Every sales environment is unique. Even if a company is offering the same products as it’s rivals it has a unique persona and appeal as does each individual in the company.

No standard sales formula can fit all sales environments. The Sales Success Formula is a model for creating any number of unique Sales Oracles. Each oracle or manual provides a blueprint for a particular sales environment and a specific guide for the sales people operating in it. Because the formula lays down a foundation of world class best practice, each business or sales team can adapt it to provide an extraordinary sales resource that is finely tuned to their needs.

Use the formula to apply thinking and intelligence to the steps in your sales process. It will help your to make many small improvements and perhaps a few significant leaps. Applying the principles and solving the obvious problems will lead to significant sales performance improvement.

If you are inspired by the ideas encapsulated in the Sales Success Formula and need some support to put them into practice, we will be pleased to help. We may even be able to guarantee results.

The formula is based on eliminating uncertainty in the sales process. The details revealed below are also presented in via video:

Sales Success Formula

The Eight Essentials Summarised

1. There are some basic questions that everyone asks when they buy anything significant. We refer to them as the top six customer questions. I’ll list them and explain how to structure a powerful response to each question.

2. If you have verifiable proof of value that is greater than your asking price, sales skills matter less. If you offer enough value, it doesn’t matter if your sales person has a bad body odour. I’ll suggest some ways to recognise and articulate value.

3. The clearer your target, the better your aim. I’ll suggest some criteria to help you see prospects more clearly before you call on them.

4. Getting a hearing is about messaging, timing, and persistence. I’ll explain how to sway the odds in your favour and increase the number of prospects who engage.

5. Anticipating objections, constructing effective turn around responses, and learning to use them automatically will equip you to handle any sales challenge that you can imagine.

6. I’ll explain why using a sales process framework improves conversion rates and leads to more consistent results.

7. If you follow this guide and compile your own sales oracle, to multiply it’s value you will need to teach others how to use it. I’ll provide some principles that must be followed for training to be fully effective.

8. Using the formula is more difficult than understanding it. The eighth step deals with using outside or temporary resources to accelerate adoption. I’ll explain the steps we take to develop a sales oracle and establish its use.

Step 1 - Answering the Top Six Customer Questions

Positioning - Who are [company]?

Characterising and positioning the Company in a memorable, succinct way conveys confidence and builds credibility.

Having a prepared and rehearsed two to three sentence speech communicates professionalism.

A top answer would communicate the industries or markets served, geographic presence, a layman's expression of the value created, time in business, and the size of the Company, said in less than 15 seconds.

Value - What do you do for customers?

People who ask the second question want to know about the value the Company delivers.

A powerful response would include a short explanation of the top three ways that customers benefit. This too, communicates professionalism, credibility, and value.

Credibility - Who are your top customers and what do you do for them specifically?

The third question reveals real interest. The questioner is seeking evidence that substantiates claims.

A satisfying answer would include three high impact examples of how the Company has helped specific customers.

Differentiation - How are you different from other companies who do similar things?

Someone who asks the fourth question is likely to be a buyer of the type of products or services you offer.

The questioner wants to learn the differences between the products or services your Company provides and those offered by competitors.

A top answer will include between one and three clear distinctions supported by examples of how customers benefit.

Differentiators might include proven success, specialist expertise, high levels of support, a solution oriented approach, or specific unique capabilities.

In each case, combining the statement with a brief example will add impact.

Responding well to the differentiation question demonstrates competence, builds interest, and gives the buyer reasons to pay more attention.

Reliability - Others have made convincing promises about these things and then not delivered. How can we be sure that you will do what you say you will?

Early in a sales conversation, customers are wary. They are concerned about being subjected to or persuaded by a clever sales pitch. Sometimes this concern is expressed as a challenge to the sales person and can take the form of question 5.

Even if a potential customer doesn’t challenge directly, this question is held in mind and answers sought indirectly.

A top answer would provide verifiable evidence of honesty and integrity. Possibilities include explanations of transparency, a list of standards conformed to, relevant accreditations, methodologies employed, guarantees, and customer references.

Value for Money - How could we be sure that we would get the best value if we came to you?

Customers know that they can set competitors against one another to test for best value.

