In one of last year’s most popular posts on the RAIN Selling blog, my colleague Mike Schultz made a passionate plea for why sellers should shift their focus from diagnosing to understanding buyer needs. In a world where buyers are more educated, aware of their challenges and attention to the options that are available to them for overcoming those challenges, the need for diagnosing needs simply isn’t as strong as it used to be.

Many buyers today already have a fairly clear idea of what’s wrong, what they’re trying to fix. They also know the many options available to them, and have already thought through several scenarios in which they could address the issue. The last thing they need is another salesperson asking a bunch of questions and second-guessing their judgment. Instead, today’s buyers are looking for sellers who understand them – who get them at a deeper level. Recent research has shown their largest frustration is sellers who make no effort to truly understand them, their situation in their context, but instead continue to listen selectively, simply scanning the surface for buying cues.

But simply understanding a buyers pain isn’t enough. In order to truly drive sales performance, we need to move beyond consultative selling, and demonstrate an advanced level of understanding that leaves no doubt in the buyer’s mind that we truly get them, and what they are trying to accomplish.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the five levels of understanding that are required for your buyer to truly feel understood.

Level I – Understanding the “pain”

At least at first, most buyers are still in pain avoidance mode. There are looking to address some kind of situation, a negative or a circumstance that is not as it should be.

In the first phase, your job as a seller is to clearly understand and clarify which situation exactly your buyers looking to address, and why “it hurts”. So far, this is very much in line with “traditional” consultative selling – but it’s not enough.

Level II – Understanding aspirations

As human beings, we are primarily motivated by two powerful, opposite drivers. First, we seek to avoid or minimize pain in any form. Second, we strive for maximizing pleasure.

In business terms, this translates into discovering not only what your buyer is trying to get away from, but also what they are looking to achieve. Practically speaking, this is where you would focus on the potential upside. Get an understanding for what success would look like. Ask them what it would deliver in terms of desired results or outcomes for the organization. And try to get a sense for the timeframe in which they are looking to make changes.

Level III – Understanding the emotions

An often neglected part of B2B sales is the emotional side – even though intellectually most sellers understand the importance of the least acknowledging your buyers emotions, most are fearful to go there. It’s as if, once we are in a business context, discussing emotions is somehow a faux pas.

Yet, as my own experience as a former corporate executive has shown, truly understanding your buyers emotions can be one of the most powerful tools that you have at your disposal for standing out, and closing the sale. I’ve sat in many meeting rooms where the ultimate decision was an emotional one – and the vendor scoring sheet was carefully manipulated to reflect that reality.

Sellers who acknowledge, understand and relate to their buyers emotions have a clear leg up in terms of sales performance versus those who don’t. Whenever you find yourself in the early phases of the sales process, seek to understand your buyers emotions by asking questions around the personal impact of a transformation for them, the potential rewards that could come to them individually if they succeed or – highly recommended for executive level buyers – the legacy they would leave behind.

 Level IV – Understanding the impact

Now that you have clearly grasped your buyer’s afflictions and aspirations, and gained a deeper understanding of the emotional consequences of their decision, it’s time to understand the impact of action.

This is a key area were many sellers fall short. It’s as if somehow the impact should be implied, left unsaid. It’s as if the buyer should instinctively, intuitively understand all the good things that will come from implementing their solution, their service or their product.

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. At best, many buyers only have a superficial understanding of the many ways in which your particular solution will benefit them.

Yet, it’s not about telling them either. It’s about collaborating with your buyer, engaging in dialogue so together you can discover the various ways in which your solution will have a favorable, positive and lasting impact on their performance, and that of their organization.

Level V – Understanding the new reality

If the impact can be defined as a comprehensive list, quantitative and/or qualitative, of how your particular solution, product or service will benefit your buyer, then understanding the new reality is about getting them to dream a little.

It’s about not just acknowledging the impact, but seeing it through an emotional lens. Think of it as “the dream”, a glossy magazine ad or perhaps a TV commercial. A compelling, bright vision of how your buyer’s world, reality and circumstances will have changed favorably as a result of your work together.

This last step is what makes the difference between moving forward or staying stuck in the status quo. Because unless your buyer has seen a glimpse of the better world that is out there waiting for them, the default is always the same: doing nothing.

