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Modern Selling Workshop: The Way to Sell
Editor's Notes
- INTRODUCTORY SLIDES – 01.21 Slide 1: Charity Freebairn: Welcome to our webinar – the way to sell, powered by Linkedin and Mill Heiman Group. We’ll be walking you through the key insights from a really exciting new eBook that LinkedIn has just created with Miller Heiman: The Way to Sell. Please do type any questions that you may have in the Q&A panel throughout this session, and we will get to answering them. Why is this partnership so exciting? It brings together the sales methodologies that Miller Heiman has built up over decades of experience, with one of the most powerful tools available for putting those methodologies into action today: LinkedIn Sales Navigator Richard Hilton: So, over the course of the next 45 minutes, we’ll be exploring how and why sales is changing, and what you need to do today, in order to stay successful. We’ll be focusing on the repeatable principles that are proven to deliver success in the current sales environment. And we’ll also be able to show how you can apply these principles very effectively through the way that you use LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
- Slide 2: 01.26- 01.54 Richard Hilton: Let me start by explaining what Miller Heiman group is We invented modern selling and we’ve been training and consulting with sales teams to help them sell more effectively for 150 years Our solutions deliver results no matter how complicated business gets
- Slide 3: 01.55 – 02.38 Charity Freebairn: I work on our Sales Navigator product, which is essentially the best version of LinkedIn for sales Sales Navigator brings the best of our network, and delivers automated insights to help you prospect, prioritise and sell more effectively Excited that our two platforms work so well together and we’re going to walk you through how you can combine Sales Navigator with the experience and insight of Miller Heiman, to be more productive today
- Slides 4-5: Cut here 02.40- 03.44 CF: Run through LinkedIn membership stats (global and EMEA) Membership and engagement / activity levels
- Slide 6: 03.48 – 05.11 RH: Throughout the webinar - we’ll be talking through Miller Heiman’s strategic selling concepts and methodologies and how this can help teams succeed in a changing world for selling Our focus has always been on ensuring that sales teams don’t just know what to do – they understand why it matters The truth is, effective selling comes down to a four-part framework: You need to know who’s involved You need to consider why it makes sense for them to engage with you You need to predict when is the right moment You need to know how to reach out in a way that’s going to be effective CF: The exciting thing we’re able to do today is explore these principles and, at the same time, use Sales Navigator to show how we can bring them to life So by the end of this webinar, you won’t just have a great sales strategy and methodology – you’ll have some great ideas for putting that methodology into action on LinkedIn
- Slide 7: 05.12 – 06.53 RH: Sales is changing – and the data shows that it’s getting tougher This is a stat from Miller Heiman’s own research that shows quota attainment is down 10% since 2012 Why? There are a few reasons. On the sales side: Digital is changing how people interact It’s harder to define the businesses we’re targeting – the boundaries between sectors are blurred and the way we manage sales often struggles to keep up The role of sellers is also changing – our teams need influencer skills but also consultancy, problem-solving and analytical skills
- Slide 8: 06.56 – 08.00 RH: On the buyer side, the changes are even more dramatic The simple challenge is that buyers are getting better at buying faster than sellers are getting better at selling They are savvier, they know what they want – their expectations are increasing, they already have information and they don’t need that from you – they demand more value as a reason for engaging They are more independent, they are self-directed, and that means that by the time sales makes contact, they often don’t want to be educated – they want to negotiate Sales methodologies have to adapt to this…the approach that got you to where you are probably won’t keep you where you are
- Slide 9: 08.10 - 08.33 RH: Perhaps the most significant change involving buyers is that there are more of them! Think about your last deal – how many people were involved? Charity - what was your last sales experience like? Miller Heiman research shows an average 6.4 people involved in a deal
- Slide 10: 08.34 – 09.35 RH: This is why The Way to Sell today has to start with identifying who’s involved in the buying circle, and what their roles are in relation to your sales objective That’s because any given player in an account can shift roles quickly and unpredictably, even if their title remains the same. You can’t assume that job titles tell you everything – and you can’t assume that the person you’re used to dealing with is the right person for this deal That’s why you need to focus on identifying which people are playing which roles regarding your current sales objective You can classify the role of everyone involved in buying into one of four categories based on the type of influence they’re exerting. You can’t usually advance a deal without identifying and dealing with people in each of these roles: Economic Buyer User Buyer Technical Buyer Coach
- Slide 11: 09.36 – 10 CF: To try to bring this to life we’re going to imagine that we’re selling a talent acquisition solution into a big technology business – like a Microsoft – and as we go through the principles of the methodology, we’ll explore how we can identify the roles of the people in that business using Sales Navigator.
