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Selling Above and Below the Line
Convince the C-Suite. Win Over Management. Secure the Sale.
By William "Skip" Miller AMACOM
Copyright © 2015 William "Skip" Miller
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8144-3484-0
CHAPTER 1
You Are Selling More Than Just Features and Benefits
Carlos was confident. He had been in this position before, and he was on a roll. He stood at 142 percent of his quota YTD, and if he closed this deal, it would make his year, with three months to go.
"Do you think we have covered everything?" his manager, Jeanne, asked. "This looks good, but are you sure about tomorrow's meeting with the COO and CEO? This seems quite technical to me."
"It's good, Jeanne. They're both very technical people. The manager who they are relying on told me what to say. We've only got thirty minutes to explain to them why we are the best solution. I've cut out all the fluff and will present just the essentials on who we are, why we are uniquely qualified, and when this solution can be fully implemented."
"Okay, I'm trusting you. What role do you want me to play?"
"Just answer any questions they have. Let's work together on closing this deal tomorrow. I don't think they are going to ask for more than 15 percent off, and we're okay with that, right?"
"That's more than we like to give, you know that. Let's just see how this plays out."
Carlos did not get the sale. He was overly technical and did not address what the C-levels wanted. Relying on his User Buyer's information and guidance, he focused on features and benefits, and that was just not good enough for the executive suite. They wanted to hear numbers; how much time this was going to save on their current initiatives, how much cost or risk was going to be reduced. Right level, wrong language. Brought a knife to a gunfight.
Stories like this play out over and over again.
THE NEUROSCIENCE OF SELLING: IT'S ALL ABOUT US
The thoughts are familiar. You've played them over and over in your head countless times.
"If I can just get them to see our value proposition."
"If the prospect could just see it how we see it, they would make a decision for us in a heartbeat."
"We are the perfect fit for what they are looking for. What do we have to do to make them see that?"
It just feels good talking about us. It really does. For most people, our own thoughts and experiences are some of our favorite things to think and talk about. Research at Rutgers University shows that people spend 60 percent of their conversations talking about themselves—and that number rises to 80 percent when we're using social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook.
Why do people, especially salespeople, spend the majority of their time talking about themselves and their solutions? Because it feels good.
Research at Harvard University has shown an increase in neural activity in areas of the brain associated with motivation and reward when people are talking about themselves. It's the same area that lights up when we get gratification from happy experiences, good food, and sex.
In a sales situation, talking about yourself and your point of view—your features and benefits—is enjoyable. Those good vibrations make salespeople go on and on about themselves and their product's features and benefits, regardless of the complementary—and essential, it turns out—need to talk about the customer's problems and the resolution to those problems.
The bottom line is that talking about us—our products and the benefits they confer—is intrinsically rewarding. The research also showed it was rewarding even if no one was actively listening! Even posting information about ourselves on our social media outlets makes us happy.
In fact, many salespeople have had great success pitching features and benefits. And especially since they have enjoyed doing it, they have convinced themselves that it's the right thing to do.
However, the savvier among them know they leave something on the table. Why? Because features-and-benefits salespeople are rarely invited to the final meeting, the one where the User Buyer makes the final pitch to the executive team on the sales process, the preferred vendor, and the proposed final price, while the salesperson waits by the phone or out in the lobby.
Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
THE DECEPTIVE LURE OF FEATURES AND BENEFITS
When sales teams fall prey to the fallacy that they can win sales with a focus on features and benefits, who is to blame?
* Marketing, since they jam product features and benefits down the sales organization's throats?
* Sales management, since they stress product knowledge, deal management, and key competitive land mines in presentations and demonstrations?
* Customers, since they drive the feature/benefit discussion with a decision criteria sheet?
* Salespeople, since they are have fine-tuned their feature/benefits presentation and receive glowing reviews from the User Buyers and bosses they present to?
It's a mix of all of the above.
Rather than lay blame for this shortsightedness on individuals or particular parts of the organization, let's instead consider the way things have always gotten done, and why. And why it's time for a change.
To get started, let's look at two sales scenarios and how they were addressed by two salespeople with very differing approaches:
Jill needed a new accountant for her business. She got some good recommendations and narrowed the candidates down to two, Larry and Diane. She made a visit to Larry's office to help her determine if he and his firm would be a good fit.
Jill walked into Larry's office. It was richly designed, with beautiful wood furniture and degrees on the wall. Larry started in.
