What Sales Winners Do Differently

8/13/2019 What Sales Winners Do Differently

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WHAT SALESWINNERS DO

DIFFERENTLYby Mike Schultz&John Doerr

The surprising differences between sellers who win

the sale and the second-place finishers.


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What Sales Winners Do Differently

Report Summary

Standard solution sales methods arent working like they used to. Indeed, several prominent sources have pronounced that the era of solution

sales has ended. We wanted to know 1) is this true and 2) if so, whats working now instead. To find out, we studied what the winners of more

than 700 actual B-to-B sales opportunities (from buyers responsible for $3.1 billion in annual purchases) are doing to win the sale, and what theydo differently than the sellers who come in second place.

We found:

First, solution sales is not, in fact, dead. I t is still necessary, but no longer sufficient on its own. While fundamental changes to core concepts are

needed, sellers and companies that dismiss solution sales outright place their sales success in grave danger.

Second,winners dont just sell differently, they sell radicallydifferently than the sellers who come in second place. And the winners selldifferently in both surprising and fascinating ways.

Third, we compared our research to other popular research in the field of selling, such as The Challenger Sale. On perhaps some of the most

important points, our research revealed opposite results. Thus, our advice is, in many ways, quite different.

Finally, weve outlined a model throughout this report that sellers and organizations can follow to sell like the winners.

Te surprising differences between sellers who win the sale and the second-place finishers.

Sellers Who Win Consistently Demonstrate Behaviors on Tree Levels

Key Insights

MAJOR POINS INSIGHS

LEVEL3

Collaborate Sellers who win:

+ Collaborate with buyers by being proactive and responsive

+ Collaborate with buyers to educate them with new ideas

and perspectives and bring value to the table themselves

In Level 3, sellers drive demand, create their own opportunities,

and become essential to the buyer. Through collaboration the

buyer becomes a partner in the process, and owns moving the

sale forward as much as the seller.

LEVEL2

Convince + Persuade buyers they will achieve worthwhile results

+ Minimize the perception of risk by demonstrating

experience, building trust, and inspiring confidence

+ Persuade buyers they are the best choice

Level 2 minimizes losing to no decision and maximizescompetitive wins.

LEVEL1

Connect

+ Connect the dots: they understand buyers needs and craft

compelling solutions

+ Connect with people: they listen to buyers and connect

with them personally

Solution sales is not dead, but it needs to change

fundamentally; its no longer enough. Level 1 is simply the price

of entry.

+ Fundamental changes to the solution sales premise include

focusing on aspirations and goals, as well as afflictions and pain.

Diagnosis of need is not as important anymore, but demonstrating

understandingof need is.

+ Minimizing risk has risen greatly in importance and must become a

core part of sales conversations.

+ Sellers who get to Level 3 not only win sales, but also tend to

outperform sellers who dont because they are able to inspire

buyers, create their own opportunities, and drive their own demand.

+ Organizations that adopt sales approaches that encourage concepts

of challenging and provoking customerswhile at the same

time discouraging solution sales approaches and dismissing

the importance of building relationshipsplace their ongoing

sales success at grave risk.

+ Sellers who connect, convince, and collaborate, and follow the advice

outlined in this report, will not only win the current sale, but will also

put themselves in an even better position to win future sales

through repeat purchases (loyalty) and increased referrals.

Introducing the Three Levels of RAIN SellingSM


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RAIN Group | RAINGroup.com |

Te New Revolution in Selling

From the late 1970s through the early 2000s,not much changed in the world o salesmethodologies. Sellers could study and learnconsultative and solution sales approaches,apply them well, and consistently produceexcellent results.

Not anymore.

Driven by the Internet, the commoditizationo many products and services, the afermatho the Great Recession, and the radicalintensification o competition in manyindustries, buying has changed. Its no surprise,then, that standard solution sales conceptsarent working like they used to. In act, a recentarticle in the Harvard Business ReviewtitledTe End o Solution Sales, ostensibly signaledthe end o an era.

Yet while many sellers struggle and lose,others are winning sales, and winning them

consistently. So we posed the question: Whatare the winners of actual sales opportunitiesdoing differently than the sellers who come insecond place?

o find the answer, we began studyingindividual purchases in industries with complexsales, such as technology, consulting andproessional services, financial services, andindustrial products. Te results o this study

ocus on more than 700 B-to-B purchases made

by a broad sample o buyers. In aggregate,these buyers were responsible or $3.1 billion inannual purchases.