- Slide 12: 10.03 – 12.27 RH: Let’s start at the top, the person who’s going to sign the cheque at the end of the day: the Economic Buying Influencer They have the money to spend and need a reason to spend it Typically, there is one of these in every buying group Look at GMs, MDs, Heads of Sales, CSOs, CROs Anyone who has regional responsibility for P&L These people care about how they are spending money, but they also very much care about the impact on the bottom line and the ROI they are getting. The key question they have to ask is: what impact will this spend have on advancing the organisation? CF (Demonstration): They are the person we like to start with and we feel they should be relatively easy to identify So let’s have a look at Sales Navigator and ask ourselves what the best way to identify the EBI might be, in our HR Solutions example You can filter by seniority to look at C-levels, and also filter by geography and expertise If you’re focusing on a specific business as we are here, you can filter by company and then look at both regional leaders and potentially, functional leaders who may have an interest in the ROI of our programme
- Slide 13: 12.30 – 14. 24 RH: There’s typically one EBI signing the cheque, but they will open up the decision to a range of feedback from relevant influencers. These are the User Buying Influencers, and that’s what we’re going to look at next These are the people using and consuming your solution The success of your product will determine their success They are looking at features, effectiveness, efficiency gains, they’re comparing you to the incumbent solution, and asking whether you are going to help them do more in their job, or not? There will be many of them In our case, this is the sales team CF: UBIs are often brought in at the evaluation stage, and their opinion matters. They’re also really useful at the renewal stage, when you are looking for case studies. So these are definitely people worth identifying and relationships worth building.
- Slide 14: - 14.28 – 16.09 RH: Technical Buying Influencers – these are your gatekeepers In sales teams’ experience they are all too often the people you encounter at the end of the deal when they are getting in the way We need to change that – engage them earlier Their role is to weed out inappropriate solutions and check that any proposed solution really fits the business’s requirements They may not have power to say Yes – but do have power to say ‘No!’ They can veto your solution They can be tricky and so it’s important to understand their role and how you can navigate around them CF: Sales teams’ approach to TBIs is often reactive – and that’s the problem We wait until they introduce themselves or the person we’re dealing with introduces them to us, and that’s often right at the end of the process CF (demonstration): Let’s look at Sales Navigator to see how we can be more proactive We can identify them and understand their priorities even if not in contact with them Titles-wise, we want to look at people in procurement, contracting, supply chain, IT, data security, L&D There could be multiple TBIs across different countries in your region Sales Navigator makes it easy to identify all of the relevant ones
- Slide 15: 16.10 - 18.42 RH: The fourth role is highly important: the coach or coaches You need at least one (Miller Heiman research shows deals without coaches are most likely to go dark) We talk about them as a sidekick (Robin to your Batman) – on your side and giving information to help advance the deal and close it together They care about the success of your proposal They could be in any one of the other roles we have identified – ideally you want them to be the EBI but that’s not always the case They have to have credibility with the other influencers – and believe you and your solution are credible They want your solution and actually tell you this You have to be wary of false coaches who give you a lot of information or help you personally – but don’t help advance your sale A coach could be a coach today – but not for a different sales opportunity tomorrow You need to identify the coach – and identify them early CF: The coach doesn’t need to feel like a best friend – you can miss valuable potential coaches because it doesn’t feel like you have that type of relationship They can still be a coach even if they don’t want to make time for a coffee or a glass of wine after work There’s a big difference between a coach and a mentor If you’re a sales leader – push your team on the coach – ask them who they think it is, keep challenging them to identify who’s playing this role CF (demonstration): There’s no filter for ‘Coach’ but there are ways to identify them One interesting way is to look at someone in one of our roles who’s been a client of your business at a previous company – somebody who’s already bought your solution You can use Sales Navigator’s advanced fillers – search for people previously working at a company that your company has done business with (eg. Microsoft employees formerly at IBM) Use Teamlink to find people at your business who can help you with introductions and referrals to these potential coaches – bear in mind that, because you are a big organisation, you might not be connected to those people on LinkedIn – but Sales Navigator can help you find them It’s an idea to prioritise potential coaches you can establish a warm introduction to
