This is a common debate among business people. Many think it’s all about the product and many think it’s all about the sales process. I happen to think it’s a mix of both but the real question is what is the mix, what are the ingredients, who does what in the process?
I have learned a lot about statistics again these last few weeks and my brain has worked hard trying to figure out what a Z Score is and what that really means…Do I really need to know that the Z Score is the observation less the mean of the population over the standard deviation or do I need to know what it represents from a business perspective?
I think complex sales are like a sports team with different positions and I just need my tackle to block for me so I can run through the hole. Learn the concept and the big picture solution to the problem and leave the details to someone who can figure out the Z Score!
Business always comes back to the basics no matter what you are selling so work on those because we can never be good enough at listening and building meaningful relationships. You don’t have to know what a regression analysis is but you do have to help your client solve their business problem so use your team!
Go team.
Brick
hey brick one of the best lessons i took from selling our data at b/hemscott was to show the client we have a deep bench – the salesperson should be able to talk about the product/market/competition at a high level and be able to add some value but also be able to demonstrate the depth of the organization by bringing in specialist resources. this reassures the client that they are dealing w/a varsity operation.
in contrast too much product knowledge can actually hurt the sales process – many times when selling bigdough enterprise i would actually be visualizing the client’s question and trying to sort through the exact “how to” in my head which at times made me come across as unconfident and i think hurt me.
thanks…i think it also creates focus and teamwork to have a division of labor. this is good for the client and the organization.
Playing sports taught me the frustration of losing, and they helped me learn to cope with unfairness and team politics.
thanks, agree completely with the value of sports.
I really like meeting utile info, this post has got me even more info! .
thanks.