Selling the Cloud : A Playbook for Success in Cloud Software and Enterprise Sales by Mark Petruzzi & Paul Melchiorre

Author:Mark Petruzzi & Paul Melchiorre [Petruzzi , Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M4 Advisory, LLC
Published: 2020-10-16T20:00:00+00:00

Do any of these situations sound familiar to you? If so, you are likely in the enviable position of never needing to close. Some examples of industries that fit these descriptions include computer hardware, heavy equipment, aircraft, software, accounting, legal, industrials and many other B2B industries.

Professional buyers—no matter how good the selling is—will buy when (and only when) it is appropriate for them to buy. There is no impulse or pressure buying occurring at Google, Microsoft, Pfizer, or Goldman Sachs. At the same time, it is a myth that they buy solely on rational criteria; issues like the integrity of the salesperson are critical. All buying decisions are, at least in part, emotional.

HOW DO YOU WIN WITHOUT EVER CLOSING?

The process of closing uses up a great deal of “Trust Capital.” Trust Capital is what you generate throughout the sales cycle that will allow you to win. The one with the most trust equity generated on decision day wins the deal, not the one who burns the most. And that right there is the problem with the traditional approach to “closing.” It is focused on short-term, selfishly defined objectives. In any larger sense, it isn’t winning at all.

Some small part of Trust Capital is based on external factors, many of which you do not directly control. In most cases, you can only affect the perception of things like product quality, your firm’s reputation, and risk associated with your product or service.

However, Trust Capital is also significantly affected by every act, comment, and message (or lack thereof) you deliver. Your behavior is your responsibility and yours only. Like a solid product design, it matters a great deal which characteristics you begin with and how you develop them throughout your lifetime. Integrity and other personal virtues we often consider too “soft” to be meaningful are in fact tremendously powerful forces in sales success.

These intrinsic personal capabilities (IPCs) are what allowed Campbell to become one of the most renowned business developers in the application software and consulting marketplace. He knows that the way he is perceived affects his success ratio. He also knows that the level of consideration and respect he gives his clients translates into more business for him as a consulting professional.

True success is not about having the best sales methodology or always saying the right thing at the right time. It is about continuously and steadfastly building your own IPCs.

Campbell believes that trust is lost when pressuring a prospect into a close. He instead finalizes a sale by ensuring that every question that could be asked by the prospect is answered and every step of the decision process is fulfilled. He does so naturally, out of an outgrowth of his IPCs, because he is focused on total client satisfaction. By conducting his affairs in that way, he doesn’t have to “close” in the way we traditionally think of that term. Instead, the close occurs naturally.

Campbell has learned that he never, ever has to close. You don’t have to, either.

LEARN FROM EVERY DEAL

Every deal, whether it is won or lost, is worth dissecting and learning from.

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