Many of today's companies are introducing ideas and technologies that change the way people communicate, get around, purchase, work, and live. Though these companies are either disrupting markets or creating entirely new ones, they are still trying to sell to prospects with sales methodologies that were built for companies trying to nab market-share from competitors in commodities markets. "Selling into Uncharted Territory" is a fresh look at how companies that are creating new markets should approach sales -- by teaching, challenging, and story-telling -- instead of the legacy "finding problems and taking orders" approach.

1. selling into uncharted
territory
[and the market majority]
Ash Alhashim
Director of Sales Development
Optimizely

2. Abstract
New ideas and technologies are being introduced to the world at an ever-increasing
rate, changing the way people communicate, travel, and do business. Sales
has traditionally focused on taking market share away from competitor products, but as
the pace of new technology creation accelerates, more and more companies are working
to distribute their products by creating new markets. The purpose of this presentation is
to offer these types of companies a new sales discovery framework that is better suited
for the type of conversation you will be having with prospects who are in the
“unconscious incompetence” stage of learning [in other words, individuals who not only
don’t know about what you do, but do not recognize the learning deficit].
If your technology is creating a new market, then following traditional sales advice
(SPIN, BANT, etc.) that is geared towards “rip and replace” selling will severely impair
your distribution strategy once you’ve moved past selling to early adopters. Once you
start selling to the market majority, it will be time to move towards a GRO-ROI selling
model focused on learning about your customers’ objectives and strategies for
accomplishing them, and then teaching them how your product can help them get there
in ways they probably have not considered.
Happy reading,
Ash

3. let’s talk about death :-(

4. Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis
● 19th century Hungarian physician
● Drastically cut childbed fever mortality
rates by introducing hand sanitization
to the childbirth process
● The medical community rejected his
claims, offended by his suggestion that
they were responsible for their
patients’ high mortality rates
● Was admitted into an insane asylum at
47, died two weeks later
● Germ theory discovered by Louis
Pasteur just years after his death,
validated his claims posthumously

5. Moral of the story:
“Selling a solution to a problem that is
not understood greatly increases the
likelihood of failure. “

6. #imdepressednow #thesepeoplearetheworst

7. in nascent markets, “BANT” based sales
discovery processes are incongruent
with market maturity levels

8. what’s wrong with BANT?
Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline
● looks for buyers already 60-70% through the buying
process
● works well for customers that have already identified a
need for your type of product

9. so, BANT is still relevant
but it belongs further down
the sales cycle

10. so what framework do we use for discovery?

11. the law of diffusion of innovation
[we’re here]
Everett Rogers

12. crossing the chasm
The Chasm

13. Once you’ve captured the
early adopters, your customer
profile will change

14. therefore, you must change
the way we communicate if
you hope to capture the
market majority

15. [which is the only way for your
company to survive on the
long-term]

16. so how do you move
prospects down the sales
cycle?

17. the four stages of learning

18. In psychology, the four stages of competence, or the
"conscious competence" learning model, relates to the
psychological states involved in the process of progressing
from incompetence to competence in a skill.

19. unconscious incompetence
The individual does not understand or
know how to do something and does
not necessarily recognize the deficit.
They may deny the usefulness of the
skill.
The individual must recognize their
own incompetence, and the value of
the new skill, before moving on to the
next stage.

20. conscious incompetence
Though the individual does not
understand or know how to do
something, he or she does
recognize the deficit, as well as the
value of a new skill in addressing
the deficit. The making of mistakes
can be integral to the learning
process at this stage.

21. the journey of learning
Conscious
incompetence
Sales approach
BANT
Unconscious
incompetence
Sales approach:
Challenger

22. conscious competence
The individual understands or knows
how to do something. However,
demonstrating the skill or knowledge
requires conscious effort.

23. the journey of learning
Conscious
incompetence
Sales approach
BANT
Unconscious
incompetence
Sales approach:
Challenger
Conscious
Competence
Success approach:
Enablement
Project Mgmt

24. unconscious competence
The individual has had so much
practice with a skill that it has become
"second nature" and can be
performed easily.

25. the journey of learning
Conscious
incompetence
Sales approach
BANT
Unconscious
incompetence
Sales approach:
Story Leader +
Challenger
Conscious
Competence
Success approach:
Enablement
Project Mgmt
Unconscious
competence
Success approach:
Ongoing training
Persuasion Participation

26. learn → teach → prove
In order to effectively persuade
[prove], we must first gain an
understanding of the domain of
our prospect [learn], and
challenge him/her to think
about their business through a
different lens [teach].

27. LEARN TEACH
Goals Roadmap Obstacles Reference Outcomes Impact

28. LEARN TEACH
While the previous slide presented these steps in a straight line, we must note that the discovery
process is non-linear. At any point during the learn process, a salesperson may be presented with
the opportunity to teach.
Think of it the following way:

29. LEARN TEACH
Goals Roadmap Obstacles Reference Outcomes Impact

30. GOALS
❏ Must be quantifiable
❏ Will typically tie back to making money,
saving money, or avoiding risk of losing
money
❏ Often not well defined or unrealistic; first
opportunity to teach

31. ROADMAP
❏ The path to achieving your goals
❏ Companies often try doing more of the
same thing as opposed to trying new
ideas, so chances are they’ve tried these
things before. Dig in
❏ Second opportunity to teach

32. OBSTACLES
❏ What happens if these obstacles get in the
way of your goals?
❏ What is the impact to your business?
❏ [ this is your time to shine as a
salesperson; TEACH AWAY!]

33. REFERENCE
❏ Be specific:
❏ By vertical [media, retail, travel, tech]
❏ By buyer profile [CMO, CTO, Analytics
Manager
❏ By use-case [use their goals,roadmap,
or obstacles for inspiration]

34. OUTCOMES
❏ What did your product do for your
customers [results]?
❏ What did it mean for their respective
businesses [positive implications]?

35. IMPACT
❏ Segue into what this can mean for the
prospect
❏ Close the next step

36. Once you’ve piqued your prospect’s interest, you can
move on to PROVING how your product can help.

37. LEARN TEACH
PROVE

38. PROVE
❏ SHOW! [Don’t tell]
❏ Demo and post-demo process
❏ Establish vendor-customer fit
❏ BANT lives here

39. in conclusion
If your technology is creating a new market, then
following traditional sales advice (SPIN, BANT,
etc.) that is geared towards “rip and replace”
selling will severely limit your distribution strategy
once you’ve closed your early adopters.
It’s time to graduate and move towards a GRO-ROI
selling model focused on learning about your
customers’ objectives and strategies for
accomplishing them and then teaching them how
your product can help them get there in ways they
probably have not considered.