Heres what we ound:

1. Winners sell radically differentlythan thesecond-place finishers. In many ways,what sales winners do differently is bothsurprising and ascinating.

2. Teres a specific combination o behaviorsthat sales winners do and outcomes theyachieve that the second-place finishers dont

3. Several key actors that set winners apartare rarely discussed in the world o sellingTey now demand attention.

4. Solution selling is definitely not dead, butundamental solution sales concepts needre-imagination and relabeling. And whilesolution sales concepts are necessary,theyre no longer sufficient to win sales.

Beore we share the specifics, its importantto note we did not have preerences or what

the results would show. Our intent was to findout whats really going on and proceed romthere. We expected the results would influenceour thinking, our sales consulting, and oursales training process and programs, requiringupdates and changes. And, indeed, this is the case.

We ound three levels o selling behaviors andoutcomes that set winners apart rom second-place finishers.

Level 1 isConnect. Winners connect the dotsbetween customer needs and their companys

products and services as solutions more ofenthan the second-place finishers. Winners alsoconnect with people. Teyre perceived to listenand connect personally with buyers more ofen.

Connecting with people and connectingthe dotssounds a lot like relationship andsolution sales to us. On its own, connectingused to be the crux o winning sales. Now itstheprice of entry. Sellers who stop at Level 1 do

What SalesWinners DoDifferentlyby Mike Schultz&John Doerr

Winners sell

radically

differently than

the second-place

finishers. In

many ways, what

sales winners do

differently is bothsurprising and

fascinating.
http://www.raingroup.com/http://www.raingroup.com/


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RAIN Group | RAINGroup.com | 2


not find themselves in the winners circle nearlyas ofen anymore.

While the popular thinking on the conceptsneeds to change in undamental ways,relationship and solution sales are ar rom dead.

Level 2 is Convince. Winners convince buyersthat they can achieve maximum return, that therisks are minimal, and that the seller is the bestchoiceamong all options.

Level 3 is Collaborate. Winners collaboratethrough behaviorthey are perceived to beresponsive, proactive, and easy to buy rom(collaborative in howthey work). At the sametime, its not just howthe seller interacts; itswhatthey do. Buyers believe that the winnersactually collaborate with themduring theirbuying process (collaboration in the sense oworking with the buyer to achieve a mutualgoal). Indeed, the buyers perceived these sellersto be integral to their success.

Research from the BuyerPerspective

One o the interesting things about reading

sales books and articles is that the advice ofenmakes sense on its ace, even to us afer 50collective years ollowing the sales trainingworld. While, with a ew exceptions, mostselling methods sound fine, the reality is thatsome o them are wrong, or at least wrong orcertain businesses. But its not easy to suss outthe good advice rom the bad.

Sales research methods ofen ocus on askingsellers, sales managers, and leaders what thetop perormers do versus average perormers.Unortunately, peoples perceptions o what

they do and what they actually do tend to bequite different.

Our research looks at sales rom the buyersperspective. Our objective was to find the answerto the ollowing question: What are the winnerso actualsales opportunities doing differentlythan the sellers who come in second place?

Tis approach allowed us to get past peoplesperceptions o themselves and their colleagues,and concentrate on what actually happens in

the field o play.

We asked buyers to consider recent majorpurchases and rate the winners (the sellerswho won their business) and the second-placefinishers. Our objectives were to see:

+ What winners do

+ What winners do more ofen than thesecond-place finishers (to understand whamost separates the two groups)

+ What the buyers report that second-placefinishers should change in order to makethe buyers more likely to choose them

We also looked at the statistical key drivers1o buyer:

+ Satisaction with the buying process

+ Likelihood to buy again

+ Likelihood to reer the seller

Te first three categories are the keys to

winning the current sale. Teyre what thesellers do to win now so to speak. Te latterthree help to win now, but mostly they are thekeys to win later.

Each o these six categories turned out to bepieces o a puzzle. When we viewed all sixpieces together, an elegant and ascinatingstory emerged. Sellers could take a codified seto actions that made perect sense to us in theendthough we didnt know what it was goingto look like at the beginningto maximizetheir current wins, and their ongoing selling

success. We call this the Tree Levels o RAINSellingSM (fig. 3).

As you begin reading about the three levels,note that sellers should apply them not

1 A key driver analysis is a statistical technique thatidentifies the actors most likely to influence a specific topicFor this study, we analyzed the key drivers affecting buyersatisaction with the buying process, buyer loyalty, andlikelihood to reer.

