To better understand the kind of complex sales your company is practising and see if the stuff on this site is suitable for your business, just go through this table and answer the questions. This site is dedicated to complex, high-ticket sales.
In the third column mark simple sales with "S" and complex sales with "C".
| Simple commodity Sales | Complex Premium Sales | S/C |
|---|---|---|
| Simple product or service-perceived as a commodity by the buyer | Complex, sophisticated product or service, perceived as a unique solution by the buyer | __ |
| Interaction between one buyer and one seller | Interaction between a buying team and a selling team | __ |
| Prospect => Present => Overcome objection => Close, close close | Educate => Diagnose => Decide[1] | __ |
| Impulse purchase | Considered purchase | __ |
| Selling is done by individually operating salespeople | Selling is done by cohesive teams of technical and business development people | __ |
| One, maybe two sales calls, maybe even tele-selling, before closing the sale | Several diagnostic, design and development conversations between buyer's and seller's staff, involving people from several areas of both companies | __ |
| The seller offers ready-made off-the-shelf solutions | The buyer and the seller work collaboratively to design and deploy the best solution | __ |
| One single decision-maker | Several decision makers both on the buyer's and the seller's side | __ |
| Low-risk decision for the buyer. Purchasing error makes a low impact on buyer's company | High-risk decision for the buyer. A purchasing error could adversely affect the buyer's company and /or the decision-maker's career | __ |
| The relationship is trivial. The buyer perceives the seller as a fungible vendor | The relationship is vital. The buyer perceives the seller as a collaborator, a recognised expert and a fiduciary | __ |
| Acquired through competitive bidding to push prices down | Acquired through trusting relationships which take time to achieve | __ |
| The buyer perceives products or services as almost identical for all vendors | The buyer perceives quality based upon the seller's characteristics, reputation, and culture of the seller's organisation | __ |
| Application requires a straightforward installation | Application requires a complex implementation. The buyer requires extensive help, support and guidance from the seller | __ |
| Selling is based on techniques: Pitching, objection handling, closing, etc | Value-based selling, based on a joint decision-making process as to whether or not to buy and change the current situation | __ |
| Seller presents the investment to the buyer in a simple price quote | Seller and buyer go through a detailed situation diagnosis and ROI analysis, and then jointly decide how much it makes sense to invest in the light of the expected ROI | __ |
| Low price and quick availability are important for the buyer | High ROI and high quality are important for the buyer | __ |
Now count your marks in the third column. Do you have more "Ss" or more "Cs"?
If, after completing the exercise, you've gained more "C", that is, your company does complex premium sales, then reading the stuff on this website can help you to improve your business development. And here you may find the answers to some of your pressing questions on marketing an selling your stuff.
If you have more in marks in the "S" column, then the stuff on this site may not be for you or may be able to help you to move into the "C" area of selling your stuff as premium.
Remember, the way you market and sell your stuff is up top you. Your market perceives your merchandise, that is, whether you sell a commodity or something unique, based upon the way you're marketing and selling it. That's why the PC is a commodity but the Apple is not. Chevrolet is a commodity but BMW is not. Timex is a commodity, but Rolex is not.
You must be careful here because it's you, the seller who creates the perception of your stuff. If you market and sell it as a commodity, the market has no option but to perceive it as a commodity. And in my experience, once a commodity, almost always a commodity. So, at the end of the day, it's not WHAT you sell but HOW you sell it that counts.
And this selling process creates the perception. Just do a Google search on "Branding sand", and after picking up your dropped jaw, see the possibilities for yourself and where it could take your company. And let me know if you need some help.
[1] Educating buyer about new possibilities => Diagnosing the buyer's status quo and quantifying the problem and the possible improvement => Deciding whether or not buyer and seller want to work together. Continue where you've left off...