{"id":175,"date":"2006-07-18T08:13:29","date_gmt":"2006-07-18T13:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/?p=175"},"modified":"2006-07-18T08:14:04","modified_gmt":"2006-07-18T13:14:04","slug":"selling-the-complex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/07\/selling-the-complex\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling the Complex"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jeff Thull is a successful sales trainer in the Twin Cities who works extensively with companies that have a complex sale. I just read this article &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.enewsbuilder.net\/salesmarketing\/e_article000615782.cfm?x=b7JFKwT,b4299r74\" target=\"_blank\">How to Prevent &#8220;Unpaid Consulting&#8221;<\/a> &#8211; and found it full of tactical advice for salespeople. A few gems from the piece (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Unpaid consulting starts when sales professionals cross the line between diagnosing the problem and explaining the solution. <font color=\"#800000\">When they start designing solutions, they start acting as unpaid consultants.<\/font> In past decades, this was not a monumental issue. Generally, there was limited competition in complex sales. If the salesperson figured out the problem and designed a unique and valuable solution for a customer, the sale was almost guaranteed and the salesperson was rewarded for his consulting effort.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We have seen this behavior firsthand, even in sales that were more transactional in nature.<\/p>\n<p>A great tip for sales managers (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Go For The No<\/strong>. A key to your sales team&#8217;s productivity and success is helping them understand that a thorough diagnosis allows them to quickly identify the 20-30% of their prospects who have the immediate reason and resources to make a change. <font color=\"#800000\">The traditional salesperson wastes time arm-wrestling with a prospect that has no pain and hopes to win the sale by sheer tenacity.<\/font> This has its roots in the theory that the good salesperson never takes no for an answer and the salesperson&#8217;s view that no equates to personal failure. Help them recognize that a qualified No can increase their productivity and success. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Most sales managers have difficulty with this concept. It is critical to successful managing. You have to be willing to walk away from marginal at best prospects to focus on the 20-30% who are a strong fit for your solution.<\/p>\n<p>Many sales managers cannot implement this truth and end up with less efficient sales teams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeff Thull is a successful sales trainer in the Twin Cities who works extensively with companies that have a complex sale. I just read this article &#8211; How to Prevent &#8220;Unpaid Consulting&#8221; &#8211; and found it full of tactical advice for salespeople. A few gems from the piece (emphasis mine): Unpaid consulting starts when sales professionals cross the line between diagnosing the problem and explaining the solution. When they start designing solutions, they start acting as unpaid consultants. In past decades, this was not a monumental issue. Generally, there was limited competition in complex sales. If the salesperson figured out the problem and designed a unique and valuable solution for&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/07\/selling-the-complex\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-management","category-sales-techniques"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-2P","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":730,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/03\/sales-traits-series-integrative-ability\/","url_meta":{"origin":175,"position":0},"title":"Sales Traits Series &#8211; Integrative Ability","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"This week's trait is one we bandy about here at Select Metrix often regarding salespeople.\u00a0 This trait is important in all sales but especially in complex selling environments.\u00a0 Pay special attention to the weakness description - it is a common issue we encounter amongst salespeople struggling in a complex sale.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Aptitudes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23153,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2019\/03\/the-shrinking-attention-span-vs-relationship-sales\/","url_meta":{"origin":175,"position":1},"title":"The Shrinking Attention Span vs. Relationship Sales","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a problem I have seen developing in sales over the past 10 years - shorter attention spans in salespeople having to deal with longer sales cycles. First, some background from a quick American Management Association: Whenever I teach students, I tell them, \u201cYour chance of being successful has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Techniques&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Techniques","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-techniques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Stopwatch.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Stopwatch.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Stopwatch.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":243,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/08\/a-hiring-riddle\/","url_meta":{"origin":175,"position":2},"title":"A Hiring Riddle","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. -Albert Einstein Here is a riddle we constantly encounter yet have difficulty solving. Let's say you are the sales manager for a somewhat complex product sale and you have an underperforming salesperson. The salesperson is well below\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1259,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/10\/judge-them-by-their-performance\/","url_meta":{"origin":175,"position":3},"title":"Judge Them By Their Performance","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a mindbender for you - we have a customer who has a relatively new salesperson and a new sales manager. The salesperson has sold more than the 5 other new salespeople hired within a few months of him (mostly before him). The sales manager has not met the salesperson\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":680,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/02\/mastering-the-complex-sale\/","url_meta":{"origin":175,"position":4},"title":"Mastering The Complex Sale","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"If you haven't bookmarked Salesopedia.com, I suggest you do so now. It is a relatively new site but is full of excellent sales advice. Clayton authors a great sales blog over there that I highly recommend reading. His latest entry discusses an article by one of our favorite sales authors\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":422,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2006\/11\/go-for-no\/","url_meta":{"origin":175,"position":5},"title":"Go For No","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"We are fans of Jeff Thull's approach to selling as we commented in a post from this past summer. Now Thull has a new article in the latest SMT enewsletter - The Science and Art of Go For The No Selling. I recommend you read the entire article, but here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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