Relationship and

solution sales are

far from dead.

We learned:

+ What winners do

when selling

+ What winners domore often than

second-place finishers

+ What buyers perceiveto be most important

for winning their

business

+ How sellers can bestinfluence buyersatisfaction with the

buying process, buyer

loyalty, and

willingness to refer


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separately or in sequence, but as a combination.Applied in combination, theres a compoundingeffect as the various areas build on each other.

At the same time, leave anything out and youintroduce barriers to winning competitive salesand increase the odds o losing to no decision.

Level 1: Connect

Sellers who win connect. Tey connect withpeopleand connect the dotsbetween needs andsolutions. Tis is a surprising findingsorto. Given that the end o solution selling wasannounced in the Harvard Business Review, weexpected to see that winners had abandonedsolution sales concepts.

Not true.

In act, the opposite was true. Solution sellingis not dead. Not even mostly dead. But it haschanged in two important ways:

1. Itsno longer sufficient by itself for success, and

2. People need to think of it differentlythan they might have in the past.

While people define solution sales in a

number o ways, at the core o the solution orconsultative concept is connecting the paino the buyer with the products, services, andoverall capabilities o the seller as solutions(fig. 2). Teres typically a heavy emphasis onthe seller diagnosing the needs o the buyer.

Te need or diagnosis implies that the buyerdoesnt have a thorough understanding owhy they find themselves in their current,undesirable situation or what to do differently.Trough diagnosis, the seller figures this outlike a doctor might with a patient who eels

unwell, but who doesnt know what they have orwhat to do to get better.

Tese days, diagnosing needs isnt nearlyas important as simply demonstratingunderstanding o needs. O all the actorsbuyers experienced with the winners, deepenedmy understanding o my needs was 40tho 42actors. Winners barely did it compared to therest o the actors, yet they still won the sale.

Te second-place finishers actually ocusedmore ofen on diagnosis than the winners, yetthey still lost. Situationally, diagnosis can be

important. I, indeed, the buyer wants to makeimprovements but doesnt know what theirissues are, diagnosis is necessary. But at a macrolevel, its not nearly as important as it used to be

However, while sellers may not have todiagnose as ofen or deeply anymore, they dohave to demonstrate understanding o need.Tis is critical. Te terms may seem similar, butthrowing the understanding baby out with thediagnosing bath water is not a good idea.

Looking at the differences between the winnersand the second-place finishers, understood myneeds was the fifh largest gap (fig. 1). In act,the winners demonstrated they understoodthe buyers needs 2.5 times more ofen than thesecond-place finishers.

On top o that, o the 42 actors, buyers saidunderstood my needs was the fifh mostimportant actor that second-place finishersshould change in order to win their business.

Afer initial sales conversations, the sellerofen summarizes their thoughts and an actionplan in a document to the buyer. In one recent

example we know o, the opposite happened.Te buyersent the sellera document outliningwhat they understood their challenges to be,why they thought the challenges existed, whatthey were planning to do, and what they wantedrom a seller. Te buyer had this preparedbeorehand to send to sellers who passed thebuyers sniff test in a first call.

Sometimes a buyers perception o whatshappening misses the mark. In this case, it wasthoughtul and on-target, so the seller didntspend much subsequent time diagnosing

needs. Rather, they ocused on listening to thebuyer, and talking with them about possibilitiesor how to move orward. While they didntdiagnose, the sellers eventual proposalcommunicated that they got it regarding whothe buyer was, what they needed, and whatthey were hoping to achieve with an externalprovider. Tis turned out to be a very importantdecision-making criterion to the buyer, and theseller won the business.

2.5x

Winners demonstrated

they understood the

buyers needs

more often than thesecond-place finishers.


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Figure 1. Differences Between Winners and Second-Place Finishers

1 E du cated m e with new ideas o r perspecti ves

2 Collaborated with me

3 Persuaded m e we wou ld achi ev e resul ts

4 Listened to me

5 Understood my needs

6 Hel ped m e avo id potenti al pitfall s

7 C ra fte d a c omp ell ing s ol ut ion

8 D epicted purchasing pro cess accu rately

9 Con nec ted w it h me p er son all y

10 Overall value from the company is superior to other options

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19 Listened to me

20

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26 Collab orated with me

27 Understood my needs

2829

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31 Depicted purchasing process accurately

32 C rafted a com pell ing sol utio n

33 Overall value from the company is superior to other options

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38 C onnected wi th m e perso nall y

39 Helped me avoid potential pitfalls

40

41 Persuaded me we would achieve results

42 Educated me with new ideas or perspectives

Factors Most Separating Winners

from Second-Place Finishers

How Often Second-Place Finishers

Demonstrate Factors

Winners sell

radically

differently than

second-place finishers.

