Report on Sales Training Analysis

Management Consulting • Training • Research

THE MYCELIA PROJECT
REPORT ON AN ANALYSIS OF SALES TRAINING

BARKER HOFFMANN
BHC House, 40 Church Hill Road, East Barnet Herts EN4 8TA ENGLAND
+442084404085
www.barkerhoffmann.com

Paper 05: The Mycelia Report

CONTENTS
Part 1

BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH PROJECT 3
THE MYCELIA PROJECT 5
THE BUYER'S PSYCHOLOGICAL STAGES DURING A COMPLEX SALE 7
FACE-TO-FACE SELLING SKILLS 11
THE PROBLEMS WITH THE APPLICATION OF RACKHAM'S MODEL 17
THE DESIGN OF A PRACTITIONER'S MODEL 20

Part 2

PLANNING STRATEGY FOR A COMPLEX SALE 24

Annexes to The Mycelia Project Report 36

ANNEX A 37
ANNEX B 38
ANNEX C 39
ANNEX D 40
ANNEX E 41
ANNEX F 42

© Barker Hoffmann Consulting Ltd, BHC House, 40 Church Hill Road, East Barnet, Herts EN4 8TA ENGLAND 1|P a g e


PART 1
REPORT ON AN ANALYSIS OF SALES TRAINING
CONDUCTED BY BHC RESEARCH
Background to the research project

A United Kingdom multi-national company commissioned BHC Research, a division
of Barker Hoffmann Consulting, to conduct a research project, into what skills and
knowledge items were required, by those involved in selling within its constituent
business units. The brief called for a review of all sales training undertaken by the
various business units, and then to design appropriate programmes to meet the
needs of the various individual business units.

The multi-national, which has 45,000 personnel in 12 business units, covered the
selling of both products and services, costing a few pounds to many millions of
pounds sterling. As a result of the 1987 business downturn, the organization went
through major restructuring, and its consequent planning placed high priority on
improving the performance of each business unit. In the short term, the aim was to
increase market share, rather than to increase total turnover. The market was
contracting, rather than expanding at the time. In the long term, the aim was to
increase turnover as the economic climate turned around and the general business
level increased.

The multi-national company had determined, that success hinged on the
performance of sales people and commercial negotiators, as well as on pricing
policies. A deficiency that came through in all the business unit analyses was that of
gaining business - of selling products and services in the market place. This
weakness had been commented on long before 1987. Sales managers had been
briefed constantly on the need to improve sales productivity. Representatives had
been sent on internal and external sales conferences and shown more and more
sales training videos. Those new to selling, sales managers had sent on public
programmes run by the most prestigious international providers. Managers had
encouraged their sales people to call on both prospects and clients more often, in
order to develop closer relationships which were seen as being the key to gaining
more business.

There had been very little change in results. Indeed, the general trend was down,
rather than up. Entertainment expenses had risen but sales had remained at their
original levels. The only consolation, was that none of the competitors was doing
particularly well either.

It was at this point, that the Group National Training Manager became involved in the
exercise, through his input at the corporate strategic planning session. As a result of
the Board setting a strategic goal, ‘To improve profitability’, and the subsequent
business unit financial objectives stemming from this goal, the Group National
Training Manager took on the role of selecting the most appropriate sales training to



achieve improved performance. His own internal review discovered a plethora of
programmes and methods being used throughout the organization. Feedback on the
effectiveness of the programmes varied, depending on who was asked. Therefore,
he decided to undertake more objective research on what was available in the
market place. BHC Research was engaged to review all sales training conducted by
the group and to recommend a strategy for the group to follow.

This first report covers the research findings relating to the skills needed for use in a
face-to-face situation with clients.



THE MYCELIA PROJECT

The project was given the name “The Mycelia Project” to reflect the complexity and
the pervading nature of selling within an organization. For those of you reading this
report and who have an inquisitive nature, Mycelia are the microscopic threadlike
vegetative parts that spread the fungus.

Given the extent and complexity of the selling process, the findings have been
separated into what we consider to be the constituent parts of the sales process.
Based on an investigation of the literature, the main parts were identified upon as
being:

Stage One: Planning strategy.

Stage Two: Prospecting for new clients.

Stage Three: Face-to-Face selling skills.

Stage Four: Writing proposals.

Stage Five: Giving verbal presentations.

Stage Six: Commercial negotiations.

Stage Seven: Effective implementation strategies.

Stage Eight: Account maintenance.

Each of the stages was subject to a report and recommendations to the client.

In looking at the various business units, it was further decided to separate the selling
situations encountered by sales people into 2 categories, Simple and Complex
Sales.

Simple Sales meet the criteria that:

 Products or services are low priced compared to the budget available.
 The commitment by the client to purchase is done by one person,
without reference to others in the organization.
 The time from ‘contact to contract’ is short, often one meeting.
 Sales to clients are often ‘one off’.
 Clients often know what they want before the sales person appears.
 The product or service is simple in nature.



Whereas, a Complex Sale satisfies one or more of the following criteria:

 Success in gaining business depends on the relationship that is developed
between the sales person, their organization and the client.

 The time between ‘contact and contract’ is often long.

 A series of meetings are needed, before a decision to proceed is made.

 The client is often unaware or unwilling to admit that they have a problem
which needs the product or service of the sales person.

 The decision making process of the client involves numerous people across
and up and down the organizational hierarchy.

 Compared to other purchases made by the client organization, the cost of the
solution being offered seems expensive.

 In some cases, the product or service in question is preventative rather than
profit generating, and the client never sees the true value, other than that
nothing goes wrong.

For each of the business units, it was necessary to determine into which of these 2
categories their selling situation fell.

This report deals with an investigation of Face-to-Face selling skills in a Complex
Sales situation.



The Buyer’s Psychological Stages During A Complex Sale

When the research team looked at sales training programmes which were aimed at
meeting the needs of those involved in making sales, that met the criteria laid down
for a complex sale, they were confronted with numerous techniques and behaviours
that were put forward as methods to use on customers, in order to ensure that they
bought. The focus of the majority of programmes was one of ‘manipulation’ rather
than influence, when dealing with inter-personal skills, and what the sales person
had to do to identify prospects, rather than deal with them face-to-face.

Three of the 7 programmes reviewed, dealt almost exclusively with the planning
phase. There was a great deal of commonality between the programmes, and all 3
were considered to be useful and effective by those who had participated in them.
This area of prospecting and planning skills is the subject of a separate report.

The major programmes used by the multi-national company, and reviewed by the
project were:

 Learning International, Professional Selling Skills (PSS) & Account
Management (now Global Achieve).
 Esprit, Relationship Selling.
 Mandev, FAB Selling.
 Wilson Learning, Consultative Selling.
 Tratec (McGraw-Hill Training Systems) Selling Financial Services.
 Mercuri, Face to Face Skills and The Knowledge & Skills to Implement the
Marketing Plan.
 Huthwaite, SPIN® & Managing the Complex Sale.

