General review about "Solution Selling", the premium book that Michael Bosworth launched in 1995.

We will explain: the conceptual framework proposed to start Advisory Sales Processes of Services and Products Software, the sense of comprehensive Commercial focus, Needs and Phases of the Buyer, and a number of useful strategies to help during the sale cycle.

Michael Bosworth proposes to begin the Sale Process by defining some Strategies that build the Vision of Pain based on Customer Needs.

Conceptual Foundations

The following describes the conceptual foundations.

  • Needs.
    • Latent. Potential Need. The Customer does not seek solution because he does not perceive pain.
    • Pain. The Customer acknowledges the Pain and he is looking for a solution because he does not know how to solve it.
    • Vision. The Customer suffers pain and has a vision of how to solve it. It's necessary to rebuild the vision and add value.
  • Pain. It's the way of measuring the negative impact that the need does to the Customer.
  • Customer Phases in the Cycle of Sale.
    • Definition of needs.
    • Validate Alternatives.
    • Validate Risks and Proceed.

The 10 Steps of Pain

  1. Deprioritization (loss of "mindshare").
  2. When the buyer knows the needs of the Seller.
  3. First Contact.
  4. Access to the final decider.
  5. Product viewed as Commodity.
  6. Process with "Marked Cards".
  7. Friendly Buyer.
  8. Buyer changes his mind during the final stretch.
  9. Defining an appointment by Phone.
  10. The Buyer is a professional negotiator (he ignores the committee to negotiate).

Strategies

  1. Preparing the approach according with the Buyer phase.
  2. Adapting our vocabulary. Manage the Features, Advantages and Benefits of what we have to offer according on whom we are dealing. We have to speak in the same language with the Customer.
  3. Reengineering the Vision. When the customer has his own vision, we must rebuild.
  4. Having support tools when we start a relation: References, sheet of pains, opening speech (no more than 20 seconds).
  5. Follow the Customer Concerns: Need, Solution, Price and Risks Implementation.
  6. We must be strategically aligned with the Buyer throughout the entire sales process.
  7. Develop the Vision of the Buyer with value proposition.
  8. Lead the process of purchase, not the Buyer.
  9. Set the Limit Price of Negotation.
  10. Defining and mapping the Pipeline stages in a CRM. As we work in pains, we have to do in the remedies too.

Finally, I want to thank Adriano Brero Lopes and Ricardo Dalprá, personal friends and consultants of "Sucesso em Vendas" (Brazil). They supported me during my initiation to "Solution Selling" sharing their experiences and providing me the conceptual foundations for developing the exposed material.

¡Thank you very much!

Source: www.sucessoemvendas.com, Solution Selling (Michael Bosworth)