Of the 42 factors studied, these are the top 10

factors that most separate sales winners from

second-place finishers. In other words, the

buyers reported that these factors represented

the greatest gaps between what the winners did

versus the second-place finishers.

Here we show how often the second-place

finishers demonstrated the factors on the left in

relation to all 42 factors we studied.

Not only do winners and second-place finishers

sell differently, they sell radically differently.

The second-place finishers either do not have

the skills to implement, or do not value, the

concepts noted here in this graphic.

Larger versions of the graphics presented on this page are available

at www.raingroup.com/winnerfigures.
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Tis isnt to say that the buyers have it allfigured out all the time. But, with the Internetand other sources o inormation, buyers are

typically urther along than they used to bewhen they engage sellers.

Its much like when a person doesnt eel wellthese days. Tey ofen turn first to WebMD,Wikipedia, and Google to investigate. I needbe, they find themselves at a doctors office, butpeople are ofen much urther along than inyears past in their understanding o what mightbe going on.2

Another needed change in the solution salesconcept is a shif away rom the prevalent useo the words problem and pain. Tese arethe two most common terms associated withdiscovering a prospects needs. Tese wordsall too ofen drive sellers to employ find-out-whats-wrong-and-fix-it thinking.

Lets say the buyer doesnt perceive anythingor anything important enough to act onto bewrong. Soothe-the-pain sellers find themselvesat a dead end. No problems to fix. Nothing to sell.

Te sales winners, however, dont just ocus onthe negative, they ocus on the positive. Alongwith having much richer sales conversations,

ocusing on the positive opens the door tosignificant opportunity to increase sales: drivingtheir own demand(opportunity creating)3

versus reacting to demand (opportunityreacting) that comes directly rom buyers.

2 Sel-diagnosing buyers, like patients, arent always right or

complete in their diagnosis. When this happens, top sellerscollaborate with buyers as a team to arrive at the right answers.

3 See Creating Opportunities, Driving Demand on page9 or urther explanation.

Te sellers most successul at creatingopportunities ocus much more on the positivesgoals, aspirations, and possibilities achievable by

the buyer, even i the buyer doesnt know it yet.

Sellers who ocus on aspirations as wellas afflictions are able to directly influencethe buyers agendaby inspiring them withpossibilities they hadnt been considering, butshould be. Indeed, opportunity creation is acore outcome o Level 3, but it starts in Level1 with a shif in ocus rom afflictions-only toafflictions andaspirations.

Working in conjunction with demonstrating anunderstanding o needs is the sellers ability tocraf a compelling solution. Tis was the seventhgreatest difference between the winners andsecond-place finishers, and, according to thebuyers, it was the third most important actorthat the second-place finishers needed to change

ogether, understood my needs and crafeda compelling solution mean the seller connectsthe dots, drawing clear parallels between buyerneeds and how to solve them. Again, this ispart o the gestalt o mainstream thinking insolution sales. But simply connecting the dots isin no way sufficient by itsel or sellers to win.

Imagine or a minute that someone is sellingto you and you perceive the seller doesntunderstand your needs and doesntcraf acompelling solution. Teir chances o winningbusiness rom you are probably pretty slim.

Now consider that the seller connects the dotsokay, but you perceive that they arent listeningto you and you havent made any kind opersonal connection with them. As long as anyother seller meets the minimum criteria, yourenot likely to buy rom the unlikeable seller whoisnt listening.

Sellers who do a good job connecting the dotsand connecting with buyers havent yet wonthe game, but theyre in it (fig. 2). I theyre init to win it, however, they have two more levelsto cover.

Level 1: Connect used to be enough.

Its now the price of entry.

Pain + Diagnosis + Offerings as Solution = WIN!

Afflictions

&

Aspirations

Understandingof Need

+ Offerings as Solution =+In theGame

Figure 2. Changes to Basic Premise of Solution Sales

Sellers who winconnect the dots,

drawing clear

parallels between

buyer needs and

how to solve

them. This used

to be enough for

sellers to win.Not anymore.