Wilson Learning material went a considerable way to understanding the personality
of the customer, and having the sales person adapt their behaviour to better match
this personality. This research into the attitudes of sales people who attended this
programme, showed that they enjoyed the programme and could see real value in
being able to do this, if they had time. The comment made, was that when you meet
a customer for the first time, you don’t have time to assess personality type. It’s only
when you have the customer and are meeting them on an ongoing basis that such a
technique might be used to best effect. It seemed to the research team, that the
emphasis should be on understanding what the customer was seeking during the
process and helping them through that process, rather than trying to manipulate the
customer. Study of the literature on the decision making process, and knowledge of
the way in which members of the research team made decisions when making major
purchases, revealed the following psychological sequence. A model representing
this sequence is at Annex A to this report.

SPIN® is the registered trademark of Huthwaite, Inc (now no longer under the original designer Dr Neil Rackham)



The stages and the skills to be used by a sales person in each of these stages are:

Stage 1: Customer identifies that they have a need and that they want to
do something about it.

Sales person’s skills:
 Assist the customer to identify problems and needs that they
were not aware of.
 Assist the customer to understand the true problems that they
are experiencing, and the extent or outcome of those problems
should they not be addressed.
 Assist the customer by identifying opportunities that have not
been taken up.
 Assist the customer to identify alternative solutions to meet their
needs.
 Develop confidence in the customer, that their business and
objectives are understood.

Stage 2: The customer evaluates all the options available to them to
meet their needs.

Sales person’s skills:
 Identify the criteria that the customer will use in order to select
both a provider and the solution.
 Assist the customer to understand the criteria that should be
applied to their selection process.
 Highlight their own strengths and influence the customer to
regard them as important criteria in their selection process.
 Identify, who within the organization, will be involved in the
decision making process, and what their individual decision
criteria and personal foci are.

Stage 3: Prior to making a decision, a customer has concerns about
making the right decision. They have concerns about what
they have been told and what they haven’t been told. They
procrastinate and change their mind for reasons that often
can’t be explained.

Sales person’s skills
 Identify possible concern areas during Stages 1 & 2 and deal
with them, so they don’t arise this late in the selling cycle.
 Identify areas where competitors at this stage, might raise
concerns in the mind of the client, and ensure that the customer
has all the information to reject these concerns during stages 1
& 2.
 Identify that concerns have arisen, and assist the customer to
resolve these concerns.



Stage 4: The customer arrives at the decision point and has to decide
on a provider of product or service.

 Make presentations.
 Rehearse internal presenters.
 Write proposals.
 Negotiate commercial contracts.

Stage 5: The customer evaluates the effectiveness of the chosen
solution, against the criteria that they set and the promises
made by the successful provider.

 Planning implementation.
 Planning for problems in implementation.
 Determining customer expectations and matching them to reality
in preparation for disappointment.
 Giving implementation support.
 Providing on-going service.

Stage 6: Over a period of time, circumstances change both internally
and externally. The customer begins to feel that all is not as it
should be, because of environmental, economic, financial,
structural, political , technological and other changes.

 Determining organizational change influences.
 Monitoring competitor activities.
 Setting customer criteria for future decisions.
 Building key relationships.
 Identifying customer performance improvement areas.



These were seen as the key stages in a complex sale situation. The skills identified
against each stage, plus the planning and prospecting skills not dealt with here, were
seen as being critical to the success of a sales person.

In this report, the Stage 1 skills offered by the 7 major international providers are
reviewed, and the conclusions and recommendations arrived at for the multi-national
company, are presented as alternatives for other organizations to act upon.

It should be emphasized, that all 7 international providers were considered to give
skills that were relevant to the total process. However, users felt that insufficient
advice had been available, as to the total skills profile needed by a competent sales
person, and that providers often supplied skills to sales people which were
inappropriate, considering their development stage.

The research showed that responsibility often lay with sales managers who had not
researched the skills content of programmes, and who were themselves, unaware of
the competencies (skills, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs) required of a sales
person.

BHC Research has used its findings within the multi-national company and many
other major national and international firms throughout the USA, UK, Europe and
Australasia. The research and development of programmes based on this research
continues.



Face-to-Face Selling Skills

In questioning sales managers, there was a strong recognition that most sales
people failed to use a structured approach when talking with prospects and clients.
Managers criticized the ability of their sales people to find out what was needed. It
was a significant criticism, that most sales people missed opportunities because they
were too busy talking and were not listening to the client.

As part of the field research, visits were made with sales people to observe their
verbal behaviours when dealing with customers. In one sample of 145 sales people
who were selling shipping services, the following ratios were obtained:

Ratio of Telling to Seeking Behaviours Percentage Speaking Time
(Statements : Questions) (Seller : Buyer)
18 : 1 70 : 30

Depending on the industry area in which sales people were operating, these ratios
varied between 25:1 and 8:1 for the ratio of telling to seeking behaviours, and 90:1 to
55:45 for percentage speaking time seller to buyer. During the preliminary
investigation phase, some 282 calls were analyzed to determine the actual
behaviours of sales personnel. The majority of these sales personnel had
undertaken sales training that was considered ‘good training’ by sales managers, yet
they were dissatisfied with their sales people’s performance after that training.

In all, of the 12 business units of the multi-national, 10 were in situations where they
were required to use complex selling skills. Within these 10 business units, 7
international sales training providers had been used, along with dozens of local and
international providers offering motivational seminars.

As part of the research, sales managers were asked to specify the criteria of a ‘good’
sales training programme. The list was extensive, but came down to key criteria
upon which the sample of just over a 100 sales managers agreed. The criteria were:
1. Achieves behavioural change in the field.
2. Matches the sales environment in which the sales person operates.
3. Easy to learn and understand. Minimum of jargon, yet specific enough that
both a sales person and sales manager can speak the same language when
analyzing calls.
4. Provides the opportunity for coaching on the job.
5. Relates specifically to the products or services being sold.
6. Time taken in classroom learning environment a minimum. No more than 2
days seen as being desirable.
7. Opportunity for reinforcement at a later date.

© Barker Hoffmann Consulting Ltd, BHC House, 40 Church Hill Road, East Barnet, Herts EN4 8TA ENGLAND 10 | P a g e


It was agreed by sales managers, that behavioural change did occur after most of
the major sales programmes. However, there was a strong feeling that the change
was not sustained, because sales people did not achieve the success that was
expected. Furthermore, sales managers agreed reluctantly - that part of the problem
was their own inability to provide field coaching in the skills being practiced by their
sales people. It was the issues of ‘appropriateness of sellers behaviours’ and ‘ability
to coach, that concerned sales managers the most’.

The training programme's areas of weakness identified by sales managers, were
that:

 They did not reflect the selling situation in which their sales people
operated.
 They were unclear as to what a sales person had to do, to move a client
or prospect from expressing a problem or opportunity area, through to
getting the client to express a need. Outcomes were specified, but
methods to achieve these outcomes were not explained.
 There was no clear model that explained the psychological process
gone through by the client, in coming to a decision to purchase in a
complex selling situation. Five of the 6 major programmes had models
or processes that explained what the sales person had to do, but in
every case, the process failed to account for the prospect or client who
acted independently and didn’t follow ‘the script’.
 There was no common language that could be used in analyzing a call.
The self-perception of a sales person’s performance was considerably
different from that of the sales manager, which meant that it was difficult
to be objective when giving feedback.