When it comes to developing an understanding of their buyers, most sellers are stuck at level I – understanding the pain. And even if they touch upon the other five levels, they do so sporadically, superficially and out of context. It’s as if they’re just dipping in, skimming the surface. Often, simply looking for buying cues, something they can use to bring the conversation back to their products, their services, their offering – their agenda.

Yet, for sellers who truly understand their buyers and are able to convey that that understanding across all five levels, the rewards in terms of improved sales performance are tremendous. Not only do they immediately distance themselves, and stand out from their competition, but there are likely to have put in place a strong foundation to build a long term, lasting relationship with their buyer and earned that coveted moniker: trusted advisor.

You probably have one of two sales philosophies. Do you know which one it is?  Read on.

You know about sales tactics – lead generation, closing techniques, cold calling. And you know about sales strategies – cross-selling, identifying decision-makers, value propositions. And while some sales leaders may differ in their thinking about what constitutes a sales tactic and a sales strategy, neither one of them is what I call a sales philosophy.

You and the Customer

The factor determining your sales philosophy is simple: it’s how you think about your relationship to the customer.

One philosophy views the customer as an “Other.” Let’s call that view “Otherhood”. By that philosophy, customers may sometimes be your friends – or they may sometimes be your enemies. But they are fundamentally different from you, the seller. They are the Other.

The second philosophy views the customer as an extension of the buyer. Let’s call that view “Brotherhood”. By that philosophy, the bonds linking customer and seller are far stronger than those separating them. Customers are fundamentally linked to you, the seller. They are the Brother.

Otherhood.

By the Otherhood philosophy, sales is about action and counter-action.  The customer raises an objection – you work on objection-handling. They have a need – you seek to fill it. They prefer your price to be low – you prefer it to be high.  You are trained to negotiate, and so are they; a good negotiation, by this philosophy, is one where both sides end up compromising.

The customer doesn’t wish you harm, but they also benefit from the struggle between you and your competitors. They encourage that struggle, through RFPs and auctions. The customer creates purchasing departments and processes. They demand that you sign contracts clearly delineating your obligations as a seller, and reserving their rights via legal clauses and insurance commitments.

In the world of Otherhood, sales management is heavily about motivation – getting salespeople to keep up the pressure, go back for more, always be closing, and get that quota. The language of Otherhood is heavily influenced by sports and military metaphors, from ‘no pain no gain’ to ‘pitch the prospect’ to ‘bottom of the ninth.’

The Otherhood philosophy of sales is at root about Customer vs. Vendor; buyer vs. seller; Team A vs. Team B. It’s all about opposition. While Otherhood sellers know that you need to make the pie bigger than arguing over who gets a slice, nonetheless it’s about splitting up a pie. What the seller gains, the buyer loses, and vice versa.

The Otherhood philosophy of sales is about competition – competition between you and your customer.  And the goal of Otherhood selling – obviously, so it seems – is to sell.

But there is another approach – to find out more, watch the video below.

 Why You Need To Become A Trusted Advisor – And How To Do It 

Brotherhood.

By the Brotherhood sales philosophy, sales is about virtuous circles, and about finding common rhythms. What’s long-term good for the seller is long-term good for the buyer. By contrast, what’s good for one but not for the other is unsustainable. If one plus one only equals two, then both parties are wasting their time.

In the Brotherhood view of sales, sales management is about reminding salespeople to see the customer viewpoint, to empathise, to see the customer’s customers. The language of Brotherhood sales is about collaboration, transparency, long-term prospective, and envisioning alternative realities.

The Brotherhood philosophy of sales is at root about relationships, synergies, and collaboration. You don’t get ahead by beating your Brother – you both get ahead by helping each other. If you’re ever arguing over a piece of pie, you know by definition you’re having the wrong discussion. The Brotherhood Philosoph of sales is a out collaboration between you and your customer. And the goal of Brotherhood selling is to make things better for your customer.

But wait, you may say: if the goal of Brotherhood selling isn’t to get the sale, then what kind of selling is that, and how can it possibly work better than an approach whose goal is, straightforwardly, to increase sales?

The answer is that in Brotherhood selling, the sale is a byproduct – not a goal.  And the ultimate irony is – Brotherhood salespeople end up selling more than Otherhood sellers. Want to know why? Ask their customers.  Most customers prefer to deal with sellers who have the buyer’s interest at heart, rather than their own.  And the natural result of that preference is – to give the sale to the Brotherhood seller.

