On Tuesday, we talked about how the biggest killer of B2B deals is fear of looking stupid. If your buyer isn’t 100% confident in your solution, that fear will make them hesitate and unlikely to hire you to fix the problem you uncovered. What can we do in our sales process to help buyers to get over that hump? 1. Drag the monster out from under the bed. In the first meeting, I want to talk about why the prospect is reaching out to us now. Is something happening internally (e.g., The CEO has a bee in her bonnet, or they’re launching a new product), or externally we have a trade show, or new competition has cropped up) driving their urgency? If so, get that out on the table right … [Read more...]
Why do clients do nothing (even when they tell you they need your help)?
When we are talking to a potential client, the most likely outcome is that they will do nothing. I bet if you went back through your CRM and looked at the deals that didn’t close, 75% of those prospects didn’t hire anyone to help them with their problem. This is heartbreaking – you did all the hard work and got no deal. You found someone with a problem that you could help solve. You qualified that prospect; they have a real problem with a high cost, urgency, and an outcome you can help them achieve. You built trust, developed options, created a proposal, and still…nothing. Why? They don’t want to look foolish. The worst outcome for a B2B buyer is that they hire the … [Read more...]
When you hunt ghosts, you get ghosted!
Thanks for all the replies I got to this week’s emails – it’s easy to see that we are all experiencing similar challenges! One reply to Thursday’s email about eliminating business development follow-up was worth noting. It said, Most people, me included, lie to themselves about why things don’t work out in biz dev… self-blame, not worthy, not good enough… feeding insecurity in self-serving ways. In reality, we aren’t trained to see that the sale wasn’t happening, EVER!Becoming aware of that behavior and breaking that habit is like breaking your own arm. Not all activity is good activity. When we chase after ghosts, leads that are not ready to buy, or opportunities for which we … [Read more...]
Eliminate business development follow-up
An agency owner asked me this question recently. I reviewed the pricing options with my client last week, but I haven’t heard back from them. How long do I wait before I send a follow-up email? The short answer is, you’ve driven into a cul-de-sac; there’s no good way out but to go back to the beginning. When we’re selling creative services, it works best for the sales process and the subsequent project for you to maintain a peer position in the relationship. Follow-up, where I’m chasing the client, undermines that by placing me in a position of need. (I need your business more than you need my services.) So, starting from the beginning, here’s how you make sure you never end up … [Read more...]
What’s growth look like for your business development process?
If the economy slows over the next 18 months winning new business will get more challenging. To keep your business strong in any economic condition, you need to upgrade your business development process. There are three critical decisions you have to make to ensure you’re able to win business in unfavorable economic conditions: Focus on one target market. When new business is scarce, there will be more agencies vying for fewer opportunities. How will you get in the door if the prospects don’t see you as meaningfully different from the herd? You need to know your prospects’ business and be able to show relevant case studies to set you apart. Identify a channel to reach … [Read more...]