However, while

its not sufficient,

connecting

the dots is still

necessary for

the win.
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Level 2: Convince

Sellers who win convince buyers o three things:

1. Te return on investment is worth it.

2. Te risk is acceptable.

3. Te seller is the best choice among theavailable options.

o do these things, the seller must be ableto define and communicate the maximumreturn on investment, minimize the buyersperception o risk, and differentiate rom otheravailable options.

By themselves these may not seem surprising.Tey werent to us. But as we investigatedurther, we ound 1) the sellers who wonachieved these outcomes much more ofen thanthe second-place finishers, and 2) winners aremuch more attuned to risk than the second-place finishers.

In our sales consulting and training work, weveencountered surprisingly strong backlash romsellers against helping clients to set an agenda(versus just reacting to one), influencing thebuyer too much, and using maximum persuasion.

Yet, in our research, the winners convinced, andthey convinced with gusto.

Indeed, persuaded me we would achieveresults was the third greatest differencebetween winners and second-place finishers. Itsnot that this is new; its simply that the winnersare doing a better job o it.

However, or every hundred times you findadvice to sell the ROI, you might find onepiece o advice ocused on minimizing theperception o risk or the buyer.

Forty years ago, marketers and sellers didntocus as much on results and impact. Tetransition away rom the eatures and benefitsapproach had just begun.

Fast orward to today, and every companysmarketing and sales messages promise resultsofen wild resultsas their first oot orward.Yet, while everyone is promising results, buyersregularly report disappointment.

In a study4by Bain & Company, 375 companieswere asked i they believed they delivered asuperior value proposition to clients. Eightypercent said yes. Bain then asked the clients othese companies i they agreed that the specific

company rom which they bought delivered asuperior value proposition. Only 8% agreed.

Buyers simply dont believe they get eitherwhat they expected or were promised bysellers. Teyve been burned in the past and arethereore skeptical o sellers and their claims.

Most every experienced seller has lost a sale tono decision, where the seller believes the buyerwas crazy not to move orward because thereturn on investment case was so compelling.

Sellers ofen say things to us like, I cant believethey didnt see it!

Oh, they saw itand they got itthey justdidnt believe it.

4 Allen, J., Reichheld, F., Hamilton, B., Markey, R. Closingthe delivery gap. Bain & Company, Inc., 2005.

Minimizing Risk

The following factors showed up as important in minimizing risk:

+ Provider is respected at my organization

+ Provider has experience in the specific area I have needs and inmy industry

+ Seller was professional

+ Seller depicted purchase process accurately

+ Seller was trustworthy

+ Seller inspired confidence in his/her company

+ Seller helped me avoid potential pitfalls

These are all confidence builders. In other words, theyre about

minimizing the perception of risk.


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In these cases, the buyers typically perceive therisk o not achieving results as either too great(buyer: this is impossible/improbable), or

they perceive the provider to be too high a risk(buyer: this is possible, but working with thisprovider is a potential liability because o...).

In other words, i the buyer isnt convincedo both maximum return and minimal risktogether, the seller will lose to no decision.

Now, assume there is a competitor. Te sellernot only has to maximize ROI and minimizerisk, they also have to convince the buyer theyare the best choiceamong all alternatives.

Winners were more than twice as likely tocreate the perception that the overall value theyoffered was superior.

And when a second-place finisher didnt createthis perception, it was the number one mostimportant actor they needed to do differently inorder to influence buyers to select them. Overal

value was superior was also a key driver obuying process satisaction, likelihood to buyagain, and likelihood to reer. In act, overall

value was superior was the only actor that wasa key driver o all three, and a top 10 actor in allthree o our major winner research categories.

Figure 3. Tree Levels of RAIN SellingSM

When sellers follow the Three Levels of RAIN SellingSMapproach, they achieve a veritable fourfecta. They:

1. Do what winners do 3. Do what buyers believe is most important to win their business2. Do what winners do differently than second-place finishers 4. Put themselves in a position to win later with maximum repeat business and referrals

Winners are

more successfulat minimizing

buyers perception

of risk.
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Now, the term overall value was superior toother options is open to interpretation. Tatsthe point! One buyer to the next might value

one thing over another, and every buyingscenario is different. When sellers figure outwhat buyers believe to be important and worktowards that, they win more ofen.

