The End of Solution SalesHarvard Business Review

Presentation By:Sana SadiqFaiza HammadShah RukhNoman Ameen

For the course of SALES MANAGEMENT

Who is a “Solution Sales Rep”?

Sales people trained to align

a solution with an

acknowledged customer

need & demonstrate why is it

better than competitor

Traditional Solution Selling procedure

Identify Customer who recognize a problem that supplier can solve and gives priority to those who are ready to act

Ask Questions and find a HOOK and nurture some body in the organization who can act as their advocate or coach and help him to derive and close the deal

Strategies Opted by STAR repsReps must learn to engage customers much earlier well before

Customers fully understand their own needs

Boosting the performance of average sales people is not a matter

of improving HOW THEY CURRENTLY SELL, it involves altogether

changing HOW THEY SELL

Traditional way :• Need for change• Clear vision• Established purchasing decision

Non traditional way:• Put premium on customer agility• Emphasis on potential to change or un-

established need

Strategy # 01: AVOID THE TRAP OF ESTABLISHED DEMAND

Strategy # 01: AVOID THE TRAP OF ESTABLISHED DEMAND

• Star performer knew that the way in was to try to meet the customer existing need but to reshape them or redefine them….

• Instead of using conventional solution sale approach…

He use an “ INSIGHT SELLING” approach………

A new selling Guide for Reps…

Training of average rep into star performer

Training of average rep into star performer

• Conventional Sales methodology

• List of Attributes Ideal Advocate

• Avg. Reps target TALKERS (Guides, Friends & Climbers)…. WHY??

• Star reps pursue MOBILIZERS (Go-getters, Teachers, Skeptics)… WHY?

Strategy # 02: Target MOBILIZERS not ADVOCATES

7 Identified Profiles: Finding the right Aligns

• Most reps rely on a customer to coach them through a sale but a star rep coach the customer

•  Your overarching strategy is to provide insight rather than extract it.

Strategy # 03: Coach Customers on How to Buy

How to upend your customers

Ask customer what they think of your product or services

• In recent decades sales reps have become adept at discovering customers' needs and selling them "solutions." This worked because customers didn't know how to solve their own problems. The star reps look for different sorts of organizations, targeting ones with emerging rather than established demand. Instead of waiting for the customer to identify a problem the supplier can solve, they engage early on and offer provocative ideas about what the customer should do. They seek out a different set of stakeholders, preferring skeptical change agents over friendly informants, and they coach those change agents on how to buy. High-performing reps are still selling solutions--but more broadly, they're selling insights.

Concluding Notes

How to upend your customers way of Thinking

Thank You