From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call: Close More by Doing What You Do Best

Advance Praise for

From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call

Once in a very long while, a book comes along that has the potential of changing the way people think about sales. Richard has written such a book. By examining why we lose the sale, he is able to show ways to win the deal. This is revolutionary, and a must read.

Stephan Schiffman

Bestselling author,

Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work)

This is an incredibly insightful book that shows you special strategies to make more effective presentations and actually make more sales—faster and easier.

Brian Tracy

Bestselling author,

The Psychology of Selling

How can a salesperson win more business? Richard’s book answers this question: by learning from lost sales. He delivers practical tools in a how to approach that will motivate and teach any salesperson to become a rainmaker. His concept is ground-breaking and empowering . . . a must-read for any sales executive or salesperson.

Jeffrey Fox

Bestselling author,

How to Become a Rainmaker

Very rarely is there anything new in the field of sales training, but Richard has captured something truly unique and innovative. This book is an absolute must for every sales manager and every salesperson who wants to stay on the cutting edge of influence. Richard clearly establishes himself as the Thought Leader in sales training with this book.

Peter Montoya

Author, The Brand Called You

From a Good Sales Call to a GREAT Sales Call

Close More by Doing What You Do Best

RICHARD M. SCHRODER

Copyright © 2011 by Richard M. Schroder. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-174281-8

MHID: 0-07-174281-6

The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-171811-0, MHID: 0-07-171811-7.

All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps.

McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please e-mail us at bulksales@mcgraw-hill.com.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

—From a declaration of principles jointly adopted by a committee of the

American Bar Association and a committee of publishers

TERMS OF USE

This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (McGraw-Hill) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill’s prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms.

THE WORK IS PROVIDED AS IS. McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the functions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting there from. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise.

To Jeannine, Michael, and Molly

Contents

Foreword by Stephan Schiffman

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART 1 RECOGNIZING THE HIDDEN OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE YOUR CLOSE RATE 1

STEP 1 Discover the Benefits of Successfully Debriefing with Prospects

STEP 2 Understand the Postdecision Mind-Set of the Prospect

STEP 3 Recognize How Salespeople Can Inhibit the Feedback Process

PART 2 SELF-DIAGNOSING YOUR SALES EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH POSTDECISION DEBRIEFS WITH PROSPECTS

STEP 4 Design a Prospect Debrief Questionnaire

STEP 5 Utilize Proven Interviewing Techniques for Conducting Debrief Calls

STEP 6 Identify and Analyze Your Win/Loss Trends

PART 3 LEVERAGING WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED

STEP 7 Benchmark Your Feedback

STEP 8 Implement the Right Techniques to Increase Your Close Rate

Conclusion

APPENDIX A (For Sales Managers) Why You Should Implement a Win/Loss Program for Your Sales Team

APPENDIX B (For Sales Managers) How to Implement a Win/Loss Program

Index

Foreword

Once in a very long while, a book comes along that has the potential of changing the way people think about sales. Richard has written such a book. By examining why we lose the sale, he is able to show ways to win the deal. This is revolutionary, and a must-read. Here’s why.

For the longest time, I have wondered why salespeople never seem to understand what’s really happened in their meetings with prospects. I once said that when a salesperson left the prospect’s office, she seemed to disappear down a hole. Kind of like Alice in Wonderland, she kept dropping further down, only to emerge at the bottom of the hole to sign the deal. I believe that is what most folks think happens to salespeople.

That’s not to say that salespeople didn’t understand if they got the sale or lost the sale. They just seem to be in the dark as to what really took place. They had no clue why calls resulted in drastically different outcomes.

In their minds, they went into this mysterious place called The Office. Once there, they undertook some sort of magical incantation. If all went well and the planets were aligned, they emerged with a signed contract. Sometimes, of course, they left the session empty-handed. But if I, or anyone else, asked what happened, their answers were filled with shrugs and confused expressions.

Most odd, they seemed to bear an animosity toward the individual to whom they were selling. They acted as if the prospect were the biggest obstacle to the sale. As if that person wasn’t real but just an abstraction called The Client. And evidently to both parties the sales experience seemed surreal.

Having been a buyer and a seller, the veteran of thousands of such meetings, I thought I knew what took place in The Office. But somehow I could never put my finger on the heart of the process. But as I thought about it, more and more, an answer emerged from the fog.

On those occasions when the sale didn’t happen, especially if I was the client conveying the news, salespeople would ask me why. For a long time, I gave the tired (and lame) answer that the price wasn’t right, the color was wrong, or we did not need the product at the time.

