Challenger Sales
Swinging for the Fences
01 August, 2012 07:48
1926 had been a phenomenal year for the Yankees. And yet ultimately, it had ended in defeat as a result of George “Babe” Ruth misreading a situation and getting tagged out trying to steal second base on what turned out to be the very last play of the World Series.
He should have known better. His stolen base success rate had always been less than 50%. He risked the outcome of the entire season for himself, his fans and his teammates on pretty slim odds to remotely improve the chances for the Yankees to win. He was tagged out by a good 10 feet and the Series was over.
The Yankees swallowed hard, took a deep breath and started preparing for the 1927 season.
In 1927, Babe Ruth became the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a single season, cementing his place in history as the greatest slugger of all time, as well as the recognized leader of the 1926 Yankees, the famed "Murderer's Row" known as the greatest line up in baseball history.
That 1927 Yankees team actually had nine players who would go on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Altogether, they scored 862 runs that year. The Babe's 60 homers-- admittedly an incredible feat-- actually amounted to less than 7% of the Yankee's total number of runs during that incredible season. In one game, as a team the Yankees beat the Washington Senators by a score of 21-1, prompting the Senators’ first baseman to say, “Those fellows not only beat you but they tear your heart out. I wish the season was over.”
1927 was also the year that the Bambino's teammate Lou Gehrig actually won the MVP award for the American League and also set the record for RBIs (Runs Batted In). Lou Gehrig, the "Iron Horse,” went on to set a career record that stood for 56 years by playing in 2,130 consecutive games and scored the winning run in eight World Series games throughout his career.
A single act of over-confidence by the great Babe Ruth lost a World Series. And Lou Gehrig’s consistency and stamina won EIGHT World Series.
___________________
While it may be true that a more insight-driven sales mindset can generate substantial, high margin incremental revenue, no fiscally-responsible executive would put baseline business at risk in the pursuit of potential upside. There’s a lot more to superior sales performance than throwing “insights” at the wall to see what sticks. Swinging for the fences on every pitch is not much of a game plan.
He should have known better. His stolen base success rate had always been less than 50%. He risked the outcome of the entire season for himself, his fans and his teammates on pretty slim odds to remotely improve the chances for the Yankees to win. He was tagged out by a good 10 feet and the Series was over.
The Yankees swallowed hard, took a deep breath and started preparing for the 1927 season.
In 1927, Babe Ruth became the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a single season, cementing his place in history as the greatest slugger of all time, as well as the recognized leader of the 1926 Yankees, the famed "Murderer's Row" known as the greatest line up in baseball history.
That 1927 Yankees team actually had nine players who would go on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Altogether, they scored 862 runs that year. The Babe's 60 homers-- admittedly an incredible feat-- actually amounted to less than 7% of the Yankee's total number of runs during that incredible season. In one game, as a team the Yankees beat the Washington Senators by a score of 21-1, prompting the Senators’ first baseman to say, “Those fellows not only beat you but they tear your heart out. I wish the season was over.”
1927 was also the year that the Bambino's teammate Lou Gehrig actually won the MVP award for the American League and also set the record for RBIs (Runs Batted In). Lou Gehrig, the "Iron Horse,” went on to set a career record that stood for 56 years by playing in 2,130 consecutive games and scored the winning run in eight World Series games throughout his career.
A single act of over-confidence by the great Babe Ruth lost a World Series. And Lou Gehrig’s consistency and stamina won EIGHT World Series.
___________________
While it may be true that a more insight-driven sales mindset can generate substantial, high margin incremental revenue, no fiscally-responsible executive would put baseline business at risk in the pursuit of potential upside. There’s a lot more to superior sales performance than throwing “insights” at the wall to see what sticks. Swinging for the fences on every pitch is not much of a game plan.
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
Risky Business
23 July, 2012 07:27
Armed with a copy of The Challenger Sale and a two-day workshop on “insight selling,” you’re now ready “up your game” by abandoning all those soft-shoe consultative selling techniques and enlighten your customers to the paths of truth they have heretofore been unable to grasp by themselves. Good Luck.
Especially when it comes to Executive-level sales. At the C-level, yes-- I expect you to bring me insight. Otherwise, why am I wasting time listening to someone parrot back to me something I already know? But I still expect you to have done your homework.
The only thing that will get you banned from the boardroom faster than pathetically commenting on my "snazzy" tie or asking me "what keeps me up at night" is for you to pretend you’re bringing "insight" into my business-- something with which I am intimately familiar, thank you very much-- when it's obvious you haven't put any real effort into understanding my specific needs and don't have a clue about the metrics/indicators that matter most to me. If your precious "insight" goes above and beyond issues, challenges and opportunities I've already identified, that's awesome. But not likely. Don’t count on being smarter than me or knowing my business better than I do. And dismissing my perspective of my own needs in favor of your opinion in an attempt to show how "insightful" you can be is a recipe for not just failure, but disaster.