They also know that this is expensive and delays fulfilment of the need.

Many customers prefer not to involve multiple competitors yet know that they risk paying too much if they neglect proper investigation.

Question 6 arises when a customer prefers not to compete a requirement.

A top answer will reassure the customer that the Company is genuinely committed to delivering value. Using three verifiable justifications is usually all that is necessary.

Examples include measurable return on investment, the number and status of satisfied customers, the method used to check market competitiveness, the method of calculating prices, and written guarantees.

Step 2 - Verifiable Proof of Value

If you did have food to sell and a list of hungry people, you might expect to make some sales.

What is the bread? How much does what you sell, contribute to a customers bottom line?

To answer this question you need to have someone specific in mind so think of your best customer.

How does what you sell, save them money? How does it save them time? How does it help them win more customers? How does it help them deliver better products or services.

Work out an actual amount for each question and then consider how you can verify your numbers with the customer.

If you did this for several good customers, you would be much better able to provide verifiable proof that your stuff does what you claim for it and you will be much less dependent on interpersonal communication skills or the chance that your face fits.

Step 3 - Characterising Ideal Customers

Three apprentice bowmen stand before their teacher. “See that clay bird in yonder tree”, the teacher asked? They all nodded. The teacher instructed the first student to take an arrow from his quiver, set it on his bow, and take aim at the clay bird.

He did so and as he drew his bow, the teacher asked, “what do you see”? The student replied, “I see a tree in the orchard with a clay pigeon in it”. The teacher indicated that he should continue and make his shot. The arrow struck the ground a few meters from the tree.

The second student stepped forward for his turn and again the teacher asked what he saw. The student declared that he could see the branches of the tree, some leaves, and a clay pigeon. His arrow flew quite close to the pigeon and clattered through the tree.

The third student had a purposeful look on his face. As he took aim, his brow was furrowed with concentration. The teach asked once more, “What can you see”? “The eye of the bird” came the reply. “What else can you see?” asked the teacher. “Nothing” replied the student as he let his arrow fly. It flew true, straight into the eye of the clay pigeon.

If you can see a person, you can tell if they are undernourished.

The internet and the search tools have made if quite easy to look at companies and learn a lot about them without having called or spoken with anyone who works their.

If you profile your best customers and use this as a template for recognizing suitable prospects, you will greatly reduce the time you waste on unproductive sales campaigns.

Step 4 - Repeatable and Proven Approach Method

Once you have done the work to characterise your bread and found some hungry people, you need a way to get their attention. If you were really selling bread, making sure that the smell of freshly baked bread wafted down the street, might be enough.

These days there are probably a lot of other people selling your kind of bread. Your prospects are assailed by enticements and calls from bread sellers. You need a way to stand out. You need a way to keep putting your messages in front of likely buyers without them seeming stale.

If you have completely identified your proof, it should be easy to create a series of messages, some for voicemail, some for email, some to be transmitted by fax, and some to be sent as letters.

If you invest sufficient forethought, planning, and preparation you can create a dozen or more fresh messages. With this treasure chest of interesting tidbits and compelling justifications, it becomes easy to mount a sales campaign over a period of months.

Sooner or later, the hungry prospects you have selected are bound to succumb to your persistence.

Step 5 - Reliable Objection Responses

Objections become mere steps when subjected to forethought, planning, and preparation. All of the obstacles thrown up during the sales process can be dealt with this way. As Voltaire put it, “no problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking”.

When a prospect’s appointed evaluator refuses access to the decision makers by saying, “It’s against our policy” or any other justification, you need to come up with a 'turn around' that keeps this person on side. She may be influential in her own right and could block you from further participation. Equally, you must find a way to speak with the other key people involved in the decision or else proceed without having any idea of what they think.

What would you say?

Here is a thought out solution:

“Policy is important. In our organisation, it usually helps us get a better result. That’s why we ask to discuss the issues with stake holders directly. We have found that it leads to a better solution – one that exactly meets the needs of everyone; could we work together to make this happen?”

To use this ‘turn around’ solution you will need to put it in your own words; give it your own voice, and practice it to make it sound natural. Then use it when the occasion arises - or use the principal to develop your own ‘turn around’ solutions. The important thing is to agree with the objector and then use the reason for the objection as the reason for doing as you propose.

