Table Of ContentMastering Technical Sales
The Sales Engineer’s Handbook
Third Edition
For a complete listing of titles in the
Artech House Technology Management and Professional
Development Series, turn to the back of this book.
Mastering Technical Sales
The Sales Engineer’s Handbook
Third Edition
John Care
Aron Bohlig
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the U.S. Library of Congress.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover design by John Gomes
ISBN 13: 978-1-60807-744-1
© 2014 John Care and Aron Bohlig
685 Canton Street
Norwood, MA 02062
All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. No part of this book
may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includ-
ing photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have
been appropriately capitalized. Artech House cannot attest to the accuracy of this information.
Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or
service mark.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
v
Contents
Acknowledgments
xix
1
Introduction:Why Study Technical Sales?
1
New SE
4
Experienced SE
4
Sales Managers and Sales Trainers
5
Sales Representative
5
Marketing and Product Management
6
Technical Consultants
6
2
An Overview of the Sales Process
7
Definition of the Market
8
Marketing Campaigns
8
Customer Events
8
Trade Shows and Seminars
9
Mailing Lists and Outbound Calling Campaigns
9
Partners
9
Web-Based Form or “Fremium” Products
9
Lead Qualification
10
RFP
10
Discovery and First Customer Engagement
11
Present, Demonstrate, and Propose
11
Presentation
11
Demonstration
11
Proposal
11
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Mastering Technical Sales:The Sales Engineer’s Handbook
Proof of Concept (Optional)
12
Negotiations: Close or Lose—Getting the Deal
12
Post-Sales Support and Ongoing Account Management
12
Summary
13
3
Lead Qualification
15
Lead Quality
17
Lead Ratings
17
Qualification Criteria
18
Budget
18
Time Frame
19
Fit: Do the Prospect’s Needs Match Your Solution?
20
Effective Lead Qualification
21
Competitive Implications of Technical Qualification Criteria
21
Making the Decision To Say No
21
Defending Your Position When the Sales Rep Disagrees
22
Low-Cost Fallback Strategies
22
Internal Roles in the Lead Qualification Process
23
Sales Representative
23
Inside Sales/Lead Development
23
Sales Management
24
SE
24
Care and Feeding of the Inside Sales Team
24
Lead Qualification in Action: The Process with Three
Common Scenarios
25
Solicited Leads
25
Unsolicited Leads
25
Current Projects or Recommended Leads
26
Summary
27
4
The RFP Process
29
Creation of an RFP
29
A Closer Look at Three RFP Myths
30
The Go/No-Go Decision
32
Internally Scoring the RFP
33
Handling Deadlines
35
Strategies for Avoiding an RFP
36
The Alternate Response Tactic
36
Completing the RFP
37
Presentation and Follow-Up
39
Contents
vii
Summary
40
Appendix 4A
41
5
Needs Analysis and Discovery
43
Overview
44
Why Discovery Is Critical
44
The Seven-Step Needs Analysis Approach
45
Step 1: Identify Needed Information
45
Step 2: Build the Perfect Pitch
47
Step 3: Explain the Needs Analysis Process
49
Step 4: Interview Key Customers
51
Step 5: Observe Current Processes—Get to Know the End User
53
Step 6: Synthesize Information
54
Step 7: Prepare and Present Summary
54
Wrap-Up
55
Customizing the Discovery Process
56
Adapt Your Questions to Your Audience
56
Summary
58
6
Business Value Discovery
61
The Three Behavioral Crimes of Discovery
62
Tell
62
Accept
63
Guess
63
The Business Switchback
63
The Heart of the Process
65
Get a Full List
65
Verify It Is Complete
66
Add and Challenge
67
Prioritize
67
Evidence and Impact
67
What Happens If We Cannot Get Any Data?
69
A Final Checkpoint—The Cost/Impact Comparison
70
Summary
70
7
Successful Customer Engagement
73
First Contact
74
Remember What They Want from You
74
Dissecting Project Dynamics
75
Back the Strongest Faction
76
Identify the People You Need to Know
77
Use Your Intuition
77
viii
Mastering Technical Sales:The Sales Engineer’s Handbook
But Don’t Forget to Use Your Brain
77
Covering the Whole Team, Including the Minor Players
77
Coaches
78
Where to Find Coaches
79
What If There Are No Obvious Options?
79
How to Get to Potential Coaches
80
Developing the Coach
80
The Unconscious Coach
81
Maintaining the Relationship
81
Credibility
82
Maintaining Credibility
82
Losing Credibility
82
Trying to Regain Credibility
83
Know What You Don’t Know
83
Summary
83
8
The Perfect Pitch
85
Paying Attention to the Attention Curve
86
Developing a Focused Message
88
Start with the Structure: S = RM + 3KP
88
Do a Data Dump to Identify Solution and Proof Points
89
Organize the Ideas
90
Focus the Message
90
Transfer to PowerPoint
90
Nonverbal Delivery Skills
91
Verbal Delivery Skills
94
Strategize the Start
96
Special Situations
96
Very Large Audiences
96
Presenting via Teleconference
97
Around the Conference Room Table
97
Feature and Function Presentations
98
Using Nervous Energy to Your Advantage
98
Finish Strong
100
Summary
100
9
The Dash to Demo
103
Some Philosophy and a History Lesson
103
Why Does the Dash to Demo Occur?
105
“The Product” Becomes “the Solution”
105
Risk Mitigation
106
Contents
ix
Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail
106
Logistical Implications
108
The Agenda
110
Preparing the Way
110
The Audience
111
Segment the Audience
113
Dealing with Mixed Audiences
113
Checkpoint Charlie
114
Summary
115
Appendix 9A: Sample Agenda
116
Agenda
Tuesday May 27th
Vendor Presentation for New System
116
10
Snap Demos
119
Scoping the Snap Demo
120
Structuring the Snap Demo
121
Sample Snap Demo Structure
121
Keep the Demo Snappy
122
Wrapping the Snap Demo (Tell Them What They Saw)
123
Snap Demo for Executive Audiences
123
Closing the Demo and Establishing Next Steps
123
Snap Demo Considerations
124
Summary
124
11
Remote Demonstrations and Webcasts
127
The Basic Premise
127
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Remote Demonstration
128
Best Practices in Preparing for a Webcast
130
The First Three Minutes Are Critical
132
Effectively Constructing and Delivering PowerPoint for a Webcast
133
Some Really Bad Habits to Avoid
134
Engaging the Audience
135
Engaging Yourself
136
Prime Time for Webcasts
137
x
Mastering Technical Sales:The Sales Engineer’s Handbook
The Wrap-Up
137
Summary
138
12
Whiteboarding and Visual Selling
141
The Advantages of Whiteboarding
141
The Drawbacks of Whiteboarding
143
The Sales Cycle Fit
143
Getting Started
144
Whiteboarding Mechanics 101
144
Stance
145
Introducing the Chunk
146
Cadence and Rhythm
146
Speed and Handwriting
147
Artistic Ability and Iconization
147
The Implications of Color
148
Some Cheats from Our Customers
149
The Electronic Whiteboard
150
Using the Whiteboard as a Closing Tool
151
Summary
151
13
Evaluation Strategies
153
Developing the Strategy
154
Conducting an Evaluation: How Did We Get Here?
154
Negotiating Engagement in a Trial
154
How Do You Define Success?
155
How to Win: Determining the Success Criteria
155
How to Ensure Success: Evaluating the Success Criteria
157
Intellectually Closing the Deal
157
Working Backward from the Definition of Success
158
Running a Trial
158
Trial Phases
158
Basic Trial Organization
162
Training
164
Documentation
165
Equipment
165
Networking and Access
166
Anticipate and Outdeliver Your Competitor
166
Avoiding a Trial
167
Contents
xi
Does the Customer Do Trials?
168
Are They Paying for the Pilot?
168
Using References
169
Summary
169
14
Sanity After the Sale
171
Developing the Transition Plan
172
Ongoing Engagement Plan
172
Customer Meetings: Project Kickoff
173
During Deployment
173
After Rollout
174
Leveraging the Sales Team
175
The Inside Sales Team
175
Executives
175
Having a Fallback Strategy
175
Personal Benefits of Postsales Support
176
Personal References
176
Maintain Relationships for Add-On Sales
177
Keep Your Reservoir of Customer Stories Full
177
Potential for Customer Satisfaction Objectives
178
Good Way to Build Skills
178
Benefit to the Customer: Free Consulting
178
Justifying Engagement with Your Management
178
Where to Draw the Line
179
Troubleshooting the Handoff
179
Major Accounts Have Special Requirements
179
Customer Skimps on Training
180
Customer Tries to Do It Themselves
181
Working with SIs
181
Refreshing the “Project Goals” Document
182
Summary
182
Appendix 14A: Record-Keeping Forms for Postsales Information
184
15
Getting Started
187
The Ramp Process
187
Setting Goals with Your Manager
188
Find Out What You Need to Know to Succeed
188
Boot Camp
189
Why Use Benchmarking?
190
Develop a 30-/90-/180-Day Plan
191
Example Plan 1
192
Example Plan 2
192
xii
Mastering Technical Sales:The Sales Engineer’s Handbook
The 30-/90-/180-Day Structure
193
Qualities of a Good Plan
194
Ready to Go
194
Tips on Making the First Six Months a Success
195
Find a Mentor
195
Read the Manual—Really!
195
Watch the Video!
196
Master the Technology
196
Master the Product
196
Boot Camp Training Contacts
196
Work in the Factory
197
Face Time and Relationships
197
Practice, Practice, Practice
197
Learn About Key Customers and How They Actually Use Your Product
197
Read Everything About Your Industry and Competitors
198
Understand the Financials of Your Value Proposition
198
Learn the Math; Don’t Just Memorize the Answers
199
Understand Content, But Don’t Feel Overwhelmed
199
If You Can Use Your Product in Everyday Life, Do So
199
Get Feedback—From Everyone
199
Review Your Plan Weekly
200
Summary
200
16
Managing Questions
201
Managing Questions or Handling Objections
201
Before You Start
202
Categorizing the Question
202
A Valid Question
202
A Competitive Question
203
The Seymour Question
204
The Coaching Question
205
The Hostile Question
206
The Generic Question
208
The Nonquestion
208
Basic Techniques of Managing Questions
209
Basic Technique 1: Listen
209
Basic Technique 2: Coordinate
209
Basic Technique 3: Clarify
210
Basic Technique 4: Restate
210
Basic Technique 5: Answer
211
Working with Consultants
211
Follow Up Leads to Closeout
212
Summary
212
Contents
xiii
17
The Executive Connection
215
A Quick Definition
215
What They Think of You
216
Keep It Simple
216
Plan the Meeting
217
Setting the Stage
217
Following the Money
218
Determining the Goal of the Meeting
219
You Are the Expert
220
Execute the Meeting
220
Education Versus Selling
220
Presentation Ideas
221
Presentation Technique
222
Follow Up After the Meeting
223
Building a Relationship
223
A Rational Decision
223
The Informal Executive Connection
223
Summary
224
18
The Trusted Advisor
227
Bottom Line Upfront—The Impact of a Trusted Advisor (T/A) Program 227
Defining the T/A
228
Measuring Trust
230
The Built-In Advantage of the SE
231
Creating the Trust Scale
232
Calculating the T Score
233
Using Trust in the Sales Cycle
234
Summary
235
19
Doing the Math/Calculating ROI
237
Is This Really Your Job?
238
Doing the Math—Step by Step
238
Getting Started
238
Step 1: Estimate Total project Cost
239
Step 2: Estimate Cost Savings
239
Step 3: Estimate Additional Revenue and Margin
241
Step 4: Calculate ROI
242
Competing with ROI
243
xiv
Mastering Technical Sales:The Sales Engineer’s Handbook
Using ROI Analysis as a Closing Tool
243
Finding Basic Data to Fill the Model
244
Cite Your Sources
244
Advanced ROI Calculations
244
Summary
245
20
The “U” in Technical Sales
247
Me, Myself, and I
247
What Are Your Goals?
248
Your Personal Value Proposition: Self-Branding
249
Internal Branding
250
External Branding
250
Communicating Your Personal Value Proposition
250
Delivering on Your Value Proposition
251
Put Together the Plan
251
Put Your Plan Into Action
253
Career Progression and the PVP
253
Benchmarking
254
Ethics in Sales
254
Summary
256
21
Selling with Partners
257
Partnership Defined
257
Defining Account Ownership
258
Working the Relationship and Building the Infrastructure
261
Partner Enablement
264
Summary
265
22
Competitive Tactics
267
Identify the Competition
267
Your Number-One Competitor Isn’t Who You Think It Is
268
Develop a Competitive Strategy
269
Know Thine Enemy
271
The Art of Competitive Analysis
273
“Tell Me About Your Competition”
273
Product Benchmarks
275
Summary
276