Based on the feedback sheets completed, all the programmes had received support
from those attending, as being good value and useful in their jobs.

In the survey of sales managers, only PSS, Esprit and SPIN® were considered to
address the needs of sales people who were looking to improve their face-to-face
selling skills – their communication skills. Only these 3 programmes gave sufficient
time and practice to understanding and using questioning to uncover a client's
needs. The Mandev and Tratec programmes were considered too simplistic for a
complex selling situation. Their approach was one where the client was expected to
react to a sales person’s ‘prompts’ in a prescribed way. Sales managers considered
this approach manipulative and not reflective of what happened in complex sales.
The skills taught were considered more appropriate to simple sales situations.
Wilson Learning’s, Consultative Selling, was considered very interesting and nice to
know, but failed to deliver skills that were of use in developing communication skills
that uncovered the needs of clients or prospects. Sales managers felt that
Consultative Selling was a programme that could be attended by sales people, once
they had the required communication skills, which placed it in the ‘advanced skills’
category dealing with human personality factors.



Of the 3 preferred programmes, PSS, Esprit and SPIN®, the Esprit programme
reviewed consisted of a mixture of classroom and video based training. There were 9
videos to sit through, and participant comment on the feedback sheets, showed that
this was the least preferred method of instruction. In addition, the time taken to
complete the programme was 3.5 days which was considered by both the
participants and sales managers, too long to be away from the job.

Of the total of just over 1500 sales people surveyed, 43% had attended PSS at some
time in their career, and stated that it formed a good foundation from which to start
selling. However, of those who had attended both PSS and SPIN® programmes,
there was an agreement that the SPIN® programme gave a better understanding of
the verbal behaviours needed to deal with a complex sale selling situation. Sales
managers who had attended both PSS and SPIN® programmes, were strongly of
the opinion, that SPIN® focused more than PSS, on what the sales person had to do
to satisfy the client, rather than what the sales person had to do to make the client
buy. They were also strongly of the opinion, that the behaviours identified in the
SPIN® model were easier to analyze by both the sales person and the sales
manager.

We are sure that most readers of this report will have heard of, or possibly attended,
a PSS programme. However, it is unlikely that many people will have seen the
SPIN® approach. For that reason, a comparison will be made of the 2 approaches
and then comment made on each specifically.

Learning International (PSS)

Learning International is the successor of Xerox Learning. Its PSS series of
programmes has been on the market for many years and is highly regarded in the
market place. Learning International is a US based organization based in Stamford,
Connecticut with total sales in excess of US$ 60 million. It has representatives
around the world and operates primarily as a franchise organization. PSS is based
on research from 500 calls made by sales people on 24 different organizations. The
research base covered both products and services in simple and complex selling
situations. PSS is sold as a generic programme, but can also be obtained in industry
specific programmes. For the larger corporation with a huge sales force, the
programme can be customized - at a price. PSS has been the core selling skills
programme around the world. It has a sound and easily understood methodology.

Its key concepts are:
Opportunities A customer problem or dissatisfaction that can be
addressed by your product or service.
Needs A customer want or desire that can be satisfied by your
product or service.
Feature A characteristic of your product or service.
Benefit The value of a feature to a customer.



The selling skills taught are:
Probing To gather information and uncover customer needs by
using open and closed probes.
Supporting To satisfy customer needs with benefits by making
support statements.
Closing To gain customer commitment by summarizing the
benefits and formulating an action plan.
Recognizing Identifying and responding to customer:
Customer * Acceptance.
Attitudes * Scepticism
* Indifference
* Objection

The programme reviewed, used generic product and service examples to teach the
skills through each session. The role play technique, although sound, meant that
participants had to understand the features and benefits of products and services
with which they were not familiar. Participants' comments showed that they were
uncomfortable with having to learn both the new behaviours and the product and
service information. There were a great number of comments from the various
divisions' personnel, about there not being any examples from their industry
(container shipping, broking, commercial property, cleaning services, catering
services, industrial plant sales) in the video vignette examples or the role plays.
Despite the criticism, the overall assessment of participants was that the role plays
did allow them to gain the skills being taught, although there was difficulty in
agreeing on the assessment made by the observer.

Huthwaite (SPIN®)

In the early 1970s, Neil Rackham founder of the Huthwaite Research Group in the
UK, was commissioned by Xerox Corporation to conduct a research project into
selling business equipment. Neil has written an authoritative and interesting book on
the project., ‘Making Major Sales’ published by Gower. He was the first to research
the selling process, since E K Strong looked at the skills and knowledge required to
make small sales back in the 1920s.

Rackham looked at the market of the '70s and identified the process and skills, as it
related to the sale of business equipment at that time. His foundation work, using
behaviour analysis as the method of data collection, had not been improved upon,
despite assertions by other organizations as to their methodologies. Rackham’s
background as a psychologist, his work with Sheffield University as a Research
Fellow , assisted by Valerie Stewart, and his pioneering work in the field of behaviour
analysis, gave sales training a respectability that it had lacked up to that time.

Since those early days, Rackham has moved to the USA where he now heads up
Huthwaite, Inc based just outside Washington, DC. The UK firm of Huthwaite Ltd is
no longer part of Rackham’s bailiwick, as it was sold to the UK directors.



Behaviour analysis works this way:

1. A hypothesis is set, where certain behaviours are identified as being indicative
of successful performance. These behaviours can be determined by interview,
by literature research, by brain storming or by pure conjecture. The important
thing is to write down the behaviours that are thought to cause success.
2. Determine the indicators of success for the specific products or services being
sold. Success is counted as being any movement by the client towards
making the final decision to purchase. Different products and services will
have different indicators, although there are likely to be generic indicators.

3. Observe calls made by sales people and identify the behaviours that are used
against the list compiled at stage 1. Determine the outcome as a success or
not against the indicators in stage 2.

4. Using the frequency of behaviours in the successful and unsuccessful calls,
identify which behaviours are related to success and which are not.

Behaviour analysis will identify the successful behaviours to use, but it won’t
determine the sequence or way in which those behaviours should be used to best
effect. Models of behaviour patterns are formed by training designers and tested in
the field to determine practicality and effectiveness.

In the initial research project conducted within Xerox Corporation in the UK and
Europe, over 5000 calls were analyzed using behaviour analysis. Each of these calls
would be considered as a complex sale using the current criteria identified by sales
managers during this research project. The research continued over the years to
look specifically at sales involving over £50,000, and over 35,000 calls were
analyzed world-wide to arrive at his perception of a model of behaviour that was
suited to the complex selling situation.

Rackham's SPIN® model representing the face-to face skills needed, is shown at
Annex B to this report.



The key concepts used are:

Implied Needs Statements by the customer of problems,
dissatisfactions and difficulties.

Explicit Needs Specific customer statements of wants or desires.

Features Describe facts, data, product or service
characteristics.