"We've been in business for over thirty-three years. My father, John, started the business and we have a stellar reputation. We have been in the same location and have had many of our clients since day one. As a matter of fact, Bill Murphy is coming over this afternoon, and his company was one of our first.
"Jill, we aren't like a lot of firms who nickel-and-dime their clients. We treat our clients like family. You have an audit, we're right in there with you. We also keep you up on the latest tax and audit laws on a monthly basis. We know what our clients need, and we proactively are there for them."
Jill had an appointment with Diane later that afternoon. She had the same type of office with similar degrees on the wall.
"Thanks, Jill, for coming down. Before I get into who we are and what we do, could you please tell me what you are looking for in an accountant, and what would be two or three characteristics of the firm that would be important? Let's start with what happened that's causing you to look at changing what you have currently."
An hour later, Jill had defined what she was looking for. She did not hear a lot from Diane about her firm, but Diane really had it down about what Jill was looking for, and Jill felt she had been heard.
Frank was frantic. The expiration of his current lease had snuck up on him, and he needed to see if he could do better. The location was ideal, but the 25 percent rent increase the landlord, Jack, was asking for was hard to swallow. Frank met with Jack to see what could be done.
"Frank, my costs have skyrocketed," Jack said. "I've had to add a new maintenance guy, make a major investment in the phone and communication system, and I'm looking at having to resurface the parking lot. You'll really enjoy the new parking lot. The current one is such an eyesore. I can't wait, and I'm sure you and your car will appreciate it!
"I know 25 percent seems steep, but I've held these costs down for you the past couple of years, and now I'm paying for it. So I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to keep up with the times."
Frank then had a meeting with a building owner three blocks away. It was not a perfect location, but one that could work.
"Frank," said Phil, the building's owner, "moving locations is always an ordeal. 'How will my customers find me? How easy is it to switch the mail, phone, and Internet connections? How long do I have to be down? How much is it really going to cost me?' These and probably a bunch more questions are probably running through your mind. So let's discuss first things first. Why are you considering changing locations?"
What is the common thread between these two stories? In both, the first sellers talked about themselves—who they were and why what they offered would make a difference to the buyer. They both had a lot to say and wanted to make sure they were heard.
The second seller in each story just asked questions and listened to the buyer, prompting them to discuss what was motivating them to change, and what they were looking for from the change.
You probably picked up on this immediately. And, of course, if it's so obvious to you, it has to be obvious to the sellers—and buyers—as well. So why do so many people sell like the first examples and not the second ones?
I say there's something obviously missing with the features-and-benefits approach. What is it?
The majority of salespeople, regardless of what they sell, just have to deliver that features-and-benefits pitch. It happens on sales calls time and time again. But it turns out that what companies think their value proposition is to their customers may not be what the market thinks it is.
Product Knowledge Is Easy—and Insufficient
Let's get to the key variable. Why do most salespeople rely so heavily on their knowledge of their product's features and benefits? Is it possible that it's simply because it's just so easy and feels good? Let's tell everyone who we are and why we are so great (here's where you pump out your chest) and will conquer the world.
Marketing Value? Not Enough
Companies and salespeople believe in the marketing value of their organizations —who they are and what they stand for. It influences who they hire, their stock price, their competitive marketing decisions, and their product direction. So of course, companies believe that if prospects can get on board with their marketing value—why they are worth the price they are charging relative to competitive solutions—then the world is sane again.
This works ... to a point.
Fiscal ROI Value? Something's Still Missing
The other side of this sale is the "business case," the return on investment (ROI), if you will. Regardless of features and benefits, any change, any decision, any purchase must make fiscal sense.
Returning to Jill's and Frank's stories, in each of them, the second seller was on the right path in asking questions to try to understand the business value the buyer was looking for. So let's assume that in both stories, those sellers got a lot of information from the buyer about what they were looking for, and why they wanted to change accounting firms, in the one case, and physical locations, in the other.
Great. Then what? After twenty minutes of questioning, does the seller then go into a features-and-benefits pitch on what they offer? Or is now the time to go into the fiscal justification for the prices that they will be charging? Neither; there has to be something more. Something's still missing as we try to get at the essence of selling beyond just features and benefits.
BUYERS BUY OUTCOMES
When you look at things from the customer's point of view, you will see two outcomes.
