Tag: Godspeed selling

How Successful Sellers Engage Customers With Information

Below is a summary of an article from Harvard Business Review (HBR) titled Sensemaking for Sales which describes how successful sellers help customers make sense of information overload during a complex buying process.

I asked a few sales executives in my network, “are interested in a service that summarizes long-form B2B sales strategy articles and research from reputable sources and delivers them to your inbox?”

The overwhelming answer was YES.

So I decided to test this concept further in today’s post.

Below is a summary of an article from Harvard Business Review (HBR) titled Sensemaking for Sales which describes how successful sellers help customers make sense of information overload during a complex buying process.

I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know if you’ll like to see more of these summaries.

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Title: Sensemaking for Sales | Source: Harvard Business Review

The amount of reliable, trustworthy, and valuable product and service information available to B2B customers has become overwhelming, so much so that B2B customers dedicate only 17% of their purchase process to talking with potential suppliers. In addition, this information overload has complicated the buying process, leading to indecision. Research from Brent Adamson, Distinguished VP @ Gartner, published on HBR, revealed three ways sales reps engage customers with information: giving, telling, and sensemaking. One method outperforms the others.

  1. Giving sellers are characterized by a “more is better” mentality. Their approach is “I can get you more information on that,” believing that they are moving the deal forward with more information. However, the reality is that only 13% of 1,100 B2B buyers surveyed believe the claims of giving sellers.
  2. Telling sellers are usually highly knowledgeable reps with years of experience and deep subject matter expertise. Their approach is “Let me tell you what you need to know,” basing information on extensive personal experience and knowledge. However, only 28% of 1,100 B2B buyers surveyed believe the claims of telling sellers.
  3. Sensemaking sellers give customers just enough information to help them meaningfully interpret and simplify that material. Their approach is “There is a lot of information. Let me help you make sense of it.” 67% of 1,100 B2B buyers believe Sensemaking sellers’ claims, proving this approach is more effective.
Photo by Hassan Pasha on Unsplash

The reason why Sensemaking is more compelling is that these sellers do three unique things well. They:

  • Connect customers with carefully curated and relevant information. When asked a difficult question, these sellers know it’s okay to say “I don’t know” rather than manufacture half-truths which can erase the customer’s trust.
  • Clarify that information by explaining, simplifying, and deconflicting. The key here is to empower the customer with consumable and straightforward insights that are shareable and easily understood without much explanation.
  • Collaborate on customer learning through Socratic guidance. This concept involves guiding the customer to arrive at their conclusions by asking questions, not telling them what to do. Customers are more self-confident this way.

Sensemaking organizations focus on their strengths. They provide the customer with credible information backed by data that subtly ties to their unique strengths.

Also, sensemaking sellers increase the size of the pie. They prioritize earning the customer’s trust, making the customer feel more confident about making a higher-risk decision, such as buying the bigger, more complex product.

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Let me know what you think of the above summary.

Godspeed Selling!

Using Scenario Planning to Close More Deals

My main takeaway from the book is scenarios often (but not always) seem to fall into three groups: 1/more of the same, but better; 2/worse (decay and depression); and 3/different but better (fundamental change). Although not all scenarios fit nicely into these three groups, understanding what decisions lead to each outcome is critical.

A mental model I’ve found helpful in handling high-stakes and uncertain customer situations is scenario planning. A few years ago, one of the best sales leaders I’ve worked for explained this concept as I started leading more complex multi-year sales cycles. Since then, applying it has provided clarity and elevated my sales acumen. I also consider the concept an excellent antidote to inaction. 

In The Art of the Long View, Peter Schwartz defines scenarios as a tool for helping us take a long view in a world of great uncertainty. Further, scenarios are not about predicting the future; instead, they are about perceiving futures in the present. 

My main takeaway from the book is scenarios often (but not always) seem to fall into three groups: 1/more of the same, but better; 2/worse (decay and depression); and 3/different but better (fundamental change). Although not all scenarios fit nicely into these three groups, understanding what decisions lead to each outcome is critical.

I’ve found it’s best to work backward from each scenario, not just your ideal scenario. This approach helps inform which decisions to avoid and which to make with conviction. Also, working backward from each scenario from the point of view of your customer or prospect builds empathy. Finally, it helps you be more consultative in guiding your customer to your ideal outcome. 

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

A practical and easy way of applying scenario planning is using it to set agendas for high-stakes sales calls.

Here’s an example of how I used it when my team and I presented a proposal to a customer about a transformative project.

After welcoming everyone and doing a round of introductions, I kicked off the meeting by letting everyone know three possible outcomes could happen at the end of our time together. 

First, they listen to what we have to say and decide to adopt one or two recommendations, which may improve their business, but nothing transformative. (Scenario 1)

Second, they decide not to accept any recommendations and continue operating business as usual. (Scenario 2)

Third, they like our proposal and commit to adopting all the transformative changes we are recommending (Scenario 3). 

After sharing these possible outcomes, I noticed my nerves calm down. I even observed everyone, including my team members, relax because I presented everyone with options which gave them a sense of control. As a result, they all had skin in the game. 

Furthermore, by using scenario planning to demystify the uncertainty of the meeting outcomes, everyone could now focus on the content and arrive at an objective conclusion. 

