I would suggest is that you recommend a few of your top people to me and I will work with them to develop a recommendation you can consider in more detail. Would that be helpful?”

Note this diagnostic approach is a significant departure from the traditional sales approach in several ways:

To pull this off, you’ve got to invest some significant time in research first. That then allows you to focus on the customer’s actual needs rather than your product’s features.
You’re open, honest and straightforward about the end ojbective. You explain exactly what you’re doing and why.
This is not a sales call. It is an invitation to engage in further diagnostic analysis of what’s needed. That distinction introduces all different kinds of dynamics.

The general tone of your conversation is relaxed and informal peer-to-peer. This is a professional approach, not a high-pressure attempt to persuade or sell.

All you ask for is access and sponsorship at thsi stage, not a yes-or-no purchase decision. You give the executive with whom you are talking a little follow up to do. You ask them to provide you with the contact details for the people you should meet with. That gets them involved and thinking about the subject at hand.

2. Diagnose

The usual approach in this step is something like this: “My company’s solutions address these kinds of problems. Do you concerns in any of these areas? Let me explain what we have to offer…”

A better diagnostic sales approach is more like this:

“Let me start by saking you this. As you look at your company’s future sales pipeline, starting with the primary factors which create volatility and ending with how your organization handles this information, and even though your business has been handling this very effectively in the past, which part of this process concerns you the most?”

This kind of approach is a springboard for an in-depth diagnosis of what is happening in the business. You can then engage in a series of follow-up questions:

“You know, I’ve heard that same concern from some of my other customers. Can you help me understand what ‘less volatility’ would actually mean in your situation.”

“Can you tell me more about…”

“Can you give me an example of…”

“When did you first notice…”

3. Design

As long as your diagnostic conversations have uncovered a part of the business where there is some inventive to change, you can then start talking about a solution which will best resolve that situation. In essence this is a matter of orchestrating the design of what will be an optimal solution that incorporates your products or services.

Ideally you want to co-create this ideal solutionp with the people you’ve been working alongside in the diagnostic conversation phase. This is the best way to come up with something that will fit their needs like a glove while at the same time differentiating you from all your competitors.

The key is to focus on the actual solution being created rather than lapsing back into the standard sales mentality of constantly talking about features and benefits. What’s needed here is an effective solution design conversation.

A good solution design conversation will cover these elements:

Expectations
“There are probably going to be several options, and it might be helpful to start by exploring these. I’d like to get a better understanding of the specific outcomes you’d like to see. What would they be? Which of these outcomes are the most desirable from your point-of-view?”

Alternatives
“Okay. There are probably several ways you could achieve these outcomes. What do you see as the main options? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative or approach?”

Resources
“What impact do you expect this project will ultimately have on your company’s revenues or costs?”

Investment expectations
“What level of resource investment would you consider to be appropriate in order to solve this problem in an optimal way?”

Timing
“How soon do you need to see results from this project? What would be the consequences of any delays?”

Measurement or design criteria
“How ill you measure the project’s results? How will you know when you have succeeded?”

By going through a thorough solution design conversation with your customers along these lines, you then have a wealth of information on how they intend to select their ideal solution. By helping them articulate and consider these points, you also clarify in your mind what needs to be done to secure their business. When you develop a formal sales proposal later on, you’ll know exactly what selection criteria will be used and how a decision will be arrived at. This can be a huge boost to your chances of success, especially if all your competitors will be acting in a vacuum.

Just to ensure everyone in the company is on the same page when it comes to these matters, you should also develop a discussion document which summarizes the key points from your solution design conversation. Circulate this to everyone who participated so any hidden conflicts be acknowledged and addressed. A good discussion document should align everyone and create momentum for a solution.

4. Deliver

In traditional sales methodologies, the close is the key part of the process. Entire books and seminars have been devoted to techniques that can be used here. In a diagnostic approach to selling, however, closing is not a special event but simply the next step in a logical and well-executed sequence.