- Slide 16: 18.44 – 19.22 RH: So… think about bucketing the people you are working with on a deal into these four roles – they will be playing one of them CF: A nice feature of Sales Navigator is that you can use tabs to categorise people according to these different influence groups and help you prioritise
- Slide 17: 19.23 – 20.15 RH: You’ve identified who the influencers are that you need to engage with But you’re not going to be able to engage with them effectively, until you ask this next question: Why? What is the reason this person would agree to meet with me? Your reason doesn’t count You’re seeking a Valid Business Reason or VBR We define a VBR as something that establishes a Win-Result concept – that’s something that combines your buyer or influencer’s own personal goals with their business objectives
- Slide 18: 20.16 – 21.55 RH: Let’s look at the ‘Win’ side of the concept first – this is the ‘Win’ for the individual you’re seeking to engage with It’s how you can help them to fulfil these types of personal goals – they’re subjective, often quite intangible, but very important emotionally You can get info on this from their LinkedIn activity: what they engage with and what they like You can also potentially get it from your coach CF: In Sales Navigator, there’s a particular type of win you can identify: people who are new to a role are highly motivated to make a difference, and you can filter searches by people who’ve only taken on a new role recently This could be an opportunity to identify first-time leaders who are looking to make an impact, for example
- Slide 19: 21.55 - 24 RH: A ‘Result’ is different – although certainly not contradictory It’s the measurable impact that you’ll have on the customer’s business These are business reasons that are more tangible than the Wins – and will have big impact on your influencer’s career It’s the specific business goals that people are trying to achieve We know that people make decisions with emotion and justify through logic – and the Win-Result concept plays to this It’s when you are able to establish both – and establish the link between the two – that buyers have a powerful reason for engaging with you CF: When it comes to finding what relevant Results would be, you can search on mentions of the business in external news, which talk about specific business priorities and the tangible results that people are hoping to achieve CF: The key thing is that you define the Win-Result Concept and the VBR before you attempt to reach out Make it a priority by relating it to immediate pain points Find a way to communicate it that feels natural and relatable And try to get it into a form that’s concise and clear enough that you could leave it as a voicemail, as a message, or explain it impactfully in a message on LinkedIn
- Slide 20: 24.01 – 24.48 RH: Knowing When to engage is one of the hardest skills as a seller Understanding people’s Mode is the key to identifying the right moment People buy when there’s a discrepancy between their situation and where they want to be It’s a personal reaction to where they feel they are at – though it can, of course, reflect signals about the business that you can pick up on
- Slide 21: 24.50 – 27.17 RH: There are four major Modes that your buyer could be in, based on their current perception of the relationship between where they are and where they want to be In Growth Mode, there’s a significant gap between where they are and where they want to be – because they are ambitious and have big growth plan. They are ready to buy – although not necessarily from you In Trouble Mode, there’s also a significant gap but in the other direction – these people are going to buy whatever it is that will get them out of their trouble, and they will buy fast. A buyer in trouble trumps anything else. In Even Keel, the buyer can’t see any reason why they would need to change or rock the boat. They’re much harder to sell to. Those in Overconfident Mode, are probably growing but they are the hardest to sell to of all, because everything appears to be developing in line with their targets. Their perception is that they are outperforming where they need to be – they should maybe be selling solutions, rather than you! CF: An interesting point to think about is that the same large business might be in different modes in different regions – they could be on Even Keel in their home market but in Growth mode elsewhere.