And what about you? Which is your Sales Philosophy?

Sales productivity is one of the most powerful ways to boost your everyday performance, and – over time – boost your sales. In this post, I take a deeper dive into 21 powerful tips for boosting your sales productivity.

This is Part 2 of a post on 21 sales productivity tips – check out Part 1 here.

 Think outside the box

12. (Re)define your target segment

Most of us have a vague understanding of what our ideal clients look like. We often know their industry, geographical location and probably some of their titles. Problem is, we may be selling to the right kind of people, but not the best kind.

Every so often, I like to experiment with redefining my target segment or audience. Maybe I’ll look into it entirely new category of titles. Start bottom-up instead of top-down. Or look at an entirely new industry niche segment altogether. Almost always yielding surprising results.

13.Try some new tools

I’m a huge fan of sales productivity tips, and we truly live in the Golden age when it comes to finding easy-to-implement, cost-effective tools that can have a dramatic impact on your sales results. From marketing automation to sales 2.0 tools, I’m always looking for new tools that can help me be more productive, gain valuable time and serve my clients better.

14. Automate a few things

Even though I’m not a huge fan of their food, McDonald’s has mastered the art of automating and standardizing processes to such a degree that it has allowed them to build a global presence, and one of the strongest brands on the planet.

And now, with the power of technology at your fingertips, you can do the same. Start by identifying some routine, low value added activities that you have to do every single day or week. Then, try to find clever ways of automating those, either in part or whole – meaning you can now forget about them, and spend your time doing more of the things that actually deliver results.

15. Get some outside help

Even though you may not formally have an assistant, there are many options to get some outside help for low value-added, routine tasks and activities. From hiring a virtual assistant on oDesk to mentoring a junior talent in exchange for some help on designing a proposal, many clever ways to outsource means you have more time to focus on high value added, strategic activities.

16. Try something new every quarter

One of the most powerful enemies we have is routine – being stuck in our ways. I highly recommend trying something new at least every quarter. A new tool. Approach. Some kind of technology. Target segment. Referral method.

Forcing ourselves to try something new every quarter, or whatever timeframe works best for you, enables us to get out of the rut and gradually make improvements in terms of our business and our sales.

17. Get out of the building

I’ve personally found one of the most powerful sales productivity tips – especially when we are faced with problems or challenges – to be this: go outside. Take a walk in the park; literally. Clear your mind, and you’ll be surprised at what new approaches come to you, without effort on your behalf.

Powerful Sales Productivity Secrets To Boost Your Sales

Team up with others

18. Leverage the goodwill of others

Many times, there is quite literally a small army of people who were willing to help us, if only we would ask. Sure, you could spend hours on LinkedIn and social media trying to find some kind of a hook to reach out to that executive you’re targeting. Or, you could simply find a common connection and ask them for a referral.

Leveraging the goodwill of others is one of the most powerful ways to building shortcuts, transforming our results as well as giving others an opportunity to savor the satisfaction of helping a fellow human being.

19. “Buddy up”

On and off throughout my career, I’ve teamed up with others in a sort of unofficial 1-on-1 coaching relationship. We helped each other overcome challenges, find new, creative ways of doing things and pull each other up when we were down.

If it makes sense to you, I would highly recommend you find a “buddy” and setting up a weekly call or meeting to share and exchange ideas and push each other to try new things.

20. Build an accountability network

Similar to the point above, I highly recommend building an accountability network – a group of people with whom you share your goals, objectives and what you’re trying to accomplish. Just the simple fact of knowing that others are aware of what you are trying to accomplish will often be enough to keep going when things get a little tough.

Shared accountability is a strong social mechanism for making sure we stay true to our path and achieve our goals.

21. Be a copycat

Nobody said you have to do everything by yourself – very often, copying tried and tested approaches from others is a great way to find new sales productivity practices to adopt. So go find some interesting voices out there. Listen to what they have to say.

Observe what your more successful colleagues, or top sellers inside your firm do. And over time, you may well find you will become one of them.

What sales productivity tips do you have ? What methods have you found that work for you ? And which tools do you use to boost your everyday sales productivity, focus and results ?