___________________
I recall an experience where a well-meaning "insight"-driven sales rep for a well-respected global IT supplier was pitching top executives at one of the world’s largest “brick and mortar" book resellers with over 1300 retail outlets and 40 million customers. The rep used his precious 15-minute audience with the customer's CFO and CIO to introduce the "insight" that they could put kiosks in their stores to allow customers to place online orders while in the store.
The numbers? "Take a look at this spreadsheet showing that if you could increase your Internet sales at the same rate of growth as e-Commerce in general, you would more than pay for the system we're proposing!" Wow.
When asked where he got the data used to generate his assumptions, he proudly pulled out the business section of the previous day's USA Today.
Meeting over. Rep is blackballed from ever working with the firm again. And SOMEONE probably got fired for setting up a meeting that wasted so much valuable executive time while simultaneously insulting everyone's intelligence with such a brilliant "insight."
___________________
In the lazy search for simplistic models for improving sales performance, it's easy to take the naive approach that "insight" trumps or even obviates the need for the hard work required for truly consultative selling. But it can often just be an excuse for going back to the "good ol' days" when we could just tell the customer what’s best for them.
The risk of always going for the "big play" can be substantial.
While the 1926 World Series is famous for Babe Ruth's promise to hit a home run for seriously-ill Johnny Sylvester, it is also notorious as the only World Series lost on the last play by an ill-advised stolen base-- a misjudgment by the same Babe Ruth.
“Swing for the Fences” ALL the time, and you’ll hit some homers, but you’re also going to strike out MOST of the time.
Especially when it comes to Executive-level sales. At the C-level, yes-- I expect you to bring me insight. Otherwise, why am I wasting time listening to someone parrot back to me something I already know? But I still expect you to have done your homework.
The only thing that will get you banned from the boardroom faster than pathetically commenting on my "snazzy" tie or asking me "what keeps me up at night" is for you to pretend you’re bringing "insight" into my business-- something with which I am intimately familiar, thank you very much-- when it's obvious you haven't put any real effort into understanding my specific needs and don't have a clue about the metrics/indicators that matter most to me. If your precious "insight" goes above and beyond issues, challenges and opportunities I've already identified, that's awesome. But not likely. Don’t count on being smarter than me or knowing my business better than I do. And dismissing my perspective of my own needs in favor of your opinion in an attempt to show how "insightful" you can be is a recipe for not just failure, but disaster.
___________________
I recall an experience where a well-meaning "insight"-driven sales rep for a well-respected global IT supplier was pitching top executives at one of the world’s largest “brick and mortar" book resellers with over 1300 retail outlets and 40 million customers. The rep used his precious 15-minute audience with the customer's CFO and CIO to introduce the "insight" that they could put kiosks in their stores to allow customers to place online orders while in the store.
The numbers? "Take a look at this spreadsheet showing that if you could increase your Internet sales at the same rate of growth as e-Commerce in general, you would more than pay for the system we're proposing!" Wow.
When asked where he got the data used to generate his assumptions, he proudly pulled out the business section of the previous day's USA Today.
Meeting over. Rep is blackballed from ever working with the firm again. And SOMEONE probably got fired for setting up a meeting that wasted so much valuable executive time while simultaneously insulting everyone's intelligence with such a brilliant "insight."
___________________
In the lazy search for simplistic models for improving sales performance, it's easy to take the naive approach that "insight" trumps or even obviates the need for the hard work required for truly consultative selling. But it can often just be an excuse for going back to the "good ol' days" when we could just tell the customer what’s best for them.
The risk of always going for the "big play" can be substantial.
While the 1926 World Series is famous for Babe Ruth's promise to hit a home run for seriously-ill Johnny Sylvester, it is also notorious as the only World Series lost on the last play by an ill-advised stolen base-- a misjudgment by the same Babe Ruth.
“Swing for the Fences” ALL the time, and you’ll hit some homers, but you’re also going to strike out MOST of the time.
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
An Elephant Story
21 July, 2012 20:54
Six blind men happened upon a heretofore unknown object. Being widely respected for their wisdom and experience, they each confidently proclaimed the "true nature" of the phenomenon they had encountered.
"It's a wall!” said one. Another said, “no, its a rope!” The third said, “not a rope, but a fire hose!“ The next declared it a “palm leaf” and his neighbor, a "tree." The final blind man, wisest of all, slowly circled the object, probing here and there, carefully considering the claims of his compatriots. Eventually he paused, smiling smugly as he discovered a point of reference the others had obviously missed.
With a smirk he chuckled knowingly. “You are all hopelessly misguided. It’s not a wall, hose, rope, palm leaf or even a tree! Having already considered all of your opinions, I have found a new, true perspective--It is clearly a spear!”
At that moment, the "object-- an ELEPHANT-- knelt to the ground where a young boy, his mahout (elephant trainer), effortlessly climbed up on his back and with a word, turned the beast and headed for home.
___________________
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review trumpets “The End of Solution Sales,” and suggests that real top performers are abandoning consultative selling techniques in favor of what the Sales Executive Council calls “insight selling.” The article displays a dramatic and fundamental misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the underlying tenets of “solution selling,” while boldly proclaiming that successful salespeople almost by definition exclusively and explicitly favor the SEC’s flavor of the month, the “Challenger” sale.
