THE
NEW
STRATEGIC
SELLING
Notes and Review

Successful Selling In A
Chapter 1
World of Constant Change
Have you ever lost a “Sure Thing”?
(Ray vs. Greg)

Successful Selling In A
Chapter 1
World of Constant Change
“A Complex Sale is one in which a number of people
must give their approval or input before the buying
decision can be made.”
One or more of the following is in place:
• The buying organization has multiple options
• The selling organization has multiple options
• In both organizations, numerous levels of responsibility are
involved
• The buying organization’s decision making process is complex-
rarely apparent to an outsider

Successful Selling In A
Chapter 1
World of Constant Change
“The Only Constant is Change.”
Premise 1- Whatever got you to where you are today, is no longer
sufficient to keep you there.
Premise2- A good tactical plan is only as good as the strategy that
came before it.
Premise 3- You can succeed in today’s sales environment only if you
know what you’re doing and why.

Successful Selling In A
Chapter 1
World of Constant Change
Profile of the Strategic Professional.
They have a conscious, planned system that is visible, logical, and
repeatable.
They have a special brand of persistence. 80/10 and after 5.
They are never satisfied. The best always want to do better.

Successful Selling In A
Chapter 1
World of Constant Change
“It’s the way I go about it that makes me number one.”
How Strategic Selling Works.
Based on Applications not Gimmicks
Workshop Method

Strategy and Tactics
Chapter 2
Defined
Coaching in the NFL.
Tactics are your basics. Strategy is your game plan.

Strategy and Tactics
Chapter 2
Defined
Why You Need Strategy First.
“The object of a good sales strategy is to get yourself in the
right place with the right people at the right time.”

Strategy and Tactics
Chapter 2
Defined
Long Term Strategy: Focus on the Account.
“One of the hardest decisions any sales professional has to
make is the decision not to close a sale.”
Not all revenue is good revenue.

Strategy and Tactics
Chapter 2
Defined
Setting Account Strategy: Four Steps to Success.
1. Analyze your current position with your account and your
current sales objective.
2. Think through possible Alternate Positions.
3. Determine which Alternate Positions would best achieve your
objective and create an Action Plan to achieve it.
4. Implement your Action Plan.

Your Starting Point:
Chapter 3
Position
“Fully understanding your current position means knowing
who all your key players are, how they feel about you, how
they feel about your proposal, what questions they want to
have answered, and how they see your proposal vis a vis
their other options.”
You always have a position and therefore a strategy.
If you are unsure, then your position is “lost”.

Your Starting Point:
Chapter 3
Position
Personal Workshop 1: Position
Pick an Account, one where things are not all
roses, that you can utilize throughout the book.

Your Starting Point:
Chapter 3
Position
Step 1: Identify Relevant Changes
Write down changes that may affect your position and strategy.
Some may be general, like the economy, others specific like new
competition, new product offerings etc.
Rate them as sudden events, gradual erosion, or a result of
continuous growth.

Your Starting Point:
Chapter 3
Position
Step 2: Rate These Changes as Threats or
Opportunities
There is no right or wrong, analyze each one as it may pertain to
your business.
Some may be both.

Your Starting Point:
Chapter 3
Position
Step 3: Define Your Current Single Sales Objective
This Objective must
1. Be Specific and Measurable.
2. Be Tied to a Timeline.
3. Focus on a Specific Outcome in a Specific Account.
4. Be single rather than multiple (no “ands”).

Your Starting Point:
Chapter 3
Position
Step 4: Test Your Current Position
“How do I feel right now about closing this piece of
business?
The Euphoria-Panic Continuum.

Your Starting Point:
Chapter 3
Position
Step 5: Examine Alternate Positions
“Once you know where you are, you next want to
know where to go.”
If you are on the right side, you need to consider positions that will
reduce anxiety.
If you are on the left side you need to consider options that ensure
continued success.
Consider changes and ask which ones would make you feel better
about your position, then create a plan to bring that about.

The Six Key Elements of
Chapter 4
Strategic Selling
Key Element 1: Buying Influences
Economic Buyer- Gives final approval, is a single person or group, can say “yes” when
other say “no”, and can veto other buyers approval.
User Buyer- Use the product and their success is tied to it, make judgments about
impact, there may be several in a sale.
Technical Buyer- Screens out options. They focus on the product and service, can’t give
final yes, but often give a final “no”. Again, there may be several in a given sale.
Coach- Helps you navigate the buying organization and identify other buying influences.
May work for buying organization, your organization, or neither.

The Six Key Elements of
Chapter 4
Strategic Selling
Key Element 2: Red Flags/Leverage from Strength
Identify missing pieces of information as potential Red Flags.
Devise Plan to Leverage from existing Strengths to eliminate these Red Flags and move
toward your sales objective.

The Six Key Elements of
Chapter 4
Strategic Selling
Key Element 3: Response Modes
Determined by Buyer’s perception of their current situation, how they view your proposal
in respect to changing that situation and whether they believe it will close the gap
between that perceived current position and the one they wish to attain.
The 4 Modes are:
Growth
Trouble
Even Keel
Overconfident

The Six Key Elements of
Chapter 4
Strategic Selling
Key Element 4: Win Results
“Managing a sale to Win-Win must meet both a
Corporate Result, and a Personal Win for each buying
influence.”
The 4 Potential Outcomes are:
Win-Win
Win-Lose
Lose-Win
Lose-Lose

The Six Key Elements of
Chapter 4
Strategic Selling
Key Element 5: The Ideal Customer Profile
“Every sales representative you know, no matter how
successful, has up to 35 percent poor prospects working
at any given moment-that will be impossible to close, or
if they’re closed, will eventually become liabilities.”
Use attributes or current and past good customers to create a profile to
test your current and future prospects against.

The Six Key Elements of
Chapter 4
Strategic Selling
Key Element 6: The Sales Funnel
“The Sales Funnel enables you to use your most
precious commodity, your selling time, in the wisest and
most efficient manner possible.”
There are 4 types of selling work and the funnel helps you prioritize that
work both in order and in time allocated to each type to close more sales
and minimize the Roller Coaster effect.

Key Element 2: Red Flags
Chapter 6
Leverage from Strength
“The people who regularly pull down 200 or 300
percent of their quotas, are those who find the most
Red Flags in their accounts.”
Automatic Red Flags
Critical information missing
Uncertainty about information
Any uncontacted Buying Influence
Buying Influence(s) new to the job
Reorganization

Key Element 2: Red Flags
Chapter 6
Leverage from Strength
“Leverage from Strength can be considered the better
half of the Red Flag technique.”
Strengths
Areas of Differentiation (perspective)
Improves your current position
Must be relevant to this sales objective

Key Element 2: Red Flags
Chapter 6
Leverage from Strength
Eliminating Red Flags
Don’t
Hammer Away
or
Ignore the Roadblock
Do
Leverage from Strength
“Look for a place to put your Fulcrum.”

Key Element 2: Red Flags
Chapter 6
Leverage from Strength
Personal Workshop
Take your chosen account and identify Red Flags and areas of Strength.
Revise your Alternate Positions list using this new information
Create an Action Plan to Leverage Strength or Eliminate Red Flags to get
closer to reaching the Sales Objective