Boosting sales productivity is one of the most powerful methods you have at your disposal for improving sales, and transforming your results. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most misunderstood aspects of sales and sales management.

Many companies still stick to religiously measuring activity targets, like number of sales calls per week, number of prospecting calls or emails sent or other easily quantifiable measures. Where these may be easy to adopt from a management perspective, in my opinion, they certainly are not the most effective ways to measure sales productivity – instead, in this post I’d like to give you 21 new ideas for boosting your productivity and making more sales.

(This is Part 1 of the post; you can find Part 2 over here).

Go For Quality Over Quantity

1. Set clear goals & milestones

The first step, as always, is to set clear goals and milestones. Unless you’re clear on what you want to achieve, how will you know you’re getting there ? If you’re getting started, I would highly recommend you set anywhere from 3-5 stretch goals, and for each of those, identify at least one milestone that will let you know you’re well on track.

2. Spend less time “doing stuff”

In the day-to-day, sales can be a repetitive business. Because of the very nature of selling, results often occur after months or even years of investing your time and effort. Therefore, many sellers fall into the trap of “getting busy” – simply managing and tracking activities, regardless of their impact on the overall result.

Rather than spending your days doing repetitive tasks that may give you a sense of accomplishment in the short term, but will not contribute to your long-term results, spend some time reviewing your overall goals and identifying the actions that would get you closer to them, so you can focus on those first. In other words, make sure you build in enough time to do some strategic thinking – not just “doing stuff”.

3. Find what works – and do more of it

I highly recommend you find what works (what delivers actual results in terms of sales) and do more of it. To me, this means periodically reviewing your closed sales, and identifying the factors that helped bring those in. Was there anything specific you did in terms of prospecting ? Any outreach approach that worked particularly well? Any needs discovery of closing technique you adopted, that helped you get better results? Any specific target segment that seemed more receptive to your messaging ?

Finding and identifying these so-called “best practices” is one of the most powerful levers you have your disposal for boosting your sales productivity and transforming your results.

4. Cut something from your list every day

If you’re anything like most of my clients, you’ll find yourself starting every day with a pretty big to do list. In most cases, you’ll also find yourself ending every day with at least a few items on the list remaining.

My golden rule is: if you’ve not managed to complete a task on two consecutive days, relentlessly cut it from your list. Unless there is a valid reason for you not complaining that task, it’s probably not that important and won’t impact your long-term results. If you do this every day, Monday to Friday, you’ll not only have saved a significant amount of time but you will also find your level of stress decreases dramatically.

5. Leverage your strengths

Let’s face it – for each and every one of us, they are things that we are good at and there are things that we are not so good at. Unfortunately, many times our occupation as sellers assume us to be good at everything. We need to be good at prospecting. Needs discovery. Closing. Negotiating. Growing existing relationships. Cross-selling. Up selling.

You get the message. Not everyone (not even you) is equally good at all of these things. If you can, try cutting something from the list by having someone else do them, reducing the time you spend on them or eliminating them altogether (which, granted, may be difficult sometimes). I’ll give you some ideas on how to do that further in this post.

Powerful Sales Productivity Secrets To Boost Your Sales 

Adopt a sales productivity system

6. Adopt a productivity method

I’m a huge fan of productivity methods like Pomodoro or GTD. Find one that works for you, put it to the test and I bet you’ll find your sales productivity increases – and your results do as well.

7. Start with the most important stuff first

I start every single day by doing the most important stuff first. Strategic thinking. Producing content. Prospecting. Whatever it is for you, identify the most important thing you absolutely, positively must be doing in order to close more sales, and do that first. Every day.

8. Set time constraints

In my experience, and that of many others, tasks and activities tend to expand or contract into the time you’ve allowed for them. This works in two ways. If you set a 60 minute meeting, you can rest assured that meeting will take 60 minutes. On the other hand, if you’ve allowed only 20 minutes for that same meeting, chances are you’ll be able to accomplish the same things in much less time.

Try experimenting with this: gradually reduce the time you allow yourself for certain tasks, especially non-strategic ones, and see if you can accomplish the same things – but in less time.

9. Plan your week

Every Sunday morning, I sit down with a cup of tea and plan my week. I start by reviewing (often mentally) my quarterly targets, and what I’d like to achieve for the week. Then, I break that down into activities and tasks, which I distribute evenly over the week.

I tend to start with Mondays, but I’ve heard of others who like to start planning their Wednesdays first and then plan from the middle of the week outwards. Whatever method you pick, just make sure you plan your week ahead of time. That’s the key.

10. Work your plan

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of day-to-day business, it’s easy to abandon any plan you have made for the week when the going gets tough. Which is why, in spite of their well-meaning efforts, many people are frustrated at the end of the week because they just don’t feel like they accomplished what they set out to do.

Here’s the secret: don’t plan your entire week. On any given day, allow at least two hours for unforeseen interruptions, distractions and last-minute events.

11. Put in place periodic measurements

Similar to point number 2., I would highly recommend you put in place some kind of periodic measurement so you can spend less time doing stuff and more time focusing on the things that truly matter.

Personally, I’m a big fan of the (individual) quarterly review. Every quarter I review my results, and the activities I engaged in that got me there. More often than not, I find several things that didn’t work (which means I can now cut them, or find ways to improve upon them) and a few, core things that helped me achieve the majority of my results.

Putting in place these types of measurements will help you identify the 20% that will get you 80% of your results. Doing this over time, with incremental improvements made every quarter or so, will completely change the way you sell – guaranteed.

Note: this is Part 1 of a 2-part series on ways to improve your sales productivity. You can discover Part 2 over here.

Margin negotiation – arguably, it’s one of the most important ways in which firms can protect their profitability, long-term growth and marketplace survival. Without healthy margins, profitability drops. Without profitability, no business has a future.

Yet, in spite of its importance, most of my clients feel this is one of the key areas where performance falls short. Often, I’m told things like “our people haven’t fully mastered the art of negotiation”. “They give in at the first sign of trouble”. Or “giving discounts is almost the default around here.”

In a competitive marketplace, there is no doubt buyers have increasingly mastered the art of negotiation. They’re in charge, and they know it. Yet, when faced with the prospect of a competitor undercutting their prices, most sellers appear to run for the hills a little too soon.

In my experience, across industries, it appears sellers are making three classic – yet easily avoided – mistakes when faced with demands for price reductions from buyers.

1. They give in too soon

Many sales managers (and even CEOs) tell me they are regularly requested to sign off on “special customer discounts”. When they ask “why”, the standard answer is – because the competitor is doing it. But when they dig deeper, it often turns out the seller didn’t ask – but assumed. Consider this scenario.

Buyer: Is there any way you can come down on price ? We’ve received other bids.
Seller: (They’ve received other bids. Oh, no. They must be cheaper. It’s those ____ from ____ again. Always undercutting our prices, trying to lock us out of our own accounts.) “OK. Let me talk to my manager, and see what I can do.”

You’d be surprised how often this happens. In fact, I know of more than a few buyers who regularly use this as a strategy to obtain discounts from vendors – often, simply hinting at the fact that competitive offers are in play is enough to obtain substantial discounts from vendors – regardless of whether or not those offers are actually lower priced and/or more attractive.

Instead, do this: when faced with a request for lowering your , ask your buyer for specifics. How many other bids ? Were any of them cheaper ? By how much ? What kind of a discount would he be looking for ? What would he/she be willing to give up in exchange ?

2. They do all of the talking, and none of the listening

When faced with price objections, many sellers find themselves compelled to justify why their prices are fair. Understandable, but in negotiations, like the old adage goes “He or she who speaks next loses”.

Instead of giving in to temptation, and going on the offensive, take a moment, step back and ask your buyer to offer up more information. Never underestimate the importance of asking a few great questions.

Do this instead: when faced with objections from a buyer, forego your urge to go on the defensive. Instead, ask a question for clarification, or simply remain silent for a few seconds. Your buyer will feel compelled to offer up further information, and “fill the void” created by your silence.

3. They have no compelling alternative

Walking into the negotiation without a strong BATNA is one of the main reasons margin negotiation goes off the rails. Unless you have a compelling BATNA (Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement), you’ll have no choice (or perceive you have no choice) but to give in to demands for price concessions.

Due to pressure from quota, weak pipelines, insufficient qualified leads and aggressive market penetration tactics adopted by competitors, most sellers throw in the towel too soon. Having a strong BATNA can broaden your options for action, increase your confidence and send a clear signal to your buyer you will stand by your prices.

Do this first: before entering any margin negotiation, ensure you have a clear BATNA. Try to think of at least 1-2 alternatives to cutting your prices, and identify which counter-concessions you can request from your buyer. Find a compelling (and objective) competitive differentiator, that justifies your higher price. Build more value into your service offering. Offer an alternative, cheaper package with similar impact.

You’d be surprised how many times I’ve heard executives and sales leaders bring up the three margin negotiation mistakes listed above. Yet, taking a few simple steps can mean the difference between consistently giving in on price or obtaining a healthy and profitable margin for your business.

In spite of all the talk about the death of relationship selling, I find that in today’s complex B2B sales environment, relationships still matter very much. In fact, the more social our world becomes, the more relationships are key to driving success and real, hard business results.

But the critics do have a point – it’s not just about building relationships anymore.

The Death Of Relationship Selling ?

Around fifteen years ago, I spent a significant amount of time working with two professional services sales reps. Both were top sellers inside their firm. Both were highly respected by their colleagues, and in demand by their clients. And both were generating significant amounts of the firm’s revenue.

But both could not have been more different in their approach.

The first rep, let’s call him Josh, was a real relationship builder. Affable, quick-witted and with a genuine desire to help others, Josh managed to forge strong relationships with key executives at virtually every account he visited. He often simply “walked the hallways” of his clients, secured meetings with no agenda at all, no product to sell, no real purpose for the conversation other than to “touch base” – and, more often than not, walked back out with a sizeable sale in his back pocket.

His colleague, let’s call him Fred, was Josh’s polar opposite. Highly analytical, with a real love for facts-and-figures and deep knowledge of the entire range of products he sold, Josh was like a walking, talking data sheet. Throughout all the time we spent together, I’ve never seen Fred struggle to give an answer to a question – no matter how detailed.

Fred and Josh both sold – but they sold radically differently. But, over the years, as time went by, something interesting started to happen.

Fred and Josh started merging. 

Not literally, of course. But, as time went by, their approaches to selling became more and more convergent. In addition to being a great relationship builder, Josh started educating his clients with new insights and perspectives, and leading with factual knowledge. And Fred started to be more attentive to the emotional – as well as the rational – needs of his clients.

Why ? The world had changed.

The “secret” to building stronger sales relationships

At RAIN Group, we find “what has changed is the way customers form relationships with sellers. Today’s sellers and buyers often determine business value first. They vet each other’s businesses and decide if they want to work together—but they don’t go out for extended cocktail-tipping lunches like in the Mad Men days. Today, the business interaction comes first, with the relationship being the reward customers give sellers who work for it. But that doesn’t mean the personal connection is any less real, or less valuable.”

In 2015, the “secret” to building strong sales relationships with senior executives will (continue to) be this: lead with business value.

Whether that’s by educating prospects with new insights and ideas, helping them think through and avoid major pitfalls, or crafting a solution and value offering that is superior to the other options (in the client’s mind) – lead with value, and you’ll be in a good place. Leading with value doesn’t mean foregoing the relationship building part of the process. Nor does it equate to adopting an overly rigid focus on business cases, ROI metrics and KPIs. It simply means delivering value in a business context first.

A while ago, I had the pleasure of talking to Fred and Josh again. Both have moved on from their old firm, yet both continue to do well as entrepreneurs and sales professionals. When I asked them what was the biggest lesson they’d learned, they answered by completing each other’s phrase.

First, Fred said, “more than ever, I’m convinced that the secret to staying competitive as a sales professional is putting people first. That’s not just another technique or some idealistic pursuit, it’s simply what makes common sense.” And then, unprompted, Josh completed “but the way to build the relationship is through delivering real business value first. It’s no longer about wining and dining, or taking your key clients to some kind of an event. It’s about capturing their interest by showing them something that is of interest to them and their firm”.

What if you could achieve sales success in 2015 – in 5 simple steps ? According to Forbes, an astounding 92% of all New Year’s resolutions fail – within 30 days. Why ? Most people set resolutions that are far too complex, or require too much willpower to keep going.

But there’s another, deeper problem.

Intrinsically, resolutions are nothing but wishes – things that most people are hoping will somehow, magically come true. Things like “I want to lose ”. Or “I want to work out 3 times per week.”

So what if we focused on habits instead ? According to the appropriately named Zenhabits.net “Resolutions are like wishful thinking, that fade away inevitably as the year’s newness wears off. Goals are great, but it’s hard to juggle 5–10 new goals when you have a lot of other things always going on. Instead, focus on one new habit at a time, and give it your full attention, until it becomes automatic. Then do another new habit. After a year, you could have 12 new habits, and you’ll be a lot closer to any goals you might have wanted to reach.”

So what if you applied that principle to sales – what if you decided that this year wasn’t just about simply “getting by” anymore, but it was about improving results dramatically ?

What habits could you create that would result in a massive, sea change for your professional life or business ? Could make you the top seller in your firm, or even your industry ? Could create an abundance of opportunities in your pipeline, rather than a trickle ?

Here’s a simple, five-step process to help you identify the right habits for 2015 – whether in your sales, in your business or in your life.

1. Decide to get serious

In my own life, I’ve managed a fair amount of changes myself. I’ve built a successful business and practice. Lost significant amounts of weight. Quit smoking. Became a vegetarian. Quit alcohol. Became an avid runner and cyclist. All of those changes started with a simple decision – “I will do this.” If you’re not ready to commit, don’t even try. You will fail. Don’t set goals you’re not able, willing or motivated to commit to.

Instead, pick one or two things that truly matter to you, and decide to get serious about making the changes required to be successful.

2. Set clear goals (not resolutions)

Once you’ve identified what you’re committed to changing, the next step is to set clear, measurable goals. Whether you use something like SMART goal setting or another method doesn’t matter. What matters is that you set your goals, and become clear on what the end result should look like.

3. Identify the habits that support your goal

If goals are the end result, habits are what will get you there. They are the things you do on a daily basis that keep you firmly on track to meeting your goal. A great life is the result of a sequence of great actions. By identifying which actions to take, and committing to sticking with them, achieving your goals is a near certainty.

4. Define your keystone habit

Not all habits are created equal. Keystone habits, in particular, are habits which produce multiple positive outcomes. In other words, identifying and getting the keystone habit just right is paramount to long term success.

It’s like finding the 20% that will get you 80% of the results.

Think about that for a second. What if you could find one simple change you need to make, that will dramatically impact not only all habits you’re trying to cultivate – but gets you massively better results as well ? By their very nature, keystone habits are highly individual and specific to you. I can’t tell you what they are, but I can give you some examples of things that have worked for me.

For transforming my sales success, it’s been making sure I dedicate at least 20% of my time to (intelligent) daily prospecting. Opening up new opportunities for my business every single day has had a massive knock-on effect in terms of new introductions, conversations, opportunities, proposals and wins.

In short, by simply focusing on the first step of the process, I was able to influence all other links of the chain, creating significant change in the process. That’s what keystone habits are – find yours, and when you do, stick with it and focus on it relentlessly.

5. Turn it into a game

By and large, people are way too serious about setting goals. Making it look, sound and feel like work is a surefire way to get bored, demotivated and give up.

There’s only so much willpower we have to spend on a daily basis.

But what if you were able to turn your new habit into a game ? Rather than running on the treadmill, why not find a nice park nearby ? Rather than just run, why not challenge yourself to discover a new route every day ? Why not do some interval training ? Find a few hills to run, and then time your progress for each ascent ?

Trust me on this: turning your new habits into a fun, game of practice will go a long way to helping you see them through to the end.

So there you go, five core steps to turning 2015 into a sales success.

But what do you think ? What’s worked well for you in the past ? And what would you recommend others do when trying to create significant, positive changes in their personal or professional life ?

If there’s anything I’ve learned during my career in sales and business development, it’s that opportunities are quite literally everywhere – providing you can (help) create them. That’s not Polyannistic thinking, or “the glass is half full”. It’s literally true: in an increasingly global, competitive economy, buyers and companies everywhere are looking for all the help they can get – even (especially) if they don’t know it yet.

The “standard” approach to sales is either to wait for an opportunity to arise and then sell against it – let’s call this “inbound” selling. The alternative is to “cast a wide net” of suspects, find a few who are willing to speak (and are, hopefully, at least somewhat qualified) and try to work towards “a close” – “outbound” selling. But what if there was a third approach – an approach that not only delivered (far) better results, but created far less “waste” in terms of damaged relationships and lost opportunities, and was more engaging and stimulating for both sides ?