When the meeting ended, the decision-maker leaned towards Scenario 3. In contrast, one or two of the decision-maker’s lieutenants leaned toward Scenario 1.

Fortunately, my team did a fantastic job leading the discussion that Scenario 2 did not appear to be a part of the customer’s future.

We closed the opportunity with the decision-maker for the transformative project a few weeks later.

 Godspeed selling!

A B2B Account Executive Review of “An Elegant Puzzle”

Engineering management acts as an intricate puzzle attempting different pieces to find a solution. Management can be viewed similarly implementing frameworks to help solve challenges leaders face. B2B Sales Professionals can accelerate time to credibility if they understand the state of the engineering leader’s team.

“Engineering management isn’t inherently a bureaucratic, mystical, or mediocre profession,” said Will Larson, responding to my question asking what he believes is the main takeaway from his book, An Elegant Puzzle. He continued, “it’s a delightful series of puzzles, and there are better and worse answers to each puzzle.”

In reflecting on his response and digesting his book’s content, I asked myself, what if there are better ways to anticipate the challenges engineering leaders are tackling?

Let’s take a step back.

A few months ago, I was scrolling through my LinkedIn feed and came across a post by an engineering executive who I admire recommending engineering leaders to read “An Elegant Puzzle.”

When I perused through the book synopsis, it didn’t seem like a book I’d enjoy, but I decided to give it a read hoping to learn something new. The book tackles the various challenges of engineering management and “balances structured principles and human-centric thinking to help any leader create more effective and rewarding organizations for engineers to thrive in.“

Will Larson draws from his experience at Digg, Uber, and Stripe in writing this book. He is currently the CTO of Calm, the #1 app for meditation and sleep, where he continues to apply and refine the principles discussed in his book.

After reading the book, I reached out to Will and asked him:

“If there is one main takeaway from An Elegant Puzzle that you want to make sure people reflect on after reading it, what would it be?“

Photo by Olav Ahrens Røtne on Unsplash

His response was:

Engineering management isn’t inherently a bureaucratic, mystical, or mediocre profession. It’s a delightful series of puzzles, and there are better and worse answers to each puzzle. I challenge folks to spend a bit more time thinking about the critical decisions they make–organizational changes, promotions, assigning key projects, etc.–and look for a better way.

Interestingly, if you remove the word “Engineering” in the first sentence of Will’s response and start with “Management,” the core message stays intact. The reason being management in any profession has one thing in common – people. Just as a puzzle has individual pieces, individuals make a group of people.

Although pieces of a puzzle may have similar dimensions, placing a piece in the wrong spot would lead to the wrong answer. To correctly solve a puzzle, you’d need to set individual parts in the right area.

Whether you’re a people manager or individual contributor, this book has something for you.

As an individual contributor, I read the book through the lens of a Business to Business (B2B) Account Executive, and in doing so, one key concept inspired me to think differently on how I connect with engineering leaders.

Engineering leaders have a repository of frameworks to tackle process and people challenges.

Photo by Alex wong on Unsplash

The challenges engineering leaders face are similar to an extent, so frameworks are a common theme in this book. Will offers various frameworks that allow him to shorten the time it takes to arrive at a viable solution.

For example, one of the frameworks that resonated with me as a B2B account executive selling to engineering leaders is how to help these leaders build teams that are continuously innovating.

Will breaks down the four states of engineering teams framework:

  1. A team is falling behind if each week their backlog is longer than it was the week before. Typically, people are working extremely hard but not making much progress, morale is low, and users of the application are vocally dissatisfied.
  2. A team is treading water if they can get their critical work done but cannot pay down technical debt or begin major new projects.
  3. A team is repaying debt when they can start paying down technical debt and are beginning to benefit from the debt repayment snowball.
  4. A team is innovating when their technical debt is sustainably low, morale is high, and most work is satisfying new user needs.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

As a B2B account executive looking to advise engineering leaders, a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. The advise I offer an engineering leader whose team is falling behind will be different than an engineering leader whose team is repaying debt.

Will offers a framework for engineering leaders responsible for fixing each state of the team described above:

  1. To fix a team falling behind, hire new people and increase capacity.
  2. To fix a team treading water, consolidate team efforts to finish more things, and reduce concurrent work until able to begin repaying debt.
  3. To fix a team repaying debt, add time to pay the debt.
  4. To maintain a team innovating, add slack in your team’s schedule so that the team can build quality into their work.

The four states of a team and how to fix each state framework are an invitation to step into an engineering leader’s mind and anticipate the outcomes he or she is seeking.

Also, the framework elevates our conversation’s content because it guides my curiosity to areas that are most relevant for engineering leaders. This means I can build authentic credibility and be viewed as a true partner rather than someone just trying to make a sale.

The Clock on the Wall. Photo by Ozisco

Below are the actions steps I plan to take. I invite you to experiment with me.

  1. Ask an engineering leader in your next meeting: “How would you describe the state of your team over the past 6 – 12months?“
  1. Listen for keywords that could point towards a team that is either falling behind, treading water, repaying debt, or innovating. 
  1. Validate your hypothesis and understanding of the current state of the team by asking follow-up questions.
  1. Explain how your solution can bridge the gap between the current and ideal state of the team.
The Bridge – 14’4. Photo by Ozisco

Thank you for reading.

Godspeed selling.