I am a great fan of Tony Parinello, and specifically his book ‘Selling to VITO’ The very important top officer. He is compelling and I have used his simple, powerful processes for getting to top decision makers for many years. He cuts to the chase, as in this outstanding example…
This is based on some outstanding questions and I firmly believe that the quality of the question determines the quality of the outcome – always. Whilst supporting a salesperson client recently I came across this 86 second video gem by Tony Parinello on smart questions to ask key decision makers to maximise your time with them. Hit the link and build these questions into your approach – whatever sales process you are using right now and do let me know what you think.
If you want to create more time to sell, and want to maximise the effectiveness of your selling time within your demanding days call me on +44 (0) 1428 607763 or get in touch, I know that together we will produce results worth talking about.
Great question Mark – and vitally important, especially in a consultative sales mode. Vision is powerful driver – and words are more important than most people think they are. That’s why is it always a good idea to get a sense of how a prospective client ‘sees’ their business in their words.
The Parinello piece is really about grabbing attention very quickly and purposefully, so we can get to a ‘Go’ / ‘No go’ point relatively quickly. His book ‘Selling to VITO’ is well worth a read!
Richard
Interesting stuff Richard. I am no salesman, but as a consultant I would often ask CxOs as an opening question “What business are you in?” I would frequently get remarkable and unexpected answers that reflected the way they would like the business to go in the future as opposed to our external view of that business and its past successes. Armed with that information I was much better placed to align my solutions to the CxOs wants.