- Slide 22 – 27.18 – 27.51 CF (demonstration): How can we use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to help identify these Modes? News and insights tab – the most up to date articles that a business shares or is mentioned in, could indicate growth and very useful for indicating trouble Look at headcount – ebbs and flows of talent can often surface signals of growth and trouble that aren’t evident publicly: are they taking on new resource or shedding it?
- Slide 23 27.55 – 28.12 RH: We’ve reached the How – you’ve identified the right people, the right reasons and the right moment, but everything still depends on how you execute against these
- Slide 24 – 28.13 – 28,38 CF: This is the key question in sales – How do you reach out? Richard – what are the most successful channels that you use?
- Slide 25 – 28.38 –29.53 CF: We conducted a study to look at the various channels that people use We’ve rated these based on feedback from sales people on effectiveness I wouldn’t write off some of the approaches in the top line – letter writing for example could be really interesting as part of your strategy However, we’re going to focus in on the bottom line, where we see people consistently finding the greatest success A key thing to say here is that, although the platform is important, what’s really important is the content of your communication on that platform
- Slide 26 29.55 – 34.00 CF: So let’s look in detail at how we can leverage these social media channels for outreach Firstly, don’t underestimate the power of the ‘Like’ I speak to lots of sales reps and even sales leaders who believe that liking content and commenting on it is kind of fluffy and a bit of a waste of time But then we did an analysis of the Sales Navigator activities at one of our largest customers to find which correlated most highly with revenue in closed/won business. It turned out that the most successful accounts were where they had most social activity, and in particular commenting and liking on the CFO and financial decision-makers’ posts Liking is a play on human ego – and every time it happens the person who created a post get a notification That makes this an effective way to nurture buyers and influencers – especially when you have somebody that you’re not getting to talk to They are more likely to remember you and respond when you reach out
- Slide 27 – 34.00 - CF: How does that reaching out work best – more often than not reaching out is most effective via InMail. Here are a couple of stats to bear in mind: 50% read on mobile Response rate drops to 13% when it’s over 150 characters So best practice is optimise for mobile – and keep concise What about the content you should include? Prove that it’s personalised and hasn’t gone to everyone – create a customised, social, warm introduction, take a sentence to show you’ve done your homework Leverage the VBR to express concisely why you’re getting in touch Include a really clear call to action – what are you asking of the person? Remember – people are on LinkedIn to build professional relationships not to get pitches… so take the right tone
- Slide 28 CF: Personal introductions work best – in fact, I think every sales person would work only through referrals if they had the choice Sales Navigator can help you identify the best referral to use – through Teamlink When you’re looking at a contact of interest, you can identify members of your team who may know this person, and how they may know them What’s great is that Sales Navigator’s algorithm tries to prioritise which of these people who could introduce you seem most promising – where there’s the greatest overlap, for example – so it really helps you to find the best route If you’re not connected to your colleagues then I’d urge you to use Sales Navigator to see how you could get connected
- Slide 29 – 32.47 RH: Summarise key take-aways Sales is changing and what got you to where you are won’t keep you there CF: The exciting thing about LinkedIn’s partnership with Miller Heiman is that it’s one thing to have the methodology and one thing to have the technology – but when you bring the two together that’s really powerful
- 35.38 Thank you so much for attending our webinar. We have been answering questions throughout the webcast, but we will answer a couple more before the webinar finishes…..