Outcomes are the WIIFM (what's in it for me) part of the sale. Customers usually hope for two outcomes for each sale:
Outcome #1: Whatever we buy will be better than what we have. It will be faster, lighter, quicker, brighter, superior, easier to use; it will also do more and be longer lasting. And I will be in charge of having to make this work. Call this outcome the "BTL (Below the Line) Outcome." Why "below the line"? Because it is meant to satisfy the people in the middle and lower end of the corporate hierarchy.
Outcome #2: What we buy will make us money, save us time, or lower our risk. It will assist in our need to change. It will move one of our top priorities forward this quarter by at least 20 percent. We call this outcome the "ATL (Above the Line) Outcome." Why "above the line"? Because this outcome must meet the need of the C-suite, at the top of the corporate hierarchy.
Here's the hitch. Both outcomes are of importance. However, salespeople generally spend more than 80 percent of their time selling only to Outcome #1 (all about what the seller can do for the User Buyer). When they finally try to address Outcome #2 (all about the customer and their initiatives), it's usually too late in the sale. So the whole sale rests on Outcome #1, or really, only one value proposition. That's an unnecessarily anemic basis for influencing a decision.
"It's not my job to tell them what to do with what we are selling them." "Hey, they are the ones who gave us the decision criteria ... what they are looking for. We can't tell them legally how much we are going to save them." "My job is to explain the features and the benefits of what we sell, right?"
Why do salespeople only go after the BTL value proposition? It's what salespeople have been taught to say, taught to present, and taught to demonstrate and quote. It's also what prospects demand when they want to do a trial, have a specific request, or just come to the website and do some initial investigation. Well, if that's what they are curious about and want to spend money on, far be it from the salesperson to buck that trend.
So a sales approach can be all about BTL Outcome #1, which is not that bad. It does result in the articulation of a unique value proposition. But you are leaving about 50 percent of the prospect's value proposition off the table, sometimes even more. That's a lot of value.
Why are you doing this? It's because you have had some success in sales without having to address ATL Outcome #2. Marketing hasn't told you about Outcome #2. Your sales manager has not insisted on getting two outcomes or value propositions identified in the sales process. Heck, everyone is talking about Outcome #1 anyway, so what's the big deal?
Well, let's look at what is really driving your actions—or should be driving them.
Here is a typical Customer Buying Process, which I define as unfolding in six stages (see Figure 1–1).
Stage 0: The need to change is identified. The customer identifies a need to change a process, a methodology, a current way of doing things at the C-level. Something is broken, or is going to break, and management needs to change the way they are doing things currently. This decision to change is very much driven by Outcome #2. At this point, Outcome #1 is really just along for the ride. The User Buyers would love to get their hands on something new and different. They hear rumors of something new, so they go to websites, kick tires, get free trials, and request demos so they can be prepared if their input is requested. There is, however, no energy to change the current business proposition.
Stage 1: The needed change is defined and refined. Once management (the ATL stakeholder in Outcome #2) has decided to change a process, a piece of equipment, or a way they are currently doing things, they turn the definition of the specific requirements over to the people who will be responsible for using the new equipment or method (Outcome #1). They will be the ones to decide if it can work. Management just makes sure they stay within a reasonable timeframe and budget.
Stage 2: The seller's product is evaluated. It's all features and benefits (Outcome #1) as the seller presents the product for an initial evaluation.
Stage 3: The product is demoed and validated. As the selling process moves through validating and demonstrating the product in greater detail, features and benefits again take center stage. Management only needs to validate the premise, while the users need to validate that whatever they are evaluating will work, since they will be the ones whose jobs will be on the line.
Stage 4: Product costs are justified and the proposal is fine-tuned. During the period of justifying the expense and working out the fine points of the proposal, the appropriate focus is on Outcome #1, but management, most interested now in Outcome #2, will get involved to ensure the buyer gets the "best deal, and does not go over budget." (Note that Outcome #1 is under a budget limitation.)
Stage 5: A decision is made. When it's time for the final decision, lower-level management should be confident that agreement to the sale will result in Outcome #1. But now the executive suite gets involved to hammer out the best deal and to make sure that what has caused them to seek change in Stage 0 is actually being addressed by what they are getting in Stage 5.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Selling Above and Below the Line by William "Skip" Miller. Copyright © 2015 William "Skip" Miller. Excerpted by permission of AMACOM.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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