Advantages Show how products or services or their features
can be used or can help the customer.

Benefits Show how products or services meet explicit
needs expressed by the customer.

The selling skills taught are the verbal skills of asking:
S ituation Questions Finding out facts about the customer’s existing
situation.
P roblem Questions Finding out about a customer’s problems,
difficulties or dissatisfactions.
I mplication Questions Developing the customer’s perception of the
severity of their existing problems.
N eed Pay-off Questions Emphasizing the value or usefulness of a
proposed solution.

The model also concentrates on:
Preventing Objections by uncovering areas of concern early in the call
and treating them as problems or, analyzing the
objection and using an appropriate method to
handle the objection.
Obtaining Commitment by closing the call to achieve an appropriate
commitment for the stage of the sale.

Outwardly, there appears to be very little difference between the PSS and SPIN®
concepts. However, it was the analysis and formation of a model to explain what was
happening in the process that creates the difference, together with the introduction of
the concept of an Advantage Statement.

Rackham's work was undoubtedly the most comprehensive analysis undertaken,
and its historical value should not be over looked. For those who have read his book
- and we recommend that everybody should- or who have attended a programme,
it's probably appropriate to move to the next section which deals with the practical
problems encountered by sales people with Rackham’s model.



The Problems with the Application of Rackham's Model
For those of you who have decided to read on, you should find Annex C, which
deals with the Implied/Explicit Need continuum, and refer to it as you continue
reading.

The concept of selling using a client’s Needs was not new when Rackham and his
team conducted their research. It was a common cry in the text books, to have the
client state a Need and then give them a Benefit that would meet that Need. What
Rackham did was delve deeper into the relationship between Needs and Benefits.

He looked first at the development of Needs in the mind of client, and discovered
that there were degrees of appreciation as to the strength of the Need. That is, not
all expressions of Need made by the client had the same weight. There were
different degrees of commitment. He represented that commitment as a continuum
and identified 'Weak Needs', where the customer was expressing problems,
difficulties and dissatisfactions as Implied Needs, and 'Stronger Needs', where the
customer actually expressed a desire for change, as Explicit Needs.

The research identified, that the most effective questions to use when the customer
was operating in the first part of the continuum were the first 3 in his series,
Situation, Problem and Implication Questions. The strongest of these were
Implication Questions which increased the customer's perception of the problems
that they were experiencing. As a matter of interest, the research showed that
eventual success was not influenced by whether questions were open or closed in
format.

Once the customer had expressed an Explicit Need, Rackham’s research showed
that the most effective question type was what he calls a Need Pay-off Question,
which is used to develop the customer’s perception of the value of a solution.

Rackham’s research clearly demonstrated, that providing a solution (Benefit) too
early in the sequence of events, was often counter-productive and caused the
customer to raise objections that they would otherwise not have raised.

In the research, it was discovered that there were commonly 2 forms of Benefit
Statement made by sales people in response to the things categorized as Need
Statements. Rackham calls them Type A and Type B. Type A Benefits were
expressed by a sales person, in order to show a customer how the products or
services they were offering might help them. These were often expressed when the
customer was operating in the Implied Need psychological phase. It was Type A
Benefits that gave rise to objections. On the other hand, Type B Benefits, that were
made after the customer had expressed an Explicit Need, were more likely to gain
the approval of the customer. Type A became Advantages, and Type B, Benefits.

In our discussions with participants of the SPIN® programmes, there was clear
agreement, that the process was easily understood and the question types relatively
easy to identify and use, once sufficient practice had been given.



Participants and sales managers saw the strength of the programme as being that
they used the knowledge they had about their products and services in the market
place in which they operated, to overlay onto the model. They only had to worry
about the model and its associated behaviours. This was seen as a more effective
way to ensure learning, as they only had the one unknown to cope with. Sales
managers were able to take the skills taught on the programme, and complete field
analyses on their sales people using the verbal classifications taught. There was
considered to be a high level of understanding between sales people and managers,
when going through the process of feedback.

Feedback on the problems associated with the SPIN® model, came from both the
sales people and the sales managers. The initial problems expressed, related to the
jargon used to illustrate the verbal behaviours. Participants felt that clarity of
meaning had been sacrificed for the sake of the Acronym. The main concern was the
term Need Pay-off Question. When Dr Rackham was interviewed, and asked why he
had selected this descriptor rather than Value Question, which describes perfectly
what the question is aiming to show, he replied that ‘an acronym of SPIV’ had
connotations in the United Kingdom which didn’t match the complex selling skills
market place to which his programmes were directed. We understand his point!

In follow-up meetings with participants who had undertaken the SPIN® programme
12 or more months earlier, criticisms and concerns appeared about 2 major areas.
The first concerned the perception of sales people as to how the Implied/Explicit
Need continuum worked in practice The findings showed, that there was not a single
continuum, but something else. Sales people had found that uncovering a problem
and developing that problem with the use of Implication Questions, did not mean that
the customer’s Need was developing at the same time. There was a strong feeling,
that an emphasis on negatives was not always appropriate with clients who had not
got, or did not see that they had, a problem in the first place. Missed opportunities
(on the customer's part) were often not appreciated as being ‘bad’ in the first
instance, so that a concentration on negatives by the sales person, often resulted in
an adverse attitude from the customer, if this was emphasized.

The second problem pointed out by experienced sales people, was that the model
was too sequential when compared to what actually happens with a customer. It was
described by many people, as an academic's model, rather than a practitioner's
model. Even though the programme had explained that they had to adapt their
behaviour to match the customer's psychological state on the Implied/Explicit Needs
continuum, they found it difficult to get the sequential process shown on the model
out of their minds, and often ended up losing their way. A strong demand was made
for a more practical model to follow.

When challenged on this point, Dr Rackham pointed out, that it was very difficult to
go back and change the findings of the research and design a new model, once you
had published numerous books and articles espousing the ‘efficacy’ of a particular
solution.

Notwithstanding these problems, the findings of the research clearly showed that
Rackham’s research, and subsequent models to describe both the psychology of the
customer and the actions of the sales person, gave a far greater understanding of



how to approach and conduct the face-to-face interviews associated with a complex
sale, than any of the other programmes that had been used by the multi-national.
What remained, was to create this Practitioner's model that was being demanded
by the sales people and sales managers.



The Design of a Practitioner's Model
The first aim of BHC Research was to understand the decision making process of
customers in a complex selling situation. If Rackham’s Implied/Explicit Need
continuum did not reflect the way in which customers made decisions on their needs,
then this had to be resolved first.

Based on the feedback from 156 experienced participants of the SPIN®
programmes, the hypothesis was made, that there were at least 2 distinct phases in
a buyer's decision making process. A structured questionnaire was designed to test
the hypothesis. Over a period of 6 months, 150 ‘buyers’ from organizations involved
in complex buying decisions were interviewed, and asked to respond to a
questionnaire designed to uncover their decision making process. The findings
indicated, that there were 3 possible start points from which a ‘buyer’ went through
the decision making process when approached by a sales person.

