Who Needs Team Selling?
- Selling complex products
- Bankers partnering with investment specialists; contractors teaming with architects and suppliers, etc.
- Multiple product lines to a single customer
- Accounting firm – tax advisors, auditors, corporate financing, etc.
- Selling to multiple buyers in a company
- Decisions made by committees
- Sales that require rapid product implementation
- Have key team members at all stages of product launch available at one time to coordinate project
Matching the Team to the Customer
- Knowledge of product, customer and team
- Relationships with customer and team
- Geography – close to action (especially important in rapid product launch)
- Availability – free from other commitments
- Credibility – recognized expert
- Motivation – a desire to help
- Match Up – have the right players on the team
Avoid creating a gang
- Conduct a pre-call planning meeting preferably face to face
- Strategize the roles on the call
- Upfront agreement reached among the team
- Roles and responsibilities defined
- Address issues of status and rank and how they may affect the sale
- List of problems / issues of prospect
- Define communications and accountability expectations during sales cycle
- At the first call…
- Sales person who has the strongest relationship with prospect opens the meeting
- Define rules of engagement
- “Relationship” and “trust” exist between people—not in the titles/positions of the team members, introduce team and explain purpose of their presence along with expertise/title
- Review the issues that have been recognized
- Ask prospect/customer what they would like to accomplish today
- Let them establish the priority of issues/problems to be discussed
- Roles of Team Members during the Call
- Keep antennae up
- Take notes and observe when “discovery” is being done by other team member(s)
- Listen for underlying meanings – what they say/don’t say
- Observe body language/interactions
- You’re on Stage – the Audience Is Your Customer / Prospect
- If there is any negativity between team members displayed either verbally or non-verbally, prospect will pick up on these signals and potentially this could impact sale and/or customer retention
- Conversely, if positive and “team” is truly displayed – this will denote professionalism – this is a slight edge that other banks do not display consistently, if at all
- After Meeting:
- 15 minutes to discuss team call – intellectually! The emotional post-mortem is done on a personal level alone with each team member
- Did we follow the plan?
- Did we stay in our roles?
- What did we do well that we want to repeat in future?
- What did we not do well and do not want to repeat?
- What did we learn about the customer and their needs?
- What promises were made?
- What are the next steps?
- Who is responsible for each next step?
- Next steps and homework agreed upon within team to move prospect / customer along in the sale
- Measuring Results
- Reasons why team selling fails
- Lack of Planning
- Blind Faith
- Lack of Management Support / Recognition
- Conflict – not properly dealt with – lack of protocol
- Lack of Training
- Low Trust Levels
- Salespeople who don’t share power
- Lack of Cooperation
- Lack of Accountability
- Changing Authority and/or Direction
- Lack of Understanding of How to Use Their Combined Talents
- Not having Members be Vested in Team Goals
- Lack of Understanding of How Teams Work
- Unclear Goals
- Rigid Approach
- Lack of Role Definition
- Members “dropping the Ball”
- “Failure to Communicate” as in “Cool Hand Luke”
- Micromanagement
Team Selling is a skill-set that with an investment of time, commitment, and resources can tap into the power of the sales force and the organization exponentially.
Mary Erlain
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