Te other two actors in the best choicecategoryare products and services superior andofferings differentiated rom other options.Does the seller build the product? No, butthey are the lens through which the productor service strengths are communicated to thebuyer. Its also up to the seller to differentiaterom the other options. When they dont,they leave it to the buyer to interpret theiradvantages, leaving competitive differentiationto chance.

When sellers understand all threecomponentsmaximum return, minimumrisk, and best choiceo Level 2 (convince),they take the groundwork they laid in Level 1(connect) and turbo-charge their chances oa win.

Level 2: Convince stacks the deckof winning in the sellers favor.

Level 3: Collaborate

Tis was unexpected. Te top two things thatwinners do more ofen than the second-placefinishers are 1) educated me with new ideas orperspectives, and 2) collaborated with me. Atfirst blush, they might not seem to go together,but they do. Tese two actors both indicatethat the seller, as a person, brought somethingworthwhile to the table.

Why unexpected?

1. Isnt the word collaborate directly oppositein tone to challenge or provoke?

2. Collaborate is defined as working togetherto achieve a common goal. Wait, that eelslike solution sales. Isnt that dead?

We were quite surprised that these twoparticular points would separate the winnersthe most rom the second-place finishers. Tese

were the #1 and #2 gaps between the groups.

Regarding educating with new ideas: whenthe buyer believes the seller brings somethingnew to the table, then, by definition, itsnot something the buyer was previouslyconsidering. When buyers perceive sellersas providing new ideas, sellers have a hugeadvantage. Te right new ideas can shape buyerbelie systems and approaches to action. Tisgives the seller tremendous influence.

While educating about new ideas is in no waya unique advantage, its still uncommon. Inact, only 21.5% o buyers strongly agreed thatthe winners educated me with new ideas andperspectives. At the same time, only 7.4% obuyers strongly agreed that the second-placefinishers educated me with new ideas andperspectives. So theres room or almost allsellers to improve in this area. Tose that dowill reap the rewards.

Its important to note, however, that the gapbetween the groups or the actor ocused onvaluable ideas or perspectives was not nearlyas stark. It was 35th on the list separating the

winners and the second-place finishers. Teresno question that bringing insight to the tablethat might not be new can still be helpul, but itdoesnt stand out as a actor that leads to saleswins. It seems buyers want to be surprised andinspired. I theyve heard something beore,even i its applicable, its not as impactul assomething they perceive to be new.

Te second most important actor thatseparates the winners rom the second-placefinishers was collaborated with me. We didntexpect this actor to separate the winners rom

the second-place finishers more than all but oneother actor, but it did. And the implications orselling shouldnt be understated.

When viewed in the light o everythingelse, it certainly makes sense. Te essence ocollaboration is working together to achieve acommon goal. Once the buyer sees the selleras an important member o the team, and seesmoving the sale orward as a common goal,

TOP

2THINGSbuyers say winnersdo more oftenthan second-placefinishers:

1. Educated me

with new ideas or

perspectives

2. Collaborated

with me


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On Relationships, Solutions, and Challengers

Te authors o Te Challenger Saleconfidently declare the end o solution sales has come, and that selling is not about relationships.Tese declarations are, in act, verbatim titles o articles they published in the Harvard Business Review.

Based on our research and our experience, we disagree wholeheartedly. Sellersand companies that dismiss core solution sales and relationship concepts placetheir sales results at grave risk. While our research findings and theirs share somesimilarities, so much was different that our recommendations differ rom theirsin a number o essential areas.

For example, in our research, we tested six actors using language similar to thato the key drivers o buyer loyalty they tested in their research.

First, we wondered i their key drivers would match up with what we oundwinners do (fig. A). urns out they didnt. Tere were other factorsthat were

vitally important.

Next, we ran our own statistical key-driver analysis o buyer loyalty. Wewondered i these would match up more closely, given that we, as they, were analyzing the keydrivers o buyer loyalty as they relate to the selling process (fig. B). No match there. We oundother factorswere more likely to drive buyer loyalty.

Ten we compared their key drivers to the top 10 actors in our study that buyers indicatedthe second-place finishers need to change towin their business (fig. C). Buyers ound other

factorsmore important to win their business.

Tis was all ascinating rom a data perspective.Now, this is not to say Challengers key drivers

arent reasonable. More ofen than not, they are.For example, several show up in our graphic

on page 4 o this report. But we ound actors beyond these that were also important, somuch so that i sellers ignore them, they place their likelihood to win sales in jeopardy.

Finally, in tone and interpretation, the words challenge and collaborate are moreantonym than synonym. While we agree that sellers should ask tough questions,be comortable with (and, i necessary, create) tension, and help buyers see newpossibilities, doing these under the label o challenging can lead to an unproductive,adversarial dynamic with buyers.


Figure C. What Buyers Want in Sellers

Figure A. Factors Demonstrated bySales Winners

Figure B. Factors that InfluenceBuyer Loyalty

the likelihood o buying in general, and buyingrom that seller, increases dramatically.

When a buyer sees a provider as working with

them as a team to achieve common goals, it isextremely difficult to unseat that provider romthe account. And this is the crux. Tis is onereason collaboration is at the pinnacle in Level 3.

Level 3: Collaborate makes the seller akey component of the buyers success.

Creating Opportunities,Driving Demand

When we ask company leaders, Whats yourgreatest opportunity or revenue growth?they ofen say that i they could sell thingsproactively versus reactively to both new andexisting customers, theyd have tremendousrevenue growth.


Larger versions of the graphics presented on this page,with notes on the specific factors tested, are available atwww.raingroup.com/winnerfigures .
http://www.raingroup.com/http://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/winnerfigureshttp://www.raingroup.com/


12/13



Tis is true across industries. Bankers havebusiness clients who have checking and savings

accounts, but who dont have insurance,investments, or lending. echnology companieshave a raction o what they selland whatbuyers should buyinstalled at their clientsites. Proessional services providers tell usuniversally that their greatest opportunity is tosell more to existing clients.Te main reason that buyers arent buying theadditional offerings is this: its usually up to theseller to create these opportunities and drive thedemand themselves.

For sellers, this means implementing Level 3.

In act, sellers cantdrive demand without beingproactive. Tey must take the initiative or theconversation never begins. Tey cant inspirebuyers unless they educate them with new ideasand perspectives.

Lets say they do. When the buyer believes theseller is collaborating with them, the ownershipo the idea tends to shif rom seller to buyer.When that happens, the ideapreviously noteven in considerationbecomes an importantitem on a buyers agenda. Tis is critical or

driving demand and moving sales orwardproactively. And remember, this was a sale thatnever would have been possiblei the seller didntimplement Level 3.

Bringing It All ogether

When we deliver this content in ourconversations, seminars, speeches, and webinars,we find that two points bear special mention.

First, in this research we studied the behaviors

that winning sellers demonstrate and theoutcomes theyre able to achieve with clients.Tese are the things that they do. Companiesofen work with us to train their people in thesales skills and knowledge they need to becometop perormers. While people can surely betrained to have the capability to do something,having the capability doesnt mean theyactually

put their skills to use.

Separate rom skills and knowledge, thereare specific attributes that drive salespeople

to achieve. Tus, as youre looking to buildwinning sales teams, make sure you help themto succeed in all three levels, but also work onhiring the right people and coaching them sothey are most likely toachieve on the job.

Second, to the previous point, weve rarely seenmajor changes in seller behavior across sellingteams without a strong coaching program.Creating Level 3 sellers typically requirescoaching andtraining.

Weve ound those who apply the Tree Levelso RAIN SellingSMas a systematic approach,and apply it well, not only see themselves in thewinners circle more ofen, but also maximizeclient loyalty, and generate the most reerrals.

Level 1: Connect is

the price of entry.When

buyers perceive sellers

dont understand their

needs and dont have a

solution that can help

and the buyer doesnt like

themsellers dont win.

Level 2: Convince

increases wins.When

sellers dont convince

buyers theyll get a

worthwhile return, the

risks are acceptable, and

theyre the right choice,

the buyer might not buy

at all, might buy much

less than they should

(or only be willing topay less), or may select

another provider.

Level 3: Collaborate is

when the seller becomes

a key component of

buyer success.The sellers

who are perceived as

Level 3 collaborators, and

who bring new ideas to

the table and work with

buyers as a team, willfind themselves in the

winners circle.

Three Levels ofRAIN SellingSM


13/13


About RAIN Group

Unleash the Sales Potential of Your eam with RAIN Group

RAIN Group is a sales training, assessment, and perormance improvement company that helps leading organizations improve salesresults. Weve helped hundreds o thousands o salespeople, managers, and proessionals in more than 34 countries increase their salessignificantly with our RAIN SellingSMmethodology.We can help you:

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What Sales Winners Do Differently

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