The Story You Tell Yourself About Selling

Hi Mike/John,

Thanks for this article. Yes, I could relate to your list of scripts. I must admit that my preferred consulting model is not to sell at all. I’ve worked with 1000’s of sales people, but I’m not the strongest salesperson – and therefore, choose to avoid selling altogether.

My small consulting business has been running for nearly twenty years, and during that time, I’ve made only one ’sale’. That was my first pitch in 1992. Since then, *every* job has been from the referral of a delighted client. The phone rings or the email arrives and – if my services are the best fit for the project – we do business together.

Yes, selling is important. Yes, it’s a vital skill. But in terms of sheer profitability and hassle factor, I choose to put all of my resources and effort into delivering a service that is of such a high standard that the client feels compelled to ’sell’ my services. This means I don’t need to sell, market, network, promote, advertise or even have a business card. All of this resource and distraction goes into honing a vastly superior service.

So there you have it. I’m not the ’sales-team’, my clients are – and that’s the way I manage the communication and relationship with them – putting incredible focus into building long-term, mutually valuable relationships.

It’s just a different mind-set. One that works for me.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

Awesome blog!

Best to you guys.

Robin

Twitter: @Robin_Dickinson

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Great to get your response, Mike. It’s a fascinating topic. Just to build on a few points:

a) Active rather than passive: I don’t do much ‘waiting’ – i.e. for the phone to ring or referrals to roll in. The precious time is spent comprehensively understanding the unmet needs of the client, their business, their category and potential opportunities/threats – and continually proposing better ideas and solutions to address these (inside and outside of billable projects). The time is also spent sharpening critical thinking skills, negotiating skills, presentation skills, financial skills etc. The time is also spent anticipating and responding to market changes, technology changes and shifts in the client zeitgeist.

b) “just hang a shingle and do great work” – whilst I think I understand the sentiment of this point, it is unfamiliar to my business model. “Great work” has only ever been a ticket to the game. In my world, it has to be the best – top shelf – so good that it compels the client to promote you. Mike, although you used past tense here “While it used to work like this for many people”, my experience is that this is still current. But this means at no stage can one rest on their laurels and previous successes, produce cookie-cutter solutions and relax the standard of outputs. You’ve got to be the star performer in your niche by a country mile.

To me, this approach isn’t a ‘luxury’ it’s a strategic necessity. Every single action is aligned to supporting it.

c) “You’ve been lucky. So many people wish they were in your situation.” Wow, Mike. Lucky! Hmm. If lucky means being incredibly focused on delivering consistent, sought after value way beyond competitor capabilities; if lucky means operating counter-intuitively in a space (consulting) that has relied on tied old revenue models where project scope-creep to claw more billable hours became order of the day; if lucky means consistently delivering to quantitative and qualitative client metrics in boom and bust markets – then well, yes – call me lucky. I believe we make our own luck. Track a person’s hours everyday and it will tell the story of their focus and what action they actually take vs. say they take to delivering on their growth goals.

d) “even if they survive 100% on referrals, many still win and lose based on their sales skills” – yes – and I will add that the better the referral i.e. the more qualified, the more urgent the need etc – the less ’selling’ that is needed. The emphasis here is not so much on ’selling’ the client, but making sure the client is the best possible fit for your business. Many consultants I’ve worked with tend to say “yes” to anything that comes their way, thus corrupting the circle of well-qualified referral. Having and exercising a strong “no” helps build the foundation of high quality referral.

Yes, ‘prospect and sell’ is a great model. It’s just a model that I’m not very good at.

Again, it’s wonderful to get the opportunity to explore business building options and ideas on your excellent site.

Respect and business success to you, Mike.

Robin

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Great article and discussion. Some points I’ve been reminded of by this article/discussion which I can relate to both clients of my firm or consultants in my firm are;
* Selling is helping out, not the evil bogeyman.
* If you want to grow your firm/client base to a higher level quickly, you’re going to be marketing & selling beyond the limits 1 lead generation strategy e.g. referrals through amazing delivery.
* If you are in business, you’re in sales… so cliched, yes… but nothing could be more true. Everything you do has an impact, which does bring me to Robin’s point…
* If you provide amazing product/service delivery business will find you.

Thanks for the strong points,
James

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James and Kent,

Thanks to both of you for your contributions to the discussion. Interesting and insightful thoughts all around.

Cheers,

Mike

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John,

Thanks for the insight and thoughts. Resonates with me deeply right now, especially because I have a plumber at my home as we speak.

Mike

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The biggest lesson I have learned (although I am not in the “selling” business), is that selling – for anyone, is an absolutely essential skill. We have to forget the seller stereotype which makes us all cringe, because that is not selling, but badgering. Every single day, every single person is selling something. The parent sells to their children when they convince them to clean their rooms. The candidate in an interview needs to sell him/herself. A friend sells to a friend when they console them to make them feel better. If I don’t sell the idea of my project to my bosses, they won’t buy into it. As Robin says, selling is really providing solutions, and always putting the “buyer’s” needs first, never your own need to make money. And this I think, is the hard part.

Here is to continued learning about how to sell! I have discovered that it is a true art and when done successfully, something to be greatly admired.

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Yes, indeed. Thoughts create beliefs. Beliefs create actions. Actions create either success or failure.

If you want success versus failure, you have to start with your mindset and and beliefs.

I’d like to say that this is a problem “here and there” but it’s quite pervasive. We see it all the time, which is why starting with the right mindset and beliefs is such an important – and explicit – component of RAIN Selling.

Many sales methods focus only on the actions – the tactics that you should employ when selling. We start earlier, with the thought process, so the tactics end up working better and for the right reasons for both the seller and the buyer.

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The information in this post is quite valuable. I do have a question. I most recently (two months ago) left my position to start a consulting practice. I have been highly successful as an IT leader for the last 10 years, and prior to that I was an independent consultant during the Internet boom.

My challenge is getting in front of the decision maker. How do I get his/her attention for a face-to-face meeting? I feel once I’m able to meet with them and listen to their needs, I can communicate how I can help them address those needs in the most effective way and help IT bring more value to the business. So how do I get their attention for the first meeting? I’m starting to get stressed out

Thanks!

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Mike,

Thanks, I get the message. Also, I will work to get past my “challenges” with contacting people I don’t know. I will keep an eye out for the potential upcoming enrollment.

Thanks again.

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