Some of the best ‘turn around’ solutions may still fail, yet many will succeed, many more than the solutions that remain untried.

Step 6 - Creating a Sales Process Framework

Your sales process may be quite different and not fit the representation in the video at all. In addition, it is likely to include much more detail, even if you have never defined its execution.

Having a sales process framework has many benefits. The most significant is in how it aids anticipation of customer thinking and facilitates planning and preparation.

Without a plan, actions are random and may be ineffective.

With a plan, action are focused and results can be measured.

Having a sales process helps increase collaboration between buyer and seller and shortens the sales cycle. It helps sales people increase their control over the sales process and recognise opportunities to move a sale forward.

A sales process is a framework rather than a constraint. Defining it and examining each step allows obstacles to be subjected to sustained thought instead of randomly clubbed through the uncoordinated efforts of individual sales people.

Step 7 - Efficient and Effective Training

All the planning, forethought, and preparation is a waste of time if those who must put it into action are not given the opportunity to study the plan and learn their part in it.

Successful training depends on the commitment and participation of 3 parties, the participants, the coach or trainer, and the managers. All three must be fully invested.

Having good material and an inspiring trainer is not enough.

Participants must begin by understanding what they are required to do differently as a result of the training. They must be committed to the agreed outcome.

Managers must take the time to become familiar with training content as well as the objectives so that they can support downstream change.

Step 8 - Using Outside Resources

Using the Sales Success Formula is a challenge. If it were easy, world class sales teams would be the norm.

It requires a great deal of effort and time to gather the evidence and develop the necessary materials. Sales people need to adapt and practise using the messages before they will feel confident delivering them in front of a prospect.

If you recognise the value of the formula, you may also have realised that you don't have the resources to use it. Suitably qualified people are fully occupied with urgent priorities. Those who might have the time to do the work, may not have the right experience or skills to create high quality usable material. Most businesses and their sales people are too busy with day to day pressing priorities to find time for the work.

There are few short cuts.

Sales managers could hire talented individuals who have some of the right skills, habits and behaviours.

Occasionally, a superstar who has it all becomes available, however, even if you can afford the necessary benefits package, hiring a top performer won’t help transfer best practice knowledge and behaviour to the other 70% to 80% of a sales team who could do with some expert help.

Yet the spoils of best in class performance are there for the taking.

Instead of struggling to create a Sales Oracle yourself while coping with all of your other duties, it is more efficient to bring in temporary outside resources.

We have developed sales oracles and supporting training materials for others. Here is a summary of the things we do to help customers implement the Sales Success Formula:

• Develop convincing answers to the top six customer questions on your behalf

• Gather the proof that your stuff does what you claim.

• Characterise and even identify the right prospects.

• Write six months worth of compelling prospecting messages

• Craft effective turn around solutions

• Define your sales process framework

• Train your sales people to use the material and messages effectively

We would compile all of the material into a unique sales oracle that staff can use to support presentations, overcome sales obstacles, and increase sales performance.

With this document as a foundation, new sales people can be equipped with jet ski instead of being tossed in the deep end. Your sales oracle would be worth more to new sales people than their car allowance.

You would have a comprehensive set of standards to test and measure against. Everyone needs to exercise and practice to maintain peak performance.

Once a full set of effective messages have been assembled, individual messages can benefit from continual development and improvement.

Sales people with normal talents will have a set of benchmarks that will help them develop best in class skills and acquire the habits and practices of top performers.

We have templates and examples for all the elements of the Sales Success Formula and have built sales oracles before, for individuals and teams so we can do it for others much more efficiently than they could do it for themselves.

What’s more we guarantee results. We won’t accept an assignment if we can’t promise at least a 5% performance improvement within 2 to 6 months,.

If you think your sales performance could be better for the use of the Sales Success Formula, get in touch for a free consultation. Call us on +44 (0)118 933 1357, or send an email to info@salessense.co.uk.

We will be pleased to speak and learn about your sales environment.

White Paper by Clive Miller
Questions and comments to clive@salessense.co.uk