Mastering Technical Sales -- Contents v -- Acknowledgments xvii -- 1 Introduction: Why Study "Technical Sales"? 1 -- New SE 4 -- Experienced SE 5 -- Sales Manager or Sales Trainer 5 -- Sales Representative 6 -- Marketing and Product Management 6 -- Technical Consultant 6 -- 2 An Overview of the Sales Process 7 -- Definition of the Market 8 -- Marketing Campaigns 8 -- Customer Events 9 -- Trade Shows and Seminars 9 -- Mailing Lists and Outbound Calling Campaigns 9 -- Partners 9 -- Lead Qualification 10 -- Request for Proposal 10 -- Needs Analysis, Discovery, and First Customer Engagement 11 -- Presentation, Demonstration, and Proposal 11 -- Presentation 11 -- Demonstration 12 -- Proposal 12 -- Evaluation (Optional) 12 -- Negotiations: Close or Lose-Getting the Deal 12 -- Postsales Support and Ongoing Account Management 13 -- Summary 13 -- 3 Lead Qualification 17 -- You Can Get Leads Too 19 -- Lead Quality 19 -- Lead Ratings 19 -- Qualification Criteria 20 -- Budget 21 -- Time Frame 22 -- Fit: Do the Prospect's Needs Match Your Solution? 22 -- Acute Organizational Pain Can Trump Budget, Time Frame, and Fit 23 -- Effective Lead Qualification 23 -- Competitive Implications of Technical Qualification Criteria -- Making the Decision to Say No 24 -- Defending Your Position When the Sales Rep Disagrees 24 -- Low-Cost Fallback Strategies 24 -- Internal Roles in the Lead Qualification Process 25 -- Sales Representative 25 -- Telemarketer/Lead Development 26 -- Sales Management 26 -- SE 26 -- Care and Feeding of the Telemarketing Team 27 -- Lead Qualification in Action: The Process with Three Common Scenarios 27 -- Solicited Leads 27 -- Unsolicited Leads 28 -- Current Projects or Recommended Leads 28 -- Summary 29 -- 4 The RFP Process 31 -- Basic Rule of RFPs 32 -- The Go/No-Go Decision 33 -- Internally Scoring the RFP 34 -- Handling Deadlines 35.

Strategies for Avoiding an RFP 36 -- The Alternate Response Tactic 37 -- Completing the RFP 38 -- Presentation and Follow-Up 39 -- Summary 40 -- Appendix 4A 42 -- 5 Needs Analysis and Discovery 43 -- Overview 43 -- Why Discovery Is Critical 44 -- The Seven-Step Needs Analysis Approach 45 -- Step 1: Identify Needed Information 45 -- Preparation Before Customer Engagement 45 -- Engaging the Customer 45 -- Step 2: Build the Perfect Pitch 48 -- Step 3: Explain the Needs Analysis Process 50 -- Reviewing Existing Information 51 -- Step 4: Interview Key Customers 52 -- Step 5: Observe Current Processes-Get to Know the End User 54 -- Step 6: Synthesize Information 54 -- Step 7: Prepare and Present Summary 55 -- Wrap-Up 56 -- Customizing the Discovery Process 57 -- Getting the Economics Right 57 -- Adapt Your Questions to Your Audience 58 -- Summary 60 -- 6 Successful Customer Engagement 61 -- First Contact 62 -- Remember What They Want from You 63 -- Dissecting Project Dynamics 64 -- Back the Strongest Faction 64 -- Identify the People You Need to Know 65 -- Use Your Intuition 65 -- But Don't Forget to Use Your Brain 65 -- Covering the Whole Team, Including the Minor Players 66 -- Coaches 66 -- Where to Find Coaches 68 -- What If There Are No Obvious Options? 68 -- How to Get to Potential Coaches 68 -- Developing the Coach 69 -- The Unconscious Coach 69 -- Maintaining the Relationship 69 -- Credibility 70 -- Maintaining Credibility 70 -- Losing Credibility 71 -- Trying to Regain Credibility 71 -- Know What You Don't Know 71 -- Summary 72 -- 7 The Perfect Pitch 73 -- Developing a Focused Message 74 -- Start with the Structure 74 -- Do a Data Dump to Identify Solution and Proof Points 75 -- Organize the Ideas 76 -- Focus the Message 76 -- Transfer to PowerPoint 76 -- Nonverbal Delivery Skills 77 -- Verbal Delivery Skills 79 -- Strategize the Start 81.

Special Situations 82 -- Very Large Audiences 82 -- Presenting Via Teleconference 83 -- Around the Conference Room Table 83 -- Feature and Function Presentations 84 -- Using Humor 84 -- Using Nervous Energy to Your Advantage 84 -- Finish Strongly 86 -- Summary 86 -- 8 The Dash to Demo 89 -- Why Does the Dash to Demo Occur? 91 -- "The Product" Becomes "The Solution" 91 -- Risk Mitigation 92 -- Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail 92 -- Logistical Implications 94 -- The Agenda 96 -- Preparing the Way 96 -- The Audience 98 -- Segment the Audience 99 -- Dealing with Techincal and Business Audiences 99 -- Checkpoint Charlie 100 -- Summary 101 -- Appendix 8A: Sample Agenda 102 -- 9 Snap Demos 105 -- Scoping the Snap Demo 106 -- Structuring the Snap Demo 107 -- Exhibit 9.1: Sample Snap Demo Structure 107 -- Keep the Demo Snappy 108 -- Wrapping the Snap Demo (Tell Them What They Saw) 109 -- Snap Demos for Executive Audiences 109 -- Closing the Demo and Establishing Next Steps 110 -- Snap Demo Considerations 110 -- Summary 110 -- 10 Remote Demonstrations and Webcasts 113 -- The Basic Premise 113 -- Advantages and Disadvantages of the Remote Demonstration 114 -- Best Practices in Preparing for a Webcast 116 -- The First 3 Minutes are Critical 118 -- Effectively Constructing and Delivering PowerPoint for a Webcast 119 -- Some Really Bad Habits to Avoid 120 -- Engaging the Audience 121 -- Prime Time for Webcasts 121 -- The Wrap-Up 122 -- Summary 123 -- 11 Evaluation Strategies 125 -- Developing the Strategy 125 -- Conducting an Evaluation: How Did We Get Here? 125 -- Negotiating Engagement in a Trial 126 -- How Do You Define Success? 127 -- How to Win: Determining the Success Criteria 127 -- How to Ensure Success: Evaluating the Success Criteria 128 -- Intellectually Closing the Deal 129 -- Working Backward from the Definition of Success 130.

Running a Trial 130 -- Trial Phases 130 -- Basic Trial Organization 134 -- Training 136 -- Documentation 136 -- Equipment 137 -- Networking and Access 138 -- Anticipate and Outdeliver Your Competitor 138 -- Avoiding a Trial 139 -- Does the Customer Do Trials? 140 -- Are They Paying for the Pilot? 140 -- Using References 141 -- Summary 141 -- 12 Contract Negotiation and Pricing 143 -- An Introductory Approach 144 -- Creative Ways to Say Nothing 145 -- Understanding the Quote 145 -- An Advanced Tactic 145 -- Summary 146 -- 13 Sanity After the Sale 149 -- Developing the Transition Plan 150 -- Ongoing Engagement Plan 151 -- Customer Meetings: Project Kickoff 151 -- During Deployment 151 -- After Rollout 151 -- Leveraging the Rest of the Sales Team 153 -- The Inside Sales Team 153 -- Executives 153 -- Having a Fallback Strategy 153 -- Personal Benefits of Postsales Support 153 -- Personal References 154 -- Maintain Relationships for Add-On Sales 155 -- Keep Your Reservoir of Customer Stories Full 155 -- Potential for Customer Satisfaction Objectives 155 -- Good Way to Build Skills 156 -- Benefit to the Customer: Free Consulting 156 -- Justifying Engagement with Your Management 156 -- Where to Draw the Line 156 -- Troubleshooting the Handoff 157 -- Major Accounts Have Special Requirements 157 -- Customer Skimps on Training 158 -- Customer Tries to Do It Themselves 158 -- Working With System Integrators 159 -- Summary 159 -- Appendix 13A: Record-Keeping Forms for Postsales Information 161 -- 14 Getting Started 163 -- The Ramp Process 163 -- Setting Goals with Your Manager 164 -- Find Out What You Need to Know to Succeed 164 -- Boot Camp 166 -- Why Use Benchmarking? 166 -- Develop a 30-/90-/180-Day Plan 167 -- Example Plan 1 168 -- Example Plan 2 169 -- The 30-/90-/180-Day Structure 169 -- Qualities of a Good Plan 170 -- Ready to Go 170.

Tips on Making the First 6 Months a Success 171 -- Find a Mentor 171 -- Read the Manual-Really! 172 -- Watch the Video 172 -- Master the Technology 172 -- Master the Product 172 -- Boot Camp Training Contacts 173 -- Work in the Factory 173 -- Face Time and Relationships 173 -- Practice, Practice, Practice 173 -- Learn About Key Customers and How They Actually Use Your Product 174 -- Understand the Financials of Your Value Proposition 174 -- Learn the Math -- Don't Just Memorize the Answers 174 -- Understand Content, but Don't Feel Overwhelmed 175 -- If You Can Use Your Product in Everyday Life, Do So 175 -- Get Feedback-from Everyone 175 -- Review Your Plan Weekly 175 -- Summary 176 -- 15 Objection Handling 177 -- Before You Start 177 -- Categorizing Objections 178 -- A Valid Objection 178 -- A Competitive Objection 178 -- The Seymour Objection 179 -- The Coaching Objection 180 -- The Hostile Objection 181 -- The Generic Objection 183 -- Basic Techniques of Objection Handling 183 -- Basic Technique 1: Listen 183 -- Basic Technique 2: Coordinate 184 -- Basic Technique 3: Clarify 184 -- Basic Technique 4: Restate 184 -- Basic Technique 5: Answer 185 -- Working With Consultants 186 -- Follow Up Leads to Closeout 186 -- Summary 186 -- 16 The Executive Connection 189 -- What They Think of You 189 -- Keep It Simple 190 -- Plan the Meeting 191 -- Setting the Stage 191 -- Following the Dollars 192 -- Determining the Goal of the Meeting 193 -- You Are the Expert 193 -- Execute the Meeting 194 -- Education Versus Selling 194 -- Presentation Ideas 194 -- Presentation Technique 195 -- Follow Up After the Meeting 196 -- Building a Relationship 196 -- A Rational Decision 196 -- The Informal Executive Connection 196 -- Summary 198 -- 17 The U in Technical Sales 199 -- Me, Myself, and I 200 -- What Are Your Goals? 200.

Your Personal Value Proposition: Self-Branding 201.