To further clarify the differences between conventional selling and diagnostic style sales methodologies:

Traditional sales techniques focus heavily on making presentations. The close is a special type of presentation because you are asking for the order and asking the buyer to make a decision.

In conventional sales, written proposals are presented as documents for consideration. In diagnostic, sales, the written document is a record of the analysis and deliberation that has been invested thus far.

Traditionally, the sales propsal is prepared by the sales person without any input from the buyer. In diagnostic selling, the buyer has hands-on involvement in preparing the written proposal.

In conventional sales, the proposal is the sole product of the sales person. In a more diagnostic setting, the buyer has had intensive participation in the design of a suitable solution.

Normally the sales person needs to draw on skills of persuasion to help people overcome their objections. In a more diagnostic setting, the buyers have already been on a journey. They understand they have a problem and have analyzed its causes. The financial consequences of postponing a decision are already clearly quantified and understood. The buyer has been closely involved in molding a solution that is a good fit. Everything the buyer needs to make a high-quality decision has been put in place.

Usually, the seller needs to motifvate the buyer to move forward. When a diagnostic approach has been used, there is substantial rpport, credibility and trust. The decision will then become the natural next step.

Conventional selling treats closing as the climax of the transaction. In the diagnostic approach, more interest comes in the post-sale processes when the product or service is used and the benefits derived.

If you’ve used a diagnostic approach throughout the entire interaction with the customer, the written document that will be produced will be more of a confirmation than a proposal. It will document all the areas of agreement so the buyer has an incentive to change and the confidence to invest. The real purpose of the proposal under these conditions is to reinforce the decisions that have already been made. A good diagnostic based sales proposal:

Will contain no surprises, either good or bad, but will cover material and information which is already well known and thought out.

Will have the customer’s fingerprints all over it because it will have been produced with the help of insiders. It will even use language and terminology that will be aligned with the way people speak within the organization. The document will sound relevant and familiar to the buyer.

Will solicit and welcome feedfback so adjustments can be made and some fine tuning carried out before it gets to the final decision stage.

Will be formally presented, in part, by the customer’s own people — thereby reinforcing the shared ownership of this proposal. By encouraging in-house participation in making a presentation, barriers get eliminated entirely.

Will provide a big-picture perspective meaning it will be clear the initial sale will naturally lead to a much larger sale down the road which will provide more value. Your proposal must set some anchors for follow-on transactions and sales.

In addition to making a formal proposal, you should also be preparing the buyer for things to go wrong. It’s prudent to discuss the major risks and common challenges which customers encounter when accepting your proposal. You need to be straightforward and open about this and tell them who they need to call for help if any of these eventualities arise. Again, this open and frank discussion of potential problems is where diagnostic selling differs noticeably from traditional sales methodologies:

Conventional Sales	Diagnostic Approach
Every project will go smoothly	There will always be some surprises and some will be pleasant but others will not.
As the seller, I should downplay the perception of risk.	I should discuss all major risks clearly with clients before things go wrong.
Whenever a problem arises, find someone else to blame.	Try and understand the cause of the problem and address that.
The customer is always right.	The customer is always right in his or her own mind.
The more I can deflect blame, the better I look.	I need to look for ways I can contribute in meaningful ways.
When the customer expresses their frustration, I need to take it on the chin.	Salespeople have rights too.

Note also that by defining your success metrics in advance, it becomes feasible to have some worthwhile feedback conversations with your customers. Instead of the usual exchange of “How’s things going? Fine”, you have specific measurements that can be used to measure and confirm value delivery. You can then get down to specifics:

What do you think went exceptionally well?

Is there anything we should have done differently?

In these and other questions, you’re asking for factual observations rather than opinions. These questions will generate more thoughtful comments than would normally be the case. The ease with which feedback can be obtained will be a direct flow-on benefit of the adoption of the diagnostic approach to selling.