SalesForce 2020 (Book Summary)

The following is a summary of: SalesForce 2020: Why Top Sales Performers are Looking to the Future, Rather than Relying on the Past by Thomas Freese

Summary of Top 10 Takeaways from the Book

The Sales Process (step 1: penetrate accounts; step 2: qualify opportunities; …) is no Longer a differentiator
Rattling a list of additional customer reference names (accounts and especially individual contacts) off the top of your head is impressive and more impactful because it demonstrates significant industry knowledge and a presumed level of expertise on your part.
While sales managers must ask “tracking questions” to find out where a deal stands, they add much more value by asking “proactive coaching questions” to providing guidance and advice that helps sellers know how best to proceed.
The extent to which buyers perceive you to be more competent, credible, responsive, or valuable than the competition, goes a long way toward determining your probability of success. These things convey you are customer-focused.
Start with whatever issue(s) might be important to the customer, as opposed to diving into a litany about your company and products.
All things equal, decision makers will gravitate toward the least expensive option that satisfies their needs. Thus, the salesperson’s primary responsibility is to make sure all things are not equal, and that their conversations transition from focusing only on price, to choosing whichever solution is most cost-effective, factoring in time, money, effort, and risk.
Helping potential buyers (a) recognize needs and implications and (b) define decision criteria they otherwise wouldn’t have considered is one of the greatest opportunities sellers have to add value.
When a decision comes down to a virtual tie, then you must prevail on two fronts: depth of conversation and volume of ideas.
I always make it a point to formulate my closing questions in terms of whether or not it “makes sense” for customers to take the next appropriate step in the process. For example, “Given you need _ and __, would it make sense to get the appropriate people together in front of a whiteboard, so we can review your options, how they would impact your business, and the associated costs?”
Offer Dollar Discounts, Not Percentages

Foreword, Introduction, & Chapter 1: A Culture Shift Has Occurred in Sales

Sales teams who leverage curiosity and build credibility cause prospective customers to “want to” engage with them in a mutually beneficial business conversation.
The Sales Process is No Longer a Differentiator; it’s likely that your competitor’s sales process is very similar (if not identical) to yours. At this point, pretty much everyone knows it’s important to Penetrate New Accounts (Step 1), Qualify Opportunities (Step 2), Uncover Needs (Step 3), Propose Solutions (Step 4), and Close (Step 5).
Do not start off a sales call by asking an incredibly disingenuous question such as: “How’s your day going?”
Execution and effectiveness are the primary differentiators between top performing salespeople and those who are struggling.
Empower internal champions to make a compelling business case to others who need to sign off on the purchase.

Chapter 2 Top 10 Fallacies of the Old School

Customers are influenced by a variety of motivations other than just pain, including their desire to address a wide range of wants, needs, goals, objectives, issues, and concerns. Purchase decisions can also be driven by compliance requirements, competitive initiatives, or the desire to take advantage of an impending opportunity.
Qualifying too early or too often is one of the quickest ways to turn decision makers off
Customers today want to know two things at the very beginning of a sales call. They want to know who you are, and why you’re calling.
Customers simply want to be helped, presumably by someone who is credible, valuable, and looking out for the customer’s best interests.
Objections are actually opportunities to further engage, and not just roadblocks. Focus on helping customers, as opposed to trying to dismiss any issues or concerns they might have or choose to bring up.
Moving forward, sellers who are authentic, easy to work with, and who are genuinely customer-focused will eclipse those salespeople who come across as overly/disingenuously enthusiastic.
When a prospective buyer asks for client references, what they’re really saying is, “Can you please help reduce my risk of making a bad decision?”
Rattling a list of additional customer reference names (accounts and especially individual contacts) off the top of your head is impressive and more impactful because it demonstrates significant industry knowledge and a presumed level of expertise on your part.

Chapter 3 Sales Managers, Rise Up!

Effective sales coaching can only occur if sales leaders are willing to get down in the trenches, alongside their salespeople, and understand what it’s like to prospect for (and develop) new business opportunities in today’s business climate.
While sales managers must ask “tracking questions” to find out where a deal stands, they add much more value by asking “proactive coaching questions” to providing guidance and advice that helps sellers know how best to proceed.
Standard Tracking Questions: • What was the purpose of the call? • Who is the primary decision maker? • What’s their timeframe for making a decision? • Who else needs to be involved in the discussion? • What are the prospect’s primary business drivers? • How much is the projected deal worth? • What are the potential next steps in their evaluation? • Which competitors pose the greatest threat? • Is there any way to close the business sooner?
Proactive coaching questions include: • How many reasons do you want customers to have to buy from you? • What’s your strategy for gaining credibility early in the call? • What’s your strategy for causing prospects to “want to” share information with a salesperson they don’t yet know or trust? • What are you doing to leverage curiosity in the sales process? • What makes you relevant in the eyes of potential customers? • Will you be perceived as customer-focused or self-serving? • How will you differentiate yourself from other competitive reps who are calling your same list of target accounts?
When salespeople know you’re likely to ask about their execution strategy in advance, I can pretty much guarantee they will start asking for advice and giving updates long before you feel the need to show up in their cubicle.
QBS Self-Coaching Questions: • What advantages do we have over other competitive options, including the decision to do nothing or maintain the status quo? • If I get a prospect’s voice-mail, what message can I leave that will cause them to become curious enough to “want to” return my call? • What business issues or decision factors am I prepared to raise that otherwise may not come up in my next customer conversation? • How can I create mini-invitations that will lower the prospect’s natural defenses and help propel opportunities forward? • Which Diagnostic Questions ™ am I going to use to kick-off my next needs development conversations? • How can I position our solutions as the most cost-effective alternative that accomplishes the customer’s objectives? • How can I close for a commitment or suggest possible next steps without sounding pushy or self-serving? • How can I help internal champions secure approvals from their counterparts or manager, especially if I’m not in the meeting? • What can I do to be more effective than on my last customer call?

Chapter 4 What Do Salespeople Really Sell?

Consistent top performers in sales are totally focused on two things: helping people and communicating effectively.
One of the litmus tests for what gives sellers the best chance of success is to turn the conversation around and gauge the extent to which your sales approach would work on you, if you were the customer.
Where the concept of differentiation often falls short, however, is when sellers focus too much attention on their products, services, and company. It turns out the real opportunity to create competitive separation is by differentiating yourself, which includes leveraging superior sales strategy and specific communication techniques that can separate you from the rest of the pack.
Separating yourself from the rest of the field ultimately rests on your ability to convey more intangible attributes than the competition from the beginning to the end of the sales process. The extent to which buyers perceive you to be more competent, credible, responsive, or valuable than the competition, goes a long way toward determining your probability of success. These things convey you are customer-focused.
There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance.
Ask yourself: “What am I currently doing to leverage curiosity throughout the sales process?”

Chapter 5 Are Your Marketing Efforts Helping or Hurting?

Whatever assertions you might make, whether it’s being the undisputed industry leader, easiest to use, or highest in quality, will likely fall on deaf ears if your competitors are out there making similar claims. Instead, focus on what’s most important to the customer— their needs, wants, goals, and objectives— rather than trying to highlight the value of your solutions.
The moment a potential customer inquires about your product offerings, the natural reflex is to start spewing information. Instead of S-P-A, follow the preferred path, P-A-S. (P)roblems, (A)lternatives, (S)olutions. “Because I have a problem, goal, want, need, or objective (P), that the alternatives (A) don’t address as effectively, that’s why I choose to purchase this particular solution (S).”
Next time a potential buyer says, “Tell me about your product,” all you have to do is respond by saying, “I’d be happy to. Would you rather I give you a high-level, generic sales pitch, or would you like to understand how our solutions might impact your specific business objectives?”
Repositioning your go-to-market messages to be customer-centric may be as simple as word-smithing your existing verbiage. Just start with whatever issue( s) might be important to the customer, as opposed to diving into a litany about your company and products.

Chapter 6 Competitive Positioning & Cost Justification

All things equal, decision makers will gravitate toward the least expensive option that satisfies their needs. Thus, the salesperson’s primary responsibility is to make sure all things are not equal, and that their conversations transition from focusing only on price, to choosing whichever solution is most cost-effective, factoring in time, money, effort, and risk.
It’s up to the salesperson to make the case that delaying a purchase, or going with the “low price” provider, might end up costing the customer more than if they had made the right decision initially.
“The notion of buying the wrong thing first, only to replace it with the right solution, is (by far) the most expensive way to purchase our product.”

Chapter 7 Uncovering Needs vs. Needs Development

Helping potential buyers (a) recognize needs and implications and (b) define decision criteria they otherwise wouldn’t have considered is one of the greatest opportunities sellers have to add value.
One of the best opportunities to add value, and differentiate yourself from the rest of the ‘noise’ in the marketplace, is to educate customers in some way.
Giving decision makers multiple reasons to move forward in the sales process is a much more effective way to create competitive separation, increase the customer’s sense of urgency for making a decision, and justify the cost of the purchase.
A salesperson’s willingness to invest the time required to adequately prepare prior to making sales calls can be worth its weight in commission checks.
The most effective way to ‘arm’ yourself in advance is to make a comprehensive list of all the needs, wants, issues, and objectives that might be important to potential buyers. Aim for 20 issues and 10 implications per issue.
When a decision comes down to a virtual tie, then you must prevail on two fronts: depth of conversation and volume of ideas.
Customers don’t want to be pushed, probed, interrogated, or challenged— certainly not by a salesperson. They simply want to be helped by someone who can add value in the decision process, and ultimately provide valuable solutions.

Chapter 8 It’s Not What You Say, It’s What They Hear

Is it wise to open a first-time sales call with a few initial pleasantries? This may surprise you, but I say, “No.”
Saying, “I would like to…” seems innocent enough, but this phrase unfortunately carries significant risk.

Chapter 9 RFPs: Friend or Foe?

RFP responses are rarely adjudicated on a level playing field, so why follow a bunch of rules that may favor other providers over me?
I have found that inserting a little creativity into the mix, like sending a neatly wrapped package of my body of work to the president of a company, creates an opportunity to turn the tables in a way that significantly increases my chances of success.
Whenever a purchase decision involves a formal RFP, to have any real chance of being selected as vendor of choice, the sales rep must find some way to foster a person-to-person dialogue.
One of your best opportunities to add value is by helping customers define their evaluation criteria, raising issues and implications that otherwise may not have been considered.
Even if the customer elects not to issue a formal RFP, they’re still going to base their purchases on selection criteria of some sort.

Chapter 10 The Lost Art of Closing Deals

I always make it a point to formulate my closing questions in terms of whether or not it “makes sense” for customers to take the next appropriate step in the process. For example, “Given you need _ and __, would it make sense to get the appropriate people together in front of a whiteboard, so we can review your options, how they would impact your business, and the associated costs?”
There is great value in softening your closing questions. I believe about giving customers an out.
The key to closing more deals is the ability to secure smaller commitments on the way to consummating the larger sale.
Make Competitive Positioning Part of Your Closing Strategy by leading the discussion about what the available options are, and which solution is best for the customer
Whenever you talk about options other than buying your products and services, it’s best not to ever mention other providers by name.
“Mr. Customer, what alternatives are you considering other than our solutions?”
“Ms. Customer, besides the obvious goal of selecting the right partner, what decision criteria would you consider to be the most important in the event of a tie?”
“Mr. Customer, what else needs to happen in order for you to feel comfortable enough to move forward with a decision?”
“Ms. Customer, would you like to know what other clients have done when they got to this point in the decision process?”
“Mr. Customer, are you looking to move forward in the near term, or is it possible this purchase decision might get pushed off until some point in the future?”
Take responsibility for reinforcing key points that may have been eloquently articulated at some point, but have long since been diluted by competitive presentations.
Great salespeople continually pique a customer’s interest, establish their own credibility, expand the customer’s needs, and secure incremental commitments over the course of the sales cycle.
When a deal started to gel, such that the customer would likely pull the trigger if they felt they were getting a good deal, I simply created an impending event. For example: “It’s actually more valuable for us to bring business in during the first or second month, rather than waiting until the end of the quarter. Would you be interested in knowing what incentives might be available if you are able sign the P.O. this month rather than waiting?”
Offer Dollar Discounts, Not Percentages

Chapter 11 A New World Order in Sales

It is your responsibility to coordinate the sales effort. Never let anyone near your accounts until you can strategize with them in advance. The best-case scenario is to have them reiterate the value you have already conveyed.
The real reason I introduced additional resources into my accounts was to convey information and messages that were either beyond my knowledge level at the time, or above my pay grade.

Review Notes

Let me start by saying I’m a huge fan of Tom Freese’s work even though I have never had the pleasure of meeting him. His book “Question-Based Selling” (QBS) is a gem – perhaps the most undervalued sales book I’ve ever read; I recommend it to others all the time. Like QBS, Salesforce 2020 is chock full of immediately-actionable insights and sage advice. The author truly seems to “get” the way modern buyers buy.

I’m sure you sense a “but” coming… My issues with SF2020 are the following:

Extremely repetitive, often with (near) verbatim text appearing in multiple places
Lack of logical structure/flow from chapter to chapter
Selling his services too hard in the book
Hyperbolic, unrealistic, and unjustified claims: “With a few small adjustments… a salesperson … can reasonably expect response rates as high as 50% to 70%+ … through voicemail message and emails.”
Railing against other authors while effectively employing the same techniques. One such technique is interpreting common frameworks/language too literally. For example, “identifying needs” vs “developing needs.” I think it is safe to say that everyone know that buyers have known needs to be identified and unknown needs to be developed. Moreover, the author takes extreme offense with The Challenger Sale (TCS). I have the same issues with TCS – (1) buyers don’t welcome aggressive salespeople telling them what they need to be doing, and (2) one must both identify and develop needs. That said, I think the intent of TCS is precisely to develop needs by teaching and tailoring. Hence, SF2020 and TCS espouse the same concept, just with a difference in degree. SF2020 takes the word “challenger” more literally than the TCS book does.
Many typographical errors (though that is a small nit)

While these issues did not take away the value of the book, they did make it less enjoyable read.