Why am I a believer in deep sales?
One reason – it got me out of embarrassing myself at golf, over my fear of heights, and into millions of dollars of business with a great client.
Let me explain.
How deep sales got me out of embarrassing myself in golf and into millions of dollars of business.
Many years ago, my boss asked me to take some people golfing. They were contacts at one of our biggest clients, a large healthcare provider, and they loved the sport. The thought was, if I took them to play, I’d build a better relationship with them and expand their investment.
The problem?
First, everyone took them golfing, so it was hardly unique. More pressing, I played golf, but not particularly well.
And I don’t think anyone was going to have fun spending 5 sun-drenched hours watching me shoot 150.
But that’s where inspiration struck. I’ve always believed in going deep with my clients, i.e. prioritizing research about them to the point I immerse myself in their world. I, of course, did it with these clients, and remembered a suddenly-invaluable piece of insight about them –
One of them was a professional rock climber. Forget golf, I said. We’re going indoor rock climbing!
How did it go? Amazing. Most of us learned a new skill. Some of us got over a fear of heights (myself included). And all of us bonded, leading to a deeper relationship than golf ever could.
Of course, one rock climbing trip a deal doesn’t make. We also went deep and wide into the relationship to maximize the impact of our partnership.
How? These three steps:
- We made the one-on-one connection first, by really understanding the customers’ needs and wants.
- We went deep into one department, connecting with every team member, and then broadening our connections with another department.
- We then broadened the impact of connected teams across the organization, reaching top-level executives.
That’s precisely how I see the ‘deep sales’ phenomenon that has picked up so much steam lately. Among the first ones who discussed ‘deep sales’ online was author and Inc. Columnist Samuel B. Bacharach, who defined it as:
“… a deep partnership in which you and your customer co-define the challenge, partner for innovation, and pursue the solutions that serve the customer needs. This ‘deep selling’ requires a deep sense of empathy. You need the ability to understand not only the needs, but the wants and aspirations of the other party.”
LinkedIn recently introduced the world’s first deep sales platform, a technology tool that aims to close the buyer-seller gap with high-quality data-generating dynamic insