What Slew Winners Do Differently

WHAT SALES

WINNERS DO

DIFFERENTLY

by Mike Schultz & John Doerr

The surprising differences between sellers who win

the sale and the second-place finishers.

What Sales Winners Do Differently

Report Summary

Standard solution sales methods aren’t working like they used to. Indeed, several prominent sources have pronounced that the era of solution

sales has ended. We wanted to know 1) is this true and 2) if so, what’s working now instead. To find out, we studied what the winners of more

than 700 actual B-to-B sales opportunities (from buyers responsible for $3.1 billion in annual purchases) are doing to win the sale, and what they

do differently than the sellers who come in second place.

We found:

First, solution sales is not, in fact, dead. It is still necessary, but no longer sufficient on its own. While fundamental changes to core concepts are

needed, sellers and companies that dismiss solution sales outright place their sales success in grave danger.

Second, winners don’t just sell differently, they sell radically differently than the sellers who come in second place. And the winners sell

differently in both surprising and fascinating ways.

Third, we compared our research to other popular research in the field of selling, such as The Challenger Sale. On perhaps some of the most

important points, our research revealed opposite results. Thus, our advice is, in many ways, quite different.

Finally, we’ve outlined a model throughout this report that sellers and organizations can follow to sell like the winners.

The surprising differences between sellers who win the sale and the second-place finishers.

Sellers Who Win Consistently Demonstrate Behaviors on Three Levels

Key Insights

MAJOR POINTS INSIGHTS

LEVEL 3

Collaborate

Sellers who win:

+ Collaborate with buyers by being proactive and responsive

+ Collaborate with buyers to educate them with new ideas

and perspectives and bring value to the table themselves

In Level 3, sellers drive demand, create their own opportunities,

and become essential to the buyer. Through collaboration the

buyer becomes a partner in the process, and owns moving the

sale forward as much as the seller.

LEVEL 2

Convince

+ Persuade buyers they will achieve worthwhile results

+ Minimize the perception of risk by demonstrating

experience, building trust, and inspiring confidence

+ Persuade buyers they are the best choice

Level 2 minimizes losing to “no decision” and maximizes

competitive wins.

LEVEL 1

Connect

+ Connect the dots: they understand buyers’ needs and craft

compelling solutions

+ Connect with people: they listen to buyers and connect

with them personally

Solution sales is not dead, but it needs to change

fundamentally; it’s no longer enough. Level 1 is simply the price

of entry.

+ Fundamental changes to the solution sales premise include

focusing on aspirations and goals, as well as afflictions and pain.

Diagnosis of need is not as important anymore, but demonstrating

understanding of need is.

+ Minimizing risk has risen greatly in importance and must become a

core part of sales conversations.

+ Sellers who get to Level 3 not only win sales, but also tend to

outperform sellers who don’t because they are able to inspire

buyers, create their own opportunities, and drive their own demand.

+ Organizations that adopt sales approaches that encourage concepts

of challenging and provoking customers—while at the same

time discouraging solution sales approaches and dismissing

the importance of building relationships—place their ongoing

sales success at grave risk.

+ Sellers who connect, convince, and collaborate, and follow the advice

outlined in this report, will not only win the current sale, but will also

put themselves in an even better position to win future sales

through repeat purchases (loyalty) and increased referrals.

Introducing the Three Levels of RAIN SellingSM

© RAIN Group | RAINGroup.com | 1

The New Revolution in Selling

From the late 1970s through the early 2000s,

not much changed in the world of sales

methodologies. Sellers could study and learn

consultative and solution sales approaches,

apply them well, and consistently produce

excellent results.

Not anymore.

Driven by the Internet, the commoditization

of many products and services, the aftermath

of the Great Recession, and the radical

intensification of competition in many

industries, buying has changed. It’s no surprise,

then, that standard solution sales concepts

aren’t working like they used to. In fact, a recent

article in the Harvard Business Review titled

“The End of Solution Sales,” ostensibly signaled

the end of an era.

Yet while many sellers struggle and lose,

others are winning sales, and winning them

consistently. So we posed the question: What

are the winners of actual sales opportunities

doing differently than the sellers who come in

second place?

To find the answer, we began studying

individual purchases in industries with complex

sales, such as technology, consulting and

professional services, financial services, and

industrial products. The results of this study

focus on more than 700 B-to-B purchases made

by a broad sample of buyers. In aggregate,

these buyers were responsible for $3.1 billion in

annual purchases.

Here’s what we found:

1. Winners sell radically differently than the

second-place finishers. In many ways,

what sales winners do differently is both

surprising and fascinating.

2. There’s a specific combination of behaviors

that sales winners do and outcomes they

achieve that the second-place finishers don’t.

3. Several key factors that set winners apart

are rarely discussed in the world of selling.

They now demand attention.

4. Solution selling is definitely not dead, but

fundamental solution sales concepts need

re-imagination and relabeling. And while

solution sales concepts are necessary,

they’re no longer sufficient to win sales.

Before we share the specifics, it’s important

to note we did not have preferences for what

the results would show. Our intent was to find

out what’s really going on and proceed from

there. We expected the results would influence

our thinking, our sales consulting, and our

sales training process and programs, requiring

updates and changes. And, indeed, this is the case.

We found three levels of selling behaviors and

outcomes that set winners apart from secondplace

finishers.

Level 1 is Connect. Winners connect the dots

between customer needs and their company’s

products and services as solutions more often

than the second-place finishers. Winners also

connect with people. They’re perceived to listen

and connect personally with buyers more often.

Connecting with people and connecting

the dots—sounds a lot like relationship and

solution sales to us. On its own, connecting

used to be the crux of winning sales. Now it’s

the price of entry. Sellers who stop at Level 1 do

What Sales

Winners Do

Differently

by Mike Schultz & John Doerr

Winners sell

radically

differently than

the second-place

finishers. In

many ways, what

sales winners do

differently is both

surprising and

fascinating.

© RAIN Group | RAINGroup.com | 2

What Sales Winners Do Differently

not find themselves in the winner’s circle nearly

as often anymore.

While the popular thinking on the concepts

needs to change in fundamental ways,

relationship and solution sales are far from dead.

Level 2 is Convince. Winners convince buyers

that they can achieve maximum return, that the

risks are minimal, and that the seller is the best

choice among all options.

Level 3 is Collaborate. Winners collaborate

through behavior—they are perceived to be

responsive, proactive, and easy to buy from

(collaborative in how they work). At the same

time, it’s not just how the seller interacts; it’s

what they do. Buyers believe that the winners

actually collaborate with them during their

buying process (collaboration in the sense of

working with the buyer to achieve a mutual

goal). Indeed, the buyers perceived these sellers

to be integral to their success.

Research from the Buyer

Perspective

One of the interesting things about reading

sales books and articles is that the advice often

makes sense on its face, even to us after 50

collective years following the sales training

world. While, with a few exceptions, most

selling methods sound fine,

...