Let’s look at the history of sales “training.” First we had the development a hundred years ago of the “hunter/farmer” sales model used in insurance sales. In the 20’s and 30’s, Edward K. Strong (a Professor of Psychology at Stanford’s Business School-- best known for his development of the Strong Interest Inventory of vocational interests) wrote a number of treatises on the psychology of selling, and introduced the concept of mastering specific sales techniques. More recently we’ve seen the onslaught of a vast array of quasi-consultative sales models-- SPIN selling. Relationship selling, “Sales 2.0,” high-touch vs. self-service, and more conversion funnels, lead pipelines, and value pyramids than you can imagine. In fact, Robert DeGroot has identified 12 specific sales models, containing 31 differentiated categories covering 204 sales skill competencies. Talk about overkill!
Now we have the Next Big Thing, “insight” or “Challenger” selling, and supposedly in one fell swoop it supersedes everything that has come before.
___________________
The limited vision of the blind wise men lead them to identify the elephant's side as a wall, trunk as a hose, tail as a rope, ear as a palm leaf, leg as a tree, and finally it's tusk as a spear. And yet an elephant is NONE of those things-- a fact readily discernible by anyone who knows the nature of the beast.
A superb sales professional is NOT a blind man fumbling around the elephant, convinced it is a rope, a wall or even a spear-- he or she is an "elephant whisperer." someone who can see and understand the big picture of what the "elephant" is really all about, including what is in its head.
And how do you know what's in the "elephant's head?" By exercising ALL of your skills, including intelligent, thoughtful questioning and listening. i.e. appropriately applied consultative selling techniques.
Insight that is INFORMED by a consultative “solution-driven” approach is invaluable. But focusing on “insight” as a style or skill in and of itself, supplanting the need to develop a real understanding of the customer from the CUSTOMER’s perspective, is not only short-sighted, it can be downright dangerous.
More on that soon.
"It's a wall!” said one. Another said, “no, its a rope!” The third said, “not a rope, but a fire hose!“ The next declared it a “palm leaf” and his neighbor, a "tree." The final blind man, wisest of all, slowly circled the object, probing here and there, carefully considering the claims of his compatriots. Eventually he paused, smiling smugly as he discovered a point of reference the others had obviously missed.
With a smirk he chuckled knowingly. “You are all hopelessly misguided. It’s not a wall, hose, rope, palm leaf or even a tree! Having already considered all of your opinions, I have found a new, true perspective--It is clearly a spear!”
At that moment, the "object-- an ELEPHANT-- knelt to the ground where a young boy, his mahout (elephant trainer), effortlessly climbed up on his back and with a word, turned the beast and headed for home.
___________________
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review trumpets “The End of Solution Sales,” and suggests that real top performers are abandoning consultative selling techniques in favor of what the Sales Executive Council calls “insight selling.” The article displays a dramatic and fundamental misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the underlying tenets of “solution selling,” while boldly proclaiming that successful salespeople almost by definition exclusively and explicitly favor the SEC’s flavor of the month, the “Challenger” sale.
Let’s look at the history of sales “training.” First we had the development a hundred years ago of the “hunter/farmer” sales model used in insurance sales. In the 20’s and 30’s, Edward K. Strong (a Professor of Psychology at Stanford’s Business School-- best known for his development of the Strong Interest Inventory of vocational interests) wrote a number of treatises on the psychology of selling, and introduced the concept of mastering specific sales techniques. More recently we’ve seen the onslaught of a vast array of quasi-consultative sales models-- SPIN selling. Relationship selling, “Sales 2.0,” high-touch vs. self-service, and more conversion funnels, lead pipelines, and value pyramids than you can imagine. In fact, Robert DeGroot has identified 12 specific sales models, containing 31 differentiated categories covering 204 sales skill competencies. Talk about overkill!
Now we have the Next Big Thing, “insight” or “Challenger” selling, and supposedly in one fell swoop it supersedes everything that has come before.
___________________
The limited vision of the blind wise men lead them to identify the elephant's side as a wall, trunk as a hose, tail as a rope, ear as a palm leaf, leg as a tree, and finally it's tusk as a spear. And yet an elephant is NONE of those things-- a fact readily discernible by anyone who knows the nature of the beast.
A superb sales professional is NOT a blind man fumbling around the elephant, convinced it is a rope, a wall or even a spear-- he or she is an "elephant whisperer." someone who can see and understand the big picture of what the "elephant" is really all about, including what is in its head.
And how do you know what's in the "elephant's head?" By exercising ALL of your skills, including intelligent, thoughtful questioning and listening. i.e. appropriately applied consultative selling techniques.
Insight that is INFORMED by a consultative “solution-driven” approach is invaluable. But focusing on “insight” as a style or skill in and of itself, supplanting the need to develop a real understanding of the customer from the CUSTOMER’s perspective, is not only short-sighted, it can be downright dangerous.
More on that soon.
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
