4 Experience-Based Solution Selling Tips to Save Precious Time

If you really want to be a solution selling superstar, focus on the ideal target customers who are most likely to appreciate, value and buy what you sell. 

This is one of those sales situations where you need to “go slow” in order to “go fast.” The “go slow” part is defining your ideal target client, being clear about what differentiates you from the pack, and assessing each sales opportunity to gauge your chances of success before you pursue. You need to rate your customers in a way that helps you prioritize your selling time. When you can save the time you might have wasted on nonproductive opportunities, just think of using that time in the right place with the right customer at the right time.  Whether you rate your customers with a system of smiley faces, numbers from 1 to 3, or tier them by A, B, C, this process of defining your ideal customer is one of the best takeaways of solution selling training. It is a question of matching what you have to those who want it.  At LSA Global, we rate each opportunity in the areas of the client situation, resources, decision making process, presentation format, and solution fit.  This allows us to ensure that we are investing only in clients that fit what we do best and solutions that align with our brand promise.

Here is an approach you can take to save selling time and focus sales and marketing resources:

1. Begin by making 2 customer lists.
One with those customers who you just love because they needed your solutions, were ready to buy, have a similar philosophy and have been easy to work with. Then make a list of the customers you wish you had never signed up. You know, the ones where you and your customer struggle to make things work…from pricing to reaching satisfactory results in a way that makes sense. 

2. Then think about what your best customers have in common. 
It should be more than the likeable personalities of the buyers. You are really looking for ways to define their market niche in a way that corresponds with your differentiated offering. How big are they both in terms of number of employees and annual revenue? What industries do they represent? What stage of growth are they in? How mature are their organizations? How ready are they to listen? Are their problems similar? If so, in what way?

3. Then analyze your worst customers and add the opposite characteristics to your ideal profile. 
If, for instance, one worst customer is from a very large, well-known company and all they did was pressure you on price, you might be better off with smaller companies who don’t have the same leverage or different buyers who place a premium on the value you provide. Consider each example carefully though. Sometimes it is worth working with a company that has name recognition so you can add their logo to your customer list.

4. Distill the characteristics you have identified into the four or five most significant for your unique selling situation. 
An example of an ideal customer profile might read like this: The ideal target company is in the High Tech, Professional Services or Life Sciences field, small to mid-market (100-7500 employees; $100M-$5B revenue), US-Based, with the buyer being either at the VP-plus level or the combination of a business unit manager and HR/Training/Enablement director.

Now you’ve done your “go slow” homework. You can begin the “go fast” selling. You will be more efficient, more successful, your customers will be happier…and so will you.

Learn more at http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training/