Start Point 1: No problems were being encountered by the organization
that could be addressed by the products or services that
were being offered.
Start Point 2: Problems exist, but they are not perceived as great and
there is no perceived requirement for a product or service
to overcome these problems.
Start Point 3: Problems exist , and there is an awareness that doing
something to solve these problems might be
advantageous.
Start Point 4: No problems exist, or are perceived to exist, but it can be
seen that performance will be enhanced if a new product
or service is used.

A model representing the psychological process of a buyer in a complex sale,
consisting of 3 continua was proposed and tested. The continua are shown at Annex
D to this report.

It can be seen that the continua represent the buyer's perception of the severity of
Problems that they have, their perception for the Need for Change, and a third
continuum, that represents their perception of a Missed Opportunity. Problems and
Needs were the preferred terminology of the sales people surveyed.

The model was tested by the researchers, for identification of buyer psychological
position on the continua according to the verbal responses made during a sales call.
Although it was possible to identify buyer psychological positions, researchers, sales
managers and sales people all agreed that the introduction of the third continuum
made analysis unnecessarily complex. The sales managers and sales people stated
that once a Missed Opportunity could be established in the mind of a client, it could
be treated in the same way as a perceived Problem. The important thing for a sales
person to remember, was that they had to ensure that they did not treat
acknowledgement of a Missed Opportunity as an acknowledgement of a Need for
Change and provide a solution at too early a stage.



In the final representation of the psychology of a buyer in a complex sale, at Annex
E, showing the Problem/Need continua, situations could exist where the buyer has:

1. An appreciation of problems, difficulties or dissatisfactions and no
appreciation of the Need for Change.
2. An appreciation of problems, difficulties and dissatisfactions, plus an
appreciation of the Need for Change.
3. A strong appreciation of problems and their consequences, but no Need for
Change.
4. A strong appreciation of problems and their consequences, and an
appreciation for the Need for Change.
5. A strong appreciation of problems and their consequences, and a strong
desire for change.
6. No perception of problems, difficulties or dissatisfaction, but a desire for
change that might fall anywhere along the Need continuum.

It was felt that these were all the possible combinations that a sales person might
meet, other than that of no Problems and no Need for Change, in which case the
sales person should leave graciously to return another day.

The only situation that caused any problem of understanding, was the last one. This
situation can be best illustrated, by the person who is new into a position and who
wishes to ensure that their presence is known within the organization. There are no
problems, but the introduction of change is seen as being the method by which their
presence will be noticed or possibly reinforced.

The next step was to look at the model of verbal behaviours and its appropriateness
to a real call situation. The criticism had been, that Rackham’s model was sequential
and it did not help a sales person to cope with out of sequence responses made by
customers. The aim was to turn Problems into Needs by using the 4 questioning
behaviours identified as being appropriate. The concern expressed by sales people,
was that a customer could change their psychological perspective of the Problems
they were experiencing, or the Needs that they had expressed, in a matter of one
question asked. What they needed to be able to do, was understand where in the
sequence they had to go next in their questioning process.

The model proposed and tested, is shown at Annex F to this report. In addition to
changing the model structure, the terminology was changed to meet the descriptors
of question types preferred by the sales people.



The concepts were now:

Problems A problem exists when customers acknowledge
that they are dissatisfied with their current situation
or are aware of missed opportunities.
Needs A need exists when the client has a problem,
acknowledges it, and states or implies a desire to
solve the problem.
Features Characteristics of your firm, its products or
services.
Advantages Statements that show how a feature can be used
by, or that might help a customer.
Benefits Statements that address a customer's stated need.

The question types were renamed and redefined:

Background Questions Questions that are worded to ask for data,
information or facts about the customer and their
business.
Problem Questions Questions that are phrased in such a way, that the
customer must confirm or deny that they have
problems, difficulties or dissatisfactions with their
current situation, or that they can see that they
have missed an opportunity.
Consequence Questions Questions which develop a customer’s perception
of the seriousness of their problems and relate one
problem area to another.
Value Questions Questions that examine the issues surrounding the
value of change and that focus the customer’s
attention towards solutions.
Managing Resistance Uncovering potential areas of resistance or
and Objections- objections early in the call sequence and
answering them as problem areas. Analyzing any
objections to determine the cause and using verbal
skills to handle them.
Closing for a Using a close that will take the call to the next
Development appropriate stage in the selling process.
Outcome-

With the new model defined, and the programme relating to Face-to-Face Selling in
place, pilot programmes were run in key business units to determine effectiveness
and validity. These pilot programmes were linked to Sales Manager’s Coaching
Skills programmes, to ensure that reinforcement of the skills occurred back on-the-
job.



Validity of behaviours was assessed using field observation by sales managers and
feedback from participants. Use of key behaviours relating to effectiveness,
increased markedly in all test groups, whereas comparison groups' behaviours’ had
no significant change.

An illustration of the behaviour change achieved using a test group of 15 sales
representatives, who were selling commercial property, showed the following
changes after 5 calls:

Behaviour Before Training After Training
(Average Behaviours per call of n=15)
Background Questions
15.9 19.0
Problem Questions
6.9 12.3
Consequence Questions
1.5 7.2
Value Questions
0.0 3.9
Benefit Statements
0.0 2.4
Feature Statements
9.2 4.7
Advantage Statements
8.2 2.4
Development Outcomes achieved by
3.0 9.0
15 sales people

Effectiveness was determined by the increase in development outcomes and sales.
Sales Managers assessed that the improved skills of the sales people had
contributed significantly to increased profitability of the company. During 1993, the
multi-national company produced its first increase in profit for 5 years. It is
impossible to state that the training was the cause of this turn-around. However, the
company was good enough to publicly acknowledge the positive impact of the
training as being a significant factor.

BHC Research
1 October 1993



PART 2
MATCHING SALES BEHAVIOURS
TO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE BUYER
PLANNING STRATEGY FOR A COMPLEX SALE
Introduction

In the first report issued by BHC Research on making sales in the complex sales
area, the issue of what skills are needed by a sales person was addressed.

The Mycelia Project was commissioned by a UK multi-national to examine the sales
training programmes that were in use within their 12 divisions. Based on the
research conducted within these 12 divisions, it was shown that the principal focus
had to be on the discovery of a client's problems and needs, through a series of
readily identifiable question types.

The Mycelia Project looked at the most respected programmes on the UK market,
and compared the strategies, terminology and effectiveness of the 2 best known
programmes, Learning International's PSS, and Huthwaite's SPIN®. The
programmes were selected because of their acceptance in the market and to
illustrate the difference between a programme with a model of behaviour
(Huthwaite's SPIN®), and one without a model of behaviour (PSS).

At the end of the report, a practical model was introduced that explained the complex
sales process in terms of the psychology of the buyer throughout the process. This
model is shown at Annex A to this report. A second model was introduced, that
enabled a seller to determine which verbal skills to use in the client's first
psychological stage –Needs Identification - in order to determine where on the two
continua, problem and need, a client was placed in their decision making process
and on their readiness to accept a solution. The second model is at Annex F to this
report.

