The Pipeline

AUGUST 31, 2020

It will take more to penetrate this wall, the question is more of what? While customers may pretend to settle for “good enough” you can’t sell in a good enough way. Things need to be planned and practiced making sure they turn out the way you intended. The fashionable answer is empathy, but that works much better with buyers than prospects.

Face-to-face 258

Face-to-face Penetration Fashion Forecasting 258

The Pipeline

APRIL 5, 2013

From where I sit, you need ask questions that penetrate the protective shield buyers have developed to protect themselves from the usual lot of overtly self-serving questions sellers ask, of course delivered in a consultative mode. Where there is a range of opinions is around what is a good question.

Demand Generation 272

Demand Generation Demand Generation Targets Sales Qualified Lead Penetration 272

The Pipeline

JUNE 12, 2014

I asked what expectations are set either in terms of activities, pipeline coverage, or territory contact/coverage/penetration. This would seem OK if they were blowing their numbers away, but that’s not why I was there. Apparently, they don’t like to exceed quota either.

Penetration 267

Penetration Sales Qualified Lead Face-to-face Coaching 267

The Pipeline

APRIL 23, 2012

That is very few are complete sales people, meaning competent at all key elements of B2B sales, starting with lead gen and management, to prospecting, a thorough discovery process, presenting a winnable proposal, winning the deal, and then penetrating and maintaining the account.

Lead Gen 288

Lead Gen Penetration Top of Funnel Proposal 288

The Pipeline

MARCH 18, 2013

It is about penetrating the barriers the buyers have erected to protect their current state. How many times have you watched companies go to the brink or beyond because the devil they knew was a better alternative to the one they didn’t know? The answer is not offering the “right” or “better” solution, or in becoming their friend.

Sage 274

Sage Penetration Buyer Referrals 274

The Pipeline

OCTOBER 1, 2012

This is why many sellers have difficulty getting through, they fail to penetrate the “prove value to me” wall erected by prospects, and in effect they fail the BS test. All the pundits tell us that in “today’s economy”, buyers are just too busy to deal with anything unless they deem it to be critical to their success.

Penetration 257

Penetration Buyer Objections Intent 257

The Pipeline

JULY 9, 2015

Sales organizations who have had SWAT teams to penetrate accounts given specific attributes, have long realized that the minor uptick in selling cost is more than made up in margins and volumes.

Data 120

Data Hiring Margin Buyer Persona 120