The fact of the matter is that I wasn’t being entirely candid with the salesperson, and not because I had anything to hide. The price not being right or the color being wrong could very well have been part of the equation, but there was missing information from my response. What I neglected to comment on was the impact (or lack of impact) that the salesperson’s performance had on the deal.

Additionally, in many instances, the salesperson is competing against the status quo. The prospect has something that fits the bill already and is using it satisfactorily.

Either way, when prospects give salespeople feedback on lost sales, buyers often focus on the mechanics of the product (i.e., product features or pricing issues) instead of what’s truly important: the relationship between the seller and the buyer. This is a very real problem for most salespeople, and this book will help you to overcome this issue so that you can truly understand what goes on during your time in The Office.

Another problem I’ve grappled with over the years is defining what exactly the salesperson does. You’d think it would be pretty straightforward, wouldn’t you? With 21 million salespeople in this country, you’d imagine they have some idea of what fills their days. But part of the challenge of sales today is that salespeople are trying to redefine their positions. They struggle with all sorts of terms and definitions.

One expression I hate is drum beater. It conjures up an image that people associate with salespeople. Someone who’s a backslapper and a hand grabber. An apple polisher, with a mouth full of gleaming teeth. Not a group to inspire confidence, are we?

Movies like Tin Man and Glengarry, Glen Ross, not to mention the television show Mad Men, help perpetuate the image of the slick salesperson without ethics, someone who never revisits the prospect’s home, much less office, again.

On the contrary, I believe that great salespeople have a strong ethical code. That’s precisely what makes them great. But this is something that needs, desperately, to be taught to the new generation of salespeople.

Can sales be learned, or are there people who are just born to sell? You know the kind: people with the gift of gab, who can sell you the Brooklyn Bridge. (Yes, it was resold recently!) In fact, I believe that great salespeople are bred, not born. And good salespeople are easy to find.

Yes, that’s right! A good salesperson is easy to find. Follow my logic now: There are so many bad salespeople that the good ones stick out. They win the awards from the company, they are at the job for a long time, and they seem to relish in the position of selling king.

The bad ones knock on doors over and over again. They may have 10 different jobs before they leave the sales profession and move into management, where they screw up the works.

There seem to be four areas that concern even the most average of salespeople:

They need to knock on doors or prospect.

They need to be able to make a presentation.

They need to understand their product.

They need to have a sales personality.

With prospecting, the salesperson will try everything to get the appointment. He will cold call on the telephone, try mailing cute postcards, and meet you at a trade show. And once he has his jaw into you, he will never let go.

I once knew a woman who threatened to faint unless her contact came down from his office and escorted her upstairs. He refused; she fainted and was escorted out of the building by security. (But at least she tried.) There must be some truth to the story about the guy who mailed his contact a shoe, stating, Now I’ve got a foot in the door, let me in! Over and over, the challenge is the same: get the sale, by any means necessary!

How much ability does the salesperson have to have to make a successful presentation? The answer turns out to be simple: just enough to make the sale. And here’s the key to this: how much does the client need the product? If the person truly needs the product, the worst presentation on the face of earth will sell the damn thing.

I was at a presentation at a major broadcasting company when the computer went out. For three hours the presenters worked on getting this gadget to work, but the electrical power would not work for them. Promptly at 10 a.m., the secretary came into the room and turned off the timer. The electricity came back on, and with it the computer.

The point here is not to rely on technology, not to rely on gimmicks, not to rely on smoke and mirrors. What counts in the end is whether the product or service solves a crucial problem for the client.

As an effective salesperson, you need to know that. You don’t need to know how it solves the problem. This may seem paradoxical, but it’s crucial to the success of your sale. After all, how many people know how a computer works? Or how a smartphone works? The point is, what problem does it solve? If you know that, you can sell it. It’s that simple.

Finally, we come to the winning sales personality. Almost every sales test ever given assesses this. Without the winning sales personality, there is no salesperson. There will be no prospecting, and there will be no presentation and no sale. Clear and simple. No sales personality, no sales. It’s that simple.

The key lies in a basic slogan: Nothing happens until somebody sells something. Of course, it cannot be that simple. A sale is an interaction between people (one in which both win). A sale is an act of communication, something that has a give and take. However, too often it misses a crucial element: the need to be frank and honest.

It’s my considered opinion (considered after more than 35 years of sales experience) that the problems of sales today, nine times out of ten, lie in the training of salespeople. Instead of concentrating on the mechanics of selling, we have to focus on the relationship between seller and client. We have to constantly ask ourselves, when we walk out of a room, What happened in there? Did I convince the client? Did I build a lasting link? Did I make a connection that’s going to endure?

