That Matter Most in Sales to make it virtually impossible for prospects to say no.
■ Shape Win Probability in your favor to gain an unbeatable competitive advantage.
Sales EQ begins where many of the great books and sales training programs like The Challenger Sale, Strategic Selling, Insight Selling, and SPIN Selling leave off. It addresses the human relationship gap in the modern sales process – the emotional side of selling.
I want to be crystal clear about my intentions. I didn't invest a year of my life writing this book merely to make you a better level of average. Screw average. To hell with mediocrity.
I'm pulling back the veil from ultra-high sales performance. My mission is to move you into the top tier of salespeople in your company, industry, and field. To help you become insanely successful – an elite top earner.
A Note about the Word Stakeholder
Throughout the book, I use stakeholder as a generic term inclusive of buyers, amplifiers, seekers, influencers, and coaches. These roles are also, in my work and the work of others, defined as prospects and decision makers. For expediency and to avoid confusion, I have chosen to use the term stakeholder.
3
THE IRRATIONAL BUYER
Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
Everyone in my industry knew about the opportunity. It was a rare gem that caused my competitors to throw everything at it. One of my competitors flew the stakeholders around in a luxurious corporate jet to visit its manufacturing plants, wining and dining them along the way. Another competitor feted the stakeholder group at premier sporting events.
I agonized that we were going to lose the deal because we weren't keeping up with the Joneses. My company didn't have the resources to entertain a large stakeholder group like our competitors could, nor was it in our culture to do so.
Adding to my anxiety were our no-frills production facilities that were dated compared to the competition, with their modern, state-of-the-art plants.
Honestly, it was like David going up against Goliath. But it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I had bet the farm and my reputation on closing it.
Nail-Biting Suspense
After almost two years of work, we delivered our final presentation and proposal. On the eve of the decision I couldn't sleep. Perhaps that I was close to an all-out anxiety attack and mental breakdown is a better description.
But the next day no word came. Then another day went by and another. I called, but no one answered; I left messages that were not returned, and tried to pry information out of the gatekeepers. Nothing. Crickets.
I put on a brave, relaxed face, but I was in a state of panic. In my heart I knew that no news was bad news. After working closely with these stakeholders for so long, we'd become friends. I knew that none of them wanted to deliver the word that we were not the vendor of choice.
Over the next weekend, I talked myself off the ledge and came to grips with the fact that my dream of landing the account was not going to come true. I prepared to move on, knowing that there was a likelihood, after expending so many resources on the deal, that I might not have a job.
The Answer
On Monday morning, I drove to the office early and prepared to start rebuilding a pipeline that had been obliterated while I'd focused my complete attention on a single deal.
Just a little after 8:30 my phone rang. The receptionist told me that Randy (my coach at the account) was on the line.
“Randy, nice to hear from you! How was your weekend?” I did my best not to sound as desperate as I felt.
“Good, Jeb. How about yours?”
“Fantastic,” I lied.
“Hey, I'm sorry I didn't return your calls.” There was no emotion in his voice. “Our team met last week to go over the proposals, and honestly it wasn't an easy decision. All the companies did a great job. But we made a choice, and I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer.”
My heart was racing as I braced for the worst.
“It was unanimous.” His voice was solemn.
I could feel the bad news coming.
“We've decided to go with you guys!” He started laughing, clearly enjoying the pain he'd caused me.
The Reason
“Thank you! That's incredible. Thank you!” I was gushing and could barely find words as a wave of relief rushed over me.
We quickly put together a plan for the next steps and getting a contract over to his legal team. I was anxious to get off the phone and share the good news with my wife and our team, but, before I let him go, I asked what compelled them to pick my company.
“You know, we just felt like you guys were a lot like us.” He pointed to how much fun his team had the day they toured our production facility.
At lunch, we shut the plant down, brought in barbecue, and ate on paper plates – his stakeholders, our sales team, and the plant employees all mingled together. He explained that they enjoyed spending time with our people without all the formality. His team felt our people were down-to-earth and cared – just like them.
Closing that deal was a two-year ordeal requiring a significant investment of resources, a team of people dedicated to the cause, and hours and hours of work on strategy, stakeholder mapping, endless financial analysis, and extensive supply chain work to source and customize an array of products, not to mention all the emotional anguish.
But it wasn't the six-inch-thick request for proposal (RFP) response with every imaginable spec that closed the deal. Nor the final presentation we spent three days and nights rehearsing. Nor the detailed implementation plan that took a week to develop. Nor the research, demos, samples, and data. Not planes, fancy entertainment, or sports tickets.
In the end, they felt that we were more like them than our competitors were. They felt more comfortable with the people on our team and our company culture. They liked us more. We were a safe choice. A pivotal decision swayed by the whim of emotion. A similarity bias. Unquantifiable and irrational.
It was the biggest deal I'd ever closed. Huge. The commission on the account alone was enough to purchase a 5,000-square-foot home with cash (which I did) and have enough money left over to make a significant contribution to my savings. Just like that, at the age of 26, I went from the depths of depression to the top of the world. Closing that deal changed my life and set my career on the fast track.
Since then I've closed bigger and more complex deals worth millions more dollars. Yet, no other sale taught me more about what matters most in sales. It was a humbling lesson on why what we often believe is important to influencing the outcome of a sale is just dead wrong.
It also put me on the path I've been on as a practitioner, leader, author, consultant, researcher, and trainer for the past 20 years, on a mission to answer two simple, yet frustratingly elusive, questions:
1. Why do people buy?
