Robb Woolsey

By Robb Woolsey What Set's you Apart? reidhoffman - startup-of-you      

by Robb Woolsey How are customers supposed to choose between suppliers that they perceive to be more or less undifferentiated? Simple...They choose based on price! Do you find yourself or your reps, if you are a manager, constantly going back to price in order to win business? Or worse, you discover an issue and teach the customer how it can be done better. Then the customer puts out an RFQ on your solution, making you a free consultant. What do you as a company do better than anyone else? What are your "unique" strengths? In today's increasingly complex world of Solution Sales, most reps do as they have been taught. They follow the system of discovery. They teach their customers how they could do something differently, bring in an ROI model, achieve buy in from the customer for their solution, and attempt to close the sale. The Challenger Sale, Teaching for Differentiation Rule #1 - "Teach to Your Unique Strengths...

by Robb Woolsey I am a Challenger, now I am not saying that I am challenging, though my colleagues might disagree. I have used this process to be successful in my entrepreneurial ventures and my sales career. Challengers are the debaters on the team. They have a deep understanding of the customer’s business and use that understanding to push the customer’s thinking and teach them something new about how they can compete more effectively. They are not afraid to share their views, even when they are different and potentially controversial. Challengers are assertive and tend to press customers both on thinking and price. I am in the process of working through the book "The Challenger Sale Taking Control of the Conversation"; below is a quick summary. In a world of hesitant, risk-averse, empowered customers, where research and product is but a mouse click away, what sales approach consistently wins? To find out, CEB surveyed over 6000 sales reps across geographies and i...