Finding and Building More “Demand Creators” – Bill Kaack, Vice President, Sales/Marketing, Wolters Kluwer

Better Research Leads to More Compelling Solutions

Selling has evolved over the decades. Prior to the ’80s, salespeople were taught elaborate sales pitches, patterned presentations and rehearsed responses to objections.  Then, modern consultative selling really caught on in the ’80s that was focused more on questions to find needs you could focus your presentation on and around 2010, more assertive “Challenger” or insight-led selling approaches became more popular. 

Now, with the modern internet and easy availability of information about companies, products, and services, we are in an era where the  best salespeople are learning more about prospects and customers BEFORE they meet with them than ever before, as Bill explains,

“Those that are doing the best are some of the brightest and actually take the time to do both research on the client side as well as really understand our solutions so that they can understand where the fit is.”

A lot of buyers have told us how frustrating they find it when a salesperson walks into their office and asks the most basic questions, trying to understand their company when that information could easily have been found prior to the meeting. Several buyers have told us they are suffering from “discovery fatigue” and just can’t put up with salespeople that don’t do their homework before the meeting.  Bill explains,

“There’s only so much time that a client is going to give you to learn about their business and they’re not going to give you any time to learn things that you could have found out somewhere else before you meet.” 

Because decision-makers have less time to spend with sellers it’s important to maximize every minute you get in face-to-face or voice-to-voice interactions as Bill explains,

“You don’t have as much time as you did in the past to be able to establish yourself as a credible source or resource.” 

Differentiate Yourself By Setting an Example

Bill shared some fascinating ideas that relate to how top performers demonstrate their competence and competitive advantages:

• I firmly believe that how you do what you do is as important, if not more important, than what you do as a business, because I do think that in front of the client, how you do what you do matters.  The way we make a difference is to be able to do what we do better than anybody else does.
• A lot of success has to do with how sellers present themselves in front of the client; their preparation, their listening skills, and EQ skills. 
• Great execution requires disciplined balance. It’s the preparation and the research that you’ve already done. It’s what you choose to expose upfront and what you choose to wait and expose in the conversation. 

We need to remember, the buyer is paying attention not just to what we say and what we present, but to how we carry ourselves, our preparation, our follow-up and ability to deliver on promises, on time, all the time.

Invest in the Team, Invest in the Culture

Every sales organization has a culture and ideally, that culture attracts, builds and sustains top performers and repels poor performers quickly. How sales leaders react to their team members defines the culture as Bill points out,

“So if you praise people all day, it’s a praising culture. If you punish people all day, it’s a punishing culture. It’s purely behavioral. I always loved that description because culture is defined by what we do, and what we do becomes our culture.”

Bill gave us five really good ideas on how sales leaders can  build a stronger, more productive sales culture to attract, build, and retain more of those demand creators that can take performance to the next level:

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