Description
Book SynopsisCost, service, functionality - good salespeople know the value propositions that speak to frontline managers. But thereâs another crucial player in the buying decision, with an entirely different set of criteria.
Top-level executives evaluate proposals from an âœabove the lineâ perspective: ROI, time saved, risk lowered, productivity improved. Sales professionals that appeal toboth achieve spectacular results.
In Selling Above and Below the Line, master sales trainer Skip Miller shows how to simultaneously sell the technical and financial fit of any product or service - a strategy used by Google, Apple, Cisco WebEx, and other powerhouses. Readers learn to:
- Create energy by including executives early in the sales process
- Ask the right questions and pinpoint big-picture financial needs
- Keep âœbelow the lineâ managers from feeling bypassed
- Uncover value propositions that target each set ofdecision-makers
Too often, sales that seemed locked in will stal
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword ix
Author's Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
1 You Are Selling More Than Just Features and Benefits 1
The Neuroscience of Selling: It's All About Us 2
The Deceptive Lure of Features and Benefits 3
Buyers Buy Outcomes 6
2 The Line That Splits the Two Parts of a Sale 11
Business Acumen: Knowing What Makes a Company Tick 12
Understand a Company's Network of Concerns 14
Target Two Outcomes for a Sales Process That Works 15
The Split: Selling Above and Below the Line 18
Uncover the Buyer's Multiple Personalities 20
Focus on Two Value Propositions 22
3 Selling Below the Line 23
The Rationale for Features and Benefits 24
Two Sales Processes, Two Results 28
WIIFM: The Five Ps 31
The BTL Buyer's Mantra: I Need It and I Like It 33
The Three Levels of a Purchase 34
Company Win and Personal Win 35
4 Know Your ATL Buyer 36
Change: We All Face It, and We All Fear It 37
The Fear Factor 39
Promote the Positive Motivators 41
Time Zones: Great Salespeople Are Time-Travelers 44
5 Understanding ATL Energy 49
Capturing the Energy of a Sale 49
Harness the Energy in ATL Events 54
Other ATL Oddities 58
Change Is King 60
6 Controlling the Inbound Sale 61
Inbound Qualifying Made Easy 62
Lead Scoring 62
Find the Need with the Three Levels of Why 63
Qualify and Disqualify 67
Getting Control, Starting with the Welcome 68
7 Controlling the Outbound Sale 73
Make Outbound Qualifying Work for You 73
Your Homework 75
Getting Past the Screen 77
Get to the Point--The One That's All About Them 78
The Prospect's Homework 79
Gives/Gets 80
8 Stage 1: Being ProActive 82
Prospecting to the ATL Level: Strategy and Tactics 82
Mastering the Art of the Short Email 85
How to Leave a Phone Message 89
Trumpeting 93
9 Basics Never Go Out of Style 95
Start the ATL Phone Call with a 30-Second Speech 95
The Art of Asking Questions 100
Paraphrasing and Summarizing Skills 104
Time-Traveling 105
Next Step 106
10 Sharpen Your Executive Business Acumen 108
Top Down and Bottom Up 108
Think Across the Entire Organization 111
ATL and BTL Solution Boxes 114
Talking About Trains 115
Become the Champion of Solution Box B 117
I-Date for Box B 118
11 Stage 2: Don't Forget The Split 120
It's Not a Race 123
The Quantified Problem 124
The Quantified Cause 129
The Quantified Solution 130
Printer Story: The Value of the Three Qs 130
12 Discussions with an ATL Executive 136
The ValueStar: Learning ATL Vocabulary 136
ROI: Selling Money 137
Making the Most of Time 140
Risk: The Million-Dollar Question 142
Leverage: Building Value Across Trains 146
Brand/Image: The Emotional Value 148
13 Creating and Controlling ATL Energy 150
The Golden Rule 152
The Salesperson's Energy 152
14 The "How" of Controlling the ATL Sale 161
ATL Energy: Finding Additional Trains 161
BTL Energy 170
15 Stage 3: Value vs. Value 175
Two Value Conditions 176
A Day in the Life 180
BTL and ATL "I Get It" to "I Get It" 183
Validation vs. Education 184
16 Balancing Between the Lines to Accelerate the Deal 188
Energy Sources 188
Moving the Chains ATL 191
Learn to Quantify Energy 192
Getting to Quantification with Impact Analysis 195
Solution Boxes and I-Dates 198
17 Stages 4 and 5: Getting a Decision 200
The Goal Is a Decision 200
The Power of Options 204
Getting a Decision--Now 205
18 How to Implement ATL/BTL Selling in Your Current Process 210
Map Your Stages 210
Visual Collaboration with the Customer 212
Next-Step Selling 214
19 Overall Strategizing for an Above the Line Sale 220
Managing Risk by Relying on Numbers 221
Know Your Options 223
Wine Ages Well. Problems Don't 226
Look at All the Options 226
Final Thoughts 227
Index 229
