Hi Friends, Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world,...
Hi Friends,
Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about. Forward anything that you feel inspired to share.
What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals
This past week, we had multiple C-level-executive clients execute the “save a sale” technique. This technique is when a prospect has passed for what the account executive/company believe are misinformed reasons.
Perhaps the prospect thinks: 1. The product is missing a feature that it actually has; 2. The prospect thinks that implementation will be longer than it actually is; 3. They think the terms of the contract are inflexible, etc.
When this happens, we ask that a C-level executive reach out to the buyer and ask for feedback (btw, also good practice when you win the deal). During that call, the executive should be focused on a few things: 1. The buyer’s experience with the company and the account executive; 2. Learning as much as possible about the decision-making process/criteria; 3. Dispelling any myths.
The goal of the call is to get the prospect back to the table and also to LEARN. Of the ten calls that were executed this past week, four of them ended with lots of learnings but dead deals. Six of the deals have come back to life.
This technique was taken from my days in retail. In that scenario, a manager would stand at the front door. When they noticed someone walking out without purchasing, they would ask them a simple question, “what were you looking for?”
From there the manager would engage and see if we had the product and they just didn’t find it or, alternatively, did we have another solution. This practice added significant daily revenue.
If you want to talk about this technique, please feel free to reach out.
What Made Me Laugh
It is the end of the school year and I saw the below meme and it made me grateful for my son’s teachers (he can be, like his dad, a lot). I remember from my retail days looking at the schedule and seeing I was working with my nemesis. At least I could avoid them—as teachers, I am not sure you can!
This Week’s 40/20
For every 40 hours of work, I believe you should spend 20 (additional) hours mastering your craft. This is how I spent some of my 20 hours this week.
This past week I was introduced to the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory. This is a unique framework that measures style of problem solving, teamwork, and creativity.
The idea is that when individuals in working groups are aware of their own and others’ personal problem-solving styles, they can adapt as required by the problem they are solving. This framework has been in use for 45 years. One of the other cool things about it? Va Tech’s (my alma mater) Center for Cooperative Problem Solving is one of the world’s experts in it. Go Hokies!
Potpourri for 800
In Jeopardy!, potpourri is a category that covers a variety of topics. For Fuentes Fridays, it’s a category where I may cover anything from someone interesting I met to my favorite new restaurant. Whether or not it's related to sales, my hope is that it will bring you value.
It is time I weighed in on the debate that is gripping the nation: Drake v. Kendrick.
Without a doubt, and if you disagree you are wrong, Kendrick won. Kendrick won for one simple reason—he created a diss song that is, as the kids, and I now say, is a banger! “Not Like Us,” slaps (first time ever using that word and I like it).
Not only do the lyrics eviscerate Drake and show the skill and depth on Kendrick’s word play, BUT the song is catchy. It is being played and will be played in clubs now and throughout the summer. Even more impressive, there is zero doubt in my mind that Kendrick has created a true earworm.
Furthermore, the melody and the parts of the song that are safe for work will 100% be played this year by marching bands at sporting events all across the country. Mark my words: you will hear the melody with the crowd chanting, “they not like us, they not like us, they not like us,” or “you a fan, you a fan, you fan,” after a big play. NSFW link to the song
Quote for My Son
Every day, I give my son a quote to help him learn and not repeat the same mistakes I made in my youth. This was my favorite from this past week:
“You don’t really own a rule. You obey them, disobey them, or someone imposes them on you. But a standard, it’s the way you live all the time. And you hold other people accountable to them. Average teams have rules. Great teams have standards. Set the standards not the rules.” Coach K
You can get weekly helpful information for sales professionals by following my company’s Maestro Mastery blog here.
Let me know what you think about this week’s edition of Fuentes Fridays. Which section was your favorite? How can I make this better? Shoot me a message on LinkedIn @willfuentes.
Until next week!
Thanks,