This report looks at the findings related to the client's psychological state in the first,
second and third stages of the total buyer's psychological model:

 Development of the client's perception of problems and needs.
 Evaluation of options available to satisfy the needs.
 Resolving concerns about making a decision to purchase.
 The client's decision making process.

The findings of this report were determined by interviews with clients of the 12
divisions of the multi-national, and by the application of known researched
psychological concepts and principles related to the inter action of influencer and
influenced (seller and buyer).



The Simple Sale

Before we start the main research findings, it is appropriate to review the area in
which the multi-national's sales forces were operating, and clarify why it was
necessary to examine the skills needed by the sales people.

In reviewing the selling situations encountered by 10 of the 12 sales forces, certain
common aspects emerged. The other 2 business divisions did not fit within the
overall pattern of the other 12. In the 2 cases that were different, the services being
offered were ones where the decision maker was a person at receptionist or
administration supervisor level, where the client was assumed to want or need the
services by the sales person, and where the sales person 'cold called' on the client.
The interaction between the client and the sales person was taken to be a ‘one hit’
effort. The sales person assumed that they had absolute influence over the decision
making of the client, who would be swayed by whatever they were told. In this
market, it was discovered that the turnover of sales people was high. The average
length of service was 9 months, with many leaving within the first 6 months, and few
staying longer than 3 years.

Training for these sales people revolved around a knowledge of the features of the
product or service, and in countering price or application objections. Exit interviews
with the sales people, revealed that virtually all of them regarded the job as a step to
better things, and that they had no real belief in the superiority of the product or
service that they were selling, over the performance of competitors' products or
services. Business was won and lost on price, and clients changed suppliers
depending who was the last to visit them and offer a 'special deal'.

This type of selling revealed major call reluctance problems in the sales force. This
aspect is covered in our briefing paper Call Reluctance : The Outcome of The Fear
of Rejection.

The Complex Sale

The research that was conducted into dealing with the complex selling situations met
by the other 10 divisions, showed that a totally different set of circumstances
confronts the person attempting to make a complex sale. A complex sale is one in
which one or more of the following criteria may be encountered:
 Success in gaining business from a client often depends on the relationship
that has built up between the sales person, their organization and the client.
 The time between making contact with the client and gaining the business is
protracted, and is often months or years.
 There will be many meetings involved, before a decision to proceed is taken
by the client.
 The client is often unaware or unwilling to admit that they have a problem that
needs to be solved, even though it is obvious to the sales person.
 The decision making process of the client may involve numerous people,
each of whom needs to be convinced that action must be taken.
 What is needed by the client is often an intangible solution that they find hard
to understand, and/or find difficult to see the value of.



 Compared to many other services or products that they buy, what is offered
seems expensive.
 The client may never actually see the value of the service that has been
rendered. It may be risk preventative, rather than profit generating.

The Lengthy Decision Making Process

When the specific selling situations of the sales people were examined, it was
discovered that a single meeting with a potential client did not result in a sale. The
research showed, that only on 10% of occasions did the client make a decision that
gave business to a sales person. In questioning the sales people, it was shown that
they often set themselves unattainable objectives, the result of which was often
disillusionment in themselves and their product or service. The focus of the sales
people was often short, rather than long term. They went on a call expecting to get
the client to agree to a purchase, and used selling techniques that reflected this aim.
The client on the other hand, had often not identified that they had a need for the
product or service and felt pressured by the sales person. Their natural reaction was
to resist and object, which only encouraged the sales person to use the skills that
they had been taught would be successful.

In only 5% of the meetings that were analyzed, did the sales person achieve a
success. It is little wonder that sales people got depressed about their performance,
and that clients resented being pressured by these unskilled sales people who used
incompatible techniques.

In a study conducted within a major product division where 25 successful sales
histories were examined for sales in excess of £10,000, there was an average of 4.6
meetings with the client before a decision to purchase was made. In a service
division, where the average cost of service was £3000, the average meeting
frequency was 3.2 for the 15 successful sales histories. In the first case, the average
time between first contact and the agreement to purchase was 6 months, and in the
second case 3.5 months. These figures were shown to be compatible with all other
areas within the organization.

In an unrelated Australian study, that looked at time to convert professional services
into a firm business commitment by a client, it was shown that a time frame of 3 to 4
years was often the norm, particularly when the service being offered was one which
caused the client considerable internal change. A Big 6 accounting practice reported
a 'gestation' period of 3 years for the winning of audits. This was the minimum period
considered necessary to convince a potential client to change, with time frames of 6
years being common.

Why does it take so long for business to eventuate in a complex selling situation?



Identifying a Client's Problems, Opportunities and Needs

The original research conducted into Needs identification was conducted by Neil
Rackham of the Huthwaite Research Group in the UK. Neil and his research team,
which included Valerie Stewart the noted behavioural consultant, operated initially
from Sheffield University where he was the Research Fellow. Neil continued the
research when he set up the US firm Huthwaite, Inc. His findings of the late 1960s
and early 1970s have been published in his books 'Making Major Sales' and
'Managing the Complex Sale' published by Gower in the UK and republished under
different titles by McGraw Hill in the USA. We understand that there is also a
Belgium publisher who has republished the works in the EC under appropriate titles.

Our research was built on Rackham's research of 20 years ago. Our first aim was to
revisit his basic assumptions and prove or disprove his conclusions.

Rackham had hypothesized that the development of the client's perception of a Need
was a continuous process. His model showed that an Implied Need developed into
an Explicit Need and that this was a linear process. The concept of a Need was
basic to the process, and that a client developed their perception of the importance
of the need for change, from the moment that a problem was identified. This
hypothesis was translated into a model that showed that a sales person's verbal
behaviours should be sequential, in order to develop the client's small need (Implied
Need) into a large need (Explicit Need) in the process. Rackham has postulated that
this was not his intention, but the practical application of his principles by sales
people after training, has shown that this is not how it is understood.

Rackham's concept, so simple on reflection, was revolutionary at the time. In the
past, all statements made by the client as to their dissatisfaction with their situation
were treated in the same way. An indication of a problem, was jumped on
immediately by the sales person who was encouraged to 'trial close' (provide a
solution and see how the client reacted). One noted author, and supposed expert,
had stated that, " If you haven't made at least 5 trial closes then you haven't done
your job". Rackham's research, and our own replication of his research within the 10
divisions in which we were working, showed that the more closes that were made,
the less likely the sales person was to achieve a successful outcome. For those
sales people who used 5 trial closes in their dealings with clients, there was less
likelihood to achieve a favorable outcome, than the person who did not close at all.
Indeed, on 20% of occasions, the client closed the deal for the sales person,
whereas in our findings, those sales people who used 5 or more trial closes,
achieved less than a 12% success rate, a success being an opportunity to take the
sales process further.

Our UK multi-national client had expressed concern at the linear approach to selling
advocated by Rackham.

In the research conducted by BHC within the client organization, it was shown that
instead of the linear and singular psychological process suggested by Rackham to
be present in the mind of the client in the development of a Need, there were two, if
not three distinct psychological processes, and that one did not necessarily follow or
was not limited to the other. The entry point to our own hypothesis;



"That there are at least two distinct psychological stages in a client's decision
making process in determining that they have a need for change"

This hypothesis came from the basic interviews with sales people who were trying to
apply Rackham's model. Their feedback was that "Just because a client had a
problem, it didn't mean that they wanted to change." They also stated that, "Clients
do not always have problems, and to focus on the negative aspects, when none exist
in the mind of the client, is often counter-productive to achieving a successful
outcome with that client."

Our hypothesis was that there were at least two stages in the process. The first,
having the client acknowledge that a problem existed which was sufficiently serious
that it caused them real concern. Second, that they wished to address the problem
and saw real value in having a solution. What came out of our findings was a third
situation, that required the client to acknowledge that, even though they had no
problems, they were missing out on an opportunity to be better in some way.

In discussing these options with the sales people, it was agreed, that providing the
client saw that an opportunity was being missed, this could then be treated by them
as a client problem. For simplicity of the model, it was decided to view the
psychological process gone through by the client, as being:

Problem perception development and Value of Change perception
development.

In examining historical and live sales situations, a series was analyzed to see how
the model stood up in the field. The categories of situations that were discovered,
based on analysis of sales records and recall by the sales people, showed that they
could be divided into the following categories:

 No problem existed and it was inappropriate to suggest that any service or
product was needed.
 The client had no perception that they had a problem or need, but the
evidence was there that a problem and need existed if they chose to see it. It
was usually obvious to the sales person.
 The client was not aware that they were missing out on doing something
better.
 There was an opportunity for improvement.
 The client was aware that they had a problem with their present situation, but
did not appreciate how much of a problem they had, nor did they consider that
it was necessary to do something at that stage.
 The client was aware that they had a problem, and although they did not
appreciate the full depth of the problem, was also aware that something
needed to be done, at some time in the future. No urgency was present.
 The client knew that they had a major problem and that they needed to do
something as quickly as possible. They appreciated both the severity of the
problem and the value of change.



 The client wanted change for change's sake. Motives for wanting change
were often linked to needs that were not organizational needs, but were
psychologically internally driven by the person requesting change.

This concept of a gradation of strength of both Problem and Need, although easily
understood once explained to sales people, was not one that they took into account
whilst talking with clients. Observation of hundreds of sales calls showed that there
was a strong tendency for sales people to jump in with a solution, whatever the level
of readiness of the client. This tendency to do what is known as a 'trial close', gave
rise to resistance or objections from the client, because they were mentally
unprepared to accept a solution.

The Client's Choice

In complex sales, clients often call suppliers in after they have determined that they
have a need. In these cases, the organization has been through the process of
working out its problems and needs and is now looking for the best supplier to satisfy
their needs.

Our observations showed that sales people failed to appreciate the stage at which
the client was operating. Sales people attempted to sell when the client had already
'sold' themselves. The client was not interested in reviewing their problems or
restating their needs, all they wanted to do was to determine how one supplier
matched up against another in terms of what they were offering. Where sales people
tried to revisit selling, the client became frustrated and often viewed the sales person
unfavourably.

As part of the research project, analysts visited the existing and potential clients of
the multinational to interview 'buyers' about the processes that they used. When
asked if they adopted a formal process of supplier selection almost all said that they
did. When asked to explain how they did this, only 2 out of 20 were able to detail the
systematic process that they used. Only 2 talked about matching 'factors' and
determining the 'best fit'.

In each client visit the analysts introduced the concept of using Decision Criteria as a
means of selection and the remaining 18 clients all asserted that they applied the
concept unconsciously. Our findings in the laboratory show that people do give
weightings to criteria when confronted with a choice. However, unless they have
thought about the criteria and the weightings in depth before the event, the criteria
are able to be changed by another person if their argument is logical and is seen to
have merit. Where the person has analyzed the importance of various criteria and
has a full understanding of all the criteria that apply, they are considerably less likely
to be moved from their perception of importance.

When observing sales people operating in this stage of the sales process, it was
noticed that very few (15%) investigated the criteria that would be used by the client
to select the successful supplier. Clients often stated their criteria without the sales
person asking. Even then, the sales people failed to discover the priority order of the
criteria and to assess how their own organizational and product/service strengths
matched up against those criteria.



Successful sales people were able to:

 Determine the criteria used by the client to select a supplier.
 Have the client prioritize the criteria.
 Match the criteria used by the client to the strengths of their own organization
and its products/services.
 Introduce new criteria into the client's equation where those criteria gave their
own organization, products/services and significant advantage.
 Influence the thinking of the client as to the priority of their criteria so as to
favour their own strengths.
 Favourably differentiate themselves from competitors using the client's are-
framed criteria.

In several of the multi-national's divisions, where the norm was to receive Requests
for Proposals (RFPs) from organizations, the writing of proposals was seen as a
fruitless yet essential exercise. The business unit worked on the basis of winning
only 1 in 10 of the proposals that it submitted, and then only because they 'bought'
the business with a lower than economical price. Senior managers were not able to
state why they had won or lost specific proposals. It was common for the excuse of
the tender being rigged to occur, or that the competition had bought the business.

In the follow up, conducted by analysts within the clients of the divisions, clients were
asked on what basis the decisions had been made and whether they would have
entered into discussion about the needs and criteria expressed in the RFP. In every
case, the client expressed a willingness to discuss the contents of the RFP, either by
telephone, or by face to face meeting. When stating why they had awarded the
contract to the successful supplier, the common thread that ran through the
responses was that the successful tenderer had done a thorough investigation of
their needs, and before the tender document had gone out. The successful
tenderer had identified the key factor that they had regarded as important in the
supply of the products or services. That is, the supplier had identified the priority
order of the decision criteria used by the client in making their decision.

Another common factor came through in discussions with the clients. All too often,
suppliers talked not with the decision makers, but with some third party within the
organization. It was pointed out that the decision making process was not a one
person job, but that several levels were involved in deciding on a successful supplier.
In most organizations the Decision Making Team (DMT) consisted of a combination
of:

 The Authorizer(s) - usually the CEO or for large decisions the Board or a
project team headed up by the CEO or a Director.
 Technical Experts - people whose opinion on specific aspects of the proposed
solution is sought to determine the appropriateness and technical feasibility of
solutions.
 Operational Users - people who are going to be effected by the introduction of
the solution and whose opinion is sought to determine whether a proposed
solution will meet operational requirements.



When sales people, and in particular sales managers, were questioned as to how
they planned their approach to an organization to ensure that each of the needs and
criteria of the members of their client's DMT were met, the response was that they
didn't. On very few occasions did sales people bother with planning an in depth
intervention into an organization. The tendency was to rely on information gathered
from one organizational member and to use that in the formulation of any proposal.

The research showed that although there were common organizational decision
criteria, each group had their own priority order for the criteria, based on what they
considered to be important. Each group judged the merit of a supplier against the
way in which the supplier showed them that it met their decision criteria.



Resolving Client Concerns
During the interviews with sales people, they expressed discomfort with dealing with
clients who, after expressing satisfaction with a proposal, and who had indicated that
they were going to go ahead with the proposal, then delayed and eventually
cancelled.

Twelve sales situations that failed at the last moment, were analyzed to see if there
were some common indicators that showed that the client was having second
thoughts. In addition, interviews were arranged with 6 of these clients, to determine
what factors caused them to have concerns that changed their minds.

Analysis of the 12 situations, showed that client concerns were likely to occur when:
 The commitment being made by the client was large in terms of financial or
other resource allocation.
 The Authorizer(s) were subject to high visibility within the organization
because of the decision being made.
 The client is selecting a product or service in a new area for them.
 The solution being suggested is different from what the client is used to.
 Your solution is significantly different from that of your competitors.
 This is the first time that the client will have used you, and they have no
firsthand knowledge of your performance.

If the client is an existing client, concerns might arise if:
 Your past performance has not been satisfactory.
 Relationships between your organization and the client have been poor.
 By using you, they leave themselves exposed if the solution goes wrong.
 The client is shared with other major providers who are able to put pressure
on the client to use them, or suffer in terms of the conditions that they place
on other sales.

If this is a new client, concerns might arise if:
 The client is dealing with a major competitor who is able to place a financial
penalty on the client if they award business to you.
 There is a strong relationship between the client's existing supplier who is
your competitor, and the organization.
 You do not have the necessary intelligence about the organization and you
have missed some of the important criteria of key people in the DMT.
 You have no past history with the client.

When clients were approached, they were asked what their thinking was at the time
that they changed their minds. The responses included:
 If I make a mistake, am I likely to suffer as a result?
 I am not sure whether I am about to choose the right provider. I have others to
choose from and this new factor, which is not dealt with well by the previously
preferred supplier, now seems appealing.
 I am the only person involved in the decision making process, but others are
looking at the outcome. If I do nothing, I will not be exposed.
 What happens if it all goes wrong?



 I have been thinking about this for a long time and other organizational factors
have got a greater influence. My previous thinking did not take these factors
into account.
 Is the risk of doing something really worth it?
 If I do nothing, will it really matter? Does anybody care?
 My decision will impact on the whole organization. If it goes wrong, I carry the
can. Do I want to take that chance?
 Can they really do what they say they can? Will it work, and is it worth it?
 Supplier B has pointed out that Supplier A made a mess of a previous
contract. Will this happen to us?

In reviewing the sales histories, a common set of indicators were apparent to show
that clients were in the concern phase. These indicators were:
 The client went back on what they had previously said. They changed facts or
conditions seemingly without reason.
 Changes to criteria or needs could or would not be explained.
 The rules for submission of tenders or proposals changed without
explanation.
 Price is brought up as a concern, after price had been agreed on.
 Price is quoted as "Too high", when price is highly competitive.
 Unaccountable delays are encountered, when there is no indication of
problems.
 Competitors are invited to speak with the client, after they have indicated that
you are the preferred supplier.
 New organizational personnel are invited in to the negotiation at the last
minute.
 The schedule is changed without you knowing why.
 Something just doesn't seem right!

When sales people were asked how they dealt with clients who had exhibited
concerns, the researchers discovered that there were some common approaches
adopted. They were:
 To try to reassure the client that whatever the concern was, it was
unimportant and they need not be worried about.
 To appear to be an expert and make the decision for the client.
 To try and force the client into making a decision by putting pressure on them.

When asked if these approaches were successful, clients responded that they were
likely to have a negative, rather than a positive impact on their decision.



The Client's Decision Making Process

During the analysis of the historical sales, it became apparent that proposals were
often lost because the sales people were not able to meet with the final decision
makers, the Authorizers. Access to the Authorizers depended on such things as:

 Geographic separation of the Authorizers from the point of sales contact.
 Seniority of the supplier's sales representative.
 Protection of Authorizers by other organizational personnel.
 Self-interest of the initial person contacted by the sales representative
 Stated impartial stance of the Authorizers.

For these reasons and others, the sales person was not able to influence the
Authorizers on a face to face basis, which made it difficult for them to demonstrate
their superiority over competitors, other than the written word or the sponsorship of
an internal organizational representative.

Sales people expressed concern at having an internal organizational representative
put the case for their proposal. They found it difficult to ensure that the internal
person had the necessary knowledge of the products or services to make a
convincing case. Their perception was that internal sponsors, if questioned by the
Authorizers about areas that they knew little or nothing about, would more likely do
harm than good, to their selection as supplier.

What did become apparent, was that the more senior the supplier's representative,
the more likely they would be to get close to the Authorizers. In addition, the more
internal supporters the proposal had, the more likely it was the proposal would be
accepted. This reinforced the need to ensure that each of the DMT groups were
approached and convinced prior to the actual meeting with the Authorizers. Ensuring
that Authorizers knew all the facts and understood how the products and services
being offered met the organization’s corporate, operational and technical needs and
criteria, was the most critical step in the whole procedure.



Conclusion

This second report looks at the skills needed by a sales person involved in a
complex sale. It identifies the 4 psychological stages gone through by a client
organization which is about to make a decision on engaging a supplier of products or
services. The report looks at the unique skills that are required by a sales person to
help an individual and/or group of people who form part of the client organization’s
Decision Making Team through the process, whilst remaining as the preferred
supplier.

The research findings found that very few sales people appreciated the complexity of
the process, or knew how to deal with each of the client's psychological stages. The
research gave a clear indication that successful sales people could:

 Identify and develop the client's perception of their problems and need for
change.
 Identify a client's decision criteria, prioritize those criteria and then influence
the client to regard their strengths as the client's preferred criteria.
 Identify when a client has concerns about proceeding to contract finalizing
and use techniques that assist the client through this phase.
 Identify who within an organization is part of the Decision Making Team and
then use all the skills required on each of these people.

Dr Jack Brooks
BHC Research
East Barnet, Hertfordshire
ENGLAND

1 March 1994



Annexes for the
MYCELIA PROJECT REPORT
on Sales Training conducted by BHC Research

Annex A: The Psychology of a Buyer in a Complex Selling
Situation & the Domain Competency Areas Required by a Seller
to Meet the Needs of the Buyer.

Annex B: Rackham's SPIN® Model of Seller & Buyer Behaviours.

Annex C: Rackham's Implied/Explicit Need Continuum.

Annex D: Problems, Opportunities & Needs.

Annex E: Problems & Needs.

Annex F: The BHC Skills Centred Selling Model.



Annex A
to Mycelia Project Report

The Psychology of a Buyer in a Complex Selling Situation
& the Domain Competency Areas Required by a Seller
to Meet the Needs of the Buyer



Annex B

Rackham’s SPIN® Model of Seller & Buyer Behaviours



Annex C

RACKHAM’S IMPLIED/EXPLICIT NEED CONTUNUUM

Adapted from Making Major Sales, Neil Rackham, 1987 Published By Gower, Aldershot, Hants, England. Figure 4.2 Page 37



Annex D



Annex E

PROBLEM/NEED CONTINUA



Annex F

The BHC Skills Centred Selling Model


Report on Sales Training Analysis

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