Luke 16:10

Luke 16:10 

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

Christian Based Selling

This scripture is nice punctuation on this week's blog posts.  The first half makes us feel good--that if we have just a little bit of genuine faith then we have accomplished a great deal and can move mountains.  Pretty cool!  The second half strikes terror that a small lie is a big lie.  There is a great deal of pressure in our profession to be all things to our prospects.  

In my experience prospects don't base their decision entirely on experience/features and credentials.  Have you ever lost to what you believed to be a lesser competitor?  A mentor of mine once taught me that you need a competitive solution but the difference in winning is salesmanship.

So what are we selling if it's not all about the attributes of our solution? We need to remember that the prospect is selecting a partner who they believe will make them successful--their own individual   objectives and career is on the line.  They are skeptical about the strengths and weaknesses of all vendors due to a lack of trust.  Vendors--particularly sales people, stretch the truth, right?    

As discussed this week, we need to qualify the essential needs of the  opportunity and determine if we have a competitive offering.   If so then we should pursue the business and it is on us, the sales rep, to develop the right sales strategy to gain the trusted confidence of the prospective client.  If we know we can drive a successful outcome for the client then we need to passionately share why we have this confidence.  We do this by presenting our credentials to demonstrate that we satisfy their essential needs.  We earn their trusted confidence with our transparency.  Keep in mind, there is no perfect solution--your competitors have weaknesses as well, including cost.  It is our honesty that earns the trust that we need to have the opportunity to close the business.  

Perhaps you are up against a competitor with deeper credentials or capabilities/features.  You know your company can deliver and you've established trust with the prospective buyer(s).  However, you have also detected that the organization will lean toward this competitor to minimize risk which weakens your position.  This is where your pricing strategy is critical as buyers need to balance risk and cost.  

Do you have a good handle on all your case studies/credentials throughout your organization?   Are you chasing deals that are outside the capabilities or scale of your company, thus setting yourself up for failure?  Are you targeting the right size organizations for your solution?    

Enjoy the weekend Christian sales warriors!