In RAIN Group’s research on Insight Selling, we found the following Top-3 factors are what buyers report make them pick one firm over another:

1. Educated me with new ideas and perspectives
2. Collaborated with me
3. Persuaded me we will achieve results

And even though this approach is gaining ground, many sellers are still too focused on applying these ideas in the context of an individual sale – not a relationship over time. Thereby missing the bigger picture: true sales success isn’t made over a single sale. It’s made over an entire relationship. Many of our clients in management consulting, financial services, executive search and technology report they “want to sell value, and build long term relationships”.

They know what they want, but struggle with how.

At RAIN Group, we’ve developed a simple, 5-step approach to collaborating with buyers, engage with them and gradually build a relationship of mutual trust, respect and opportunity.

1. Prepare buyers to collaborate

Start by inviting a buyer to collaborate – whether by soliciting their advice on a key issue, asking for an “informal 30 minutes of their time” to walk through an approach or suggesting to have a brief call to review an idea. The key is to genuinely ask for their input, not propose a thinly veiled “look at the wonderful work we’ve done with this past client” pitch.

Doing this is the first step in laying the foundation for a collaborative, open exchange – in a way that is non-threatening, value-added and truly collaborative.

2. Wonder with the buyer

Once you’ve secured the first meeting or opportunity to interact, the next step is to embark on what I like to call “diligent discovery”. We often have a tendency to assume too many things: what works, what doesn’t, what people/companies “should be doing” and the kinds of results they can achieve.

Don’t fall into that trap – instead, engage your counterpart in a series of exploratory steps that are designed to explore the whole issue, develop a deeper understanding on the underlying factors (think causes, not symptoms) and explore potential options for resolution.

When doing this, look specifically for causes, impact and effects. Ask questions like:

• What do you believe could be causing the problem ?
• What effects do you think this might have ?
• What would the impact be if you “got this right” ?
• What could go wrong ? Why wouldn’t this work ?
• What roadblocks could you see prevent this from happening ?

By openly addressing the things that could go wrong, you build trust and invite your buyer to collaborate on developing better, stronger and more long-lasting solutions. Collaboration is not about pitching, or pretending you know everything. This is the time to truly open up, admit you don’t have all the answers (and your buyer doesn’t either), but perhaps, just maybe, you can figure this out together.

3. Ask incisive questions

Especially when we’re faced with someone for the first time, we often have a tendency to avoid asking the hard questions. We feel it’s somehow inappropriate, disrespectful or rude. But think about this: when you ask a friend for advice on something you’re struggling with, do you want them to sugarcoat the issue, or tell you the truth ? The same goes for buyers – many (most) senior B2B buyers are intelligent, highly educated and have often considered an issue for a long time and “looked at all the angles”.

They don’t want someone to simply echo what they already know – they want a sparring partner who can shoot holes in their reasoning, suggest alternatives and conduct due diligence on their ideas. By asking tough questions (in a soft way), you deepen the atmosphere of joint discovery, and build the feeling of mutual exploration that leads to trust and mutual ownership. For a list of 11 incisive questions for Insight Selling, check out “Your Guide To Insight Selling Success” from RAIN Group.

4. Shape the path forward together

Uncovering the issue, its potential implications and the effects and impacts of success is great – but, unless you take one more step, it will not get you any closer to resolving it, or a sale.

The fourth step in the process is to identify potential actions, and an approach for moving forward together. Don’t just ask: what should we do now ? That’s too broad, and may cause them to suggest something that will not get them the result they need. And don’t “push for the sale” just yet either; depending on the situation, intermediate steps may be needed.

Being too pushy at this stage may mark you as a “salesperson”, and undo all the work you’ve done (and the trust you’ve built) together in the process thus far.

5. Give the buyer ownership of the idea

Yes, you’ve had a meaningful part in the conversation thus far. Yes, you’re a smart, capable professional. And yes, you may know what they need to do and already be thinking three steps ahead. But if you really want your buyer to take action, let them own the idea. When they feel ownership, your buyer will be motivated to sell it internally, able to convince others of its worth and continue to move forward in the face of setbacks and adversity.

Try the five steps to collaborating with buyers, and see what happens. As always, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.