From the constant examination and reexamination of these questions, we’ll find the answer to what makes a great sale. And readers of From a Good Sales Call to a Great Sales Call will go a long way down the road to answering those questions.

Stephan Schiffman

Acknowledgments

When I first sat down to write the acknowledgments and reflect on everyone who helped me write this book, I was amazed at how many people had been instrumental in the development of this project. No one publishes a book without the help of other people.

As I worked with each person, I learned a tremendous amount about the sales process, my work, and my company. In his or her own way, each person helped to stretch and organize my thinking and writing, which allowed me to take my research and expertise to a whole new level. Bruce Springsteen once suggested that we write about what we are trying to figure out, and writing a book truly does give you clarity on your subject matter.

I would like to thank the following people for all their help:

My wife, Jeannine, for your support, encouragement, and for being so understanding about all the time it took to write the book. I never would have finished without all those Sundays to write. Thank you for all the hours of discussion and for helping me to develop my writing career. Love to Michael and Molly.

Heather Jenkins, my business partner, for your collaboration and tireless editing on the many drafts of this book. The research you performed on all of our sales data was integral in developing the book. Thank you for being such a great sounding board and for being the trusted first set of eyes on all the writing.

Ted Weinstein, my literary agent, for believing in this project from the beginning and for being my publishing industry guide. It was your insight that allowed me to look at my work from a different perspective and take the book concept to a whole new level. You are a true professional, and this book never would have happened without you. Thank you for responding to my initial query letter and for finding the right publisher for the project.

Stephan Schiffman, my favorite sales author, for writing the foreword, but more importantly for being such a great mentor to me during this process. There were many times you helped me and asked nothing in return, and I greatly appreciate it. I have been a fan of your work for so many years, and I have learned a lot from your books. You are a prolific writer, and I am just glad I was able to find a sales topic you have not covered!

Donya Dickerson, senior editor at McGraw-Hill, for believing in the project and for publishing the book. I appreciate your being the champion for this book within McGraw-Hill. Your editorial feedback was tremendously helpful; it gave the book great clarity and made it much easier to read.

Rose Vignola, my sister-in-law and part-time research pro, for all your help with marketing my writing to agents, magazines, and publishers. Your steadfast work on this project helped me not only find the right agent, but your efforts also educated me on the publishing industry (which ultimately led to this book being published). I never would have found Ted Weinstein without you.

Jim Bowley, for your friendship and valuable critique of the book. Your knowledge and experience in sales, writing, and win/loss analysis offered powerful insights to the book’s concept. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into reading and offering suggestions on my work. I have truly appreciated your writing counsel over the years.

Geza Szurovy, for your wisdom, insight, and mentorship. You taught me a lot about the writing process, and, most importantly, you taught me that it can be done.

Andrew Cloutier, for all your help with editing the book. I appreciate your rigorous efforts. Your wordsmithing and critique helped take the book to a whole new level.

Tom Johnson, for our many discussions about the sales process over the years. Thank you for your advice and friendship.

Everyone at Anova Consulting Group, for all your hard work in making our win/loss analysis program such a success. Without all of your research and insight, this book would not have been possible. Special thanks to Lisa Reibstein and George Radford.

All my clients. As always, thank you for your business and for allowing my company to serve your sales teams and help them improve their sales effectiveness.

Finally, my mom, dad, brother, and sister for all your support.

Introduction

This book is the result of more than 12 years of research on the sales process. Over this time, I have personally managed hundreds of win/loss analysis studies for Fortune 500 sales teams throughout the country, and I have been involved in conducting thousands of interviews with prospects on behalf of salespeople for both won and lost sales situations. I have also surveyed, interviewed, and consulted with hundreds of salespeople and sales managers about why they win and lose in new business situations.

As I worked with sales teams and read through interview transcript after interview transcript, I began to realize that salespeople often unknowingly make the same mistakes and frequently lose for the same reasons year in and year out. As I continued to perform this research, I became increasingly passionate about the pursuit of educating salespeople on how to better understand why they win and lose so that they can ultimately increase their win rate.

One thing that has always stood out to me is that there typically are only two or three reasons one sales rep wins a deal over another (the historical average from my research is actually 2.5 reasons that a prospect cites as to why a particular salesperson loses a deal). In horse racing, the winning horse typically wins by less than a second, and the sales profession is similar. In an increasingly competitive business climate, salespeople must continuously sharpen their selling skills in order to get ahead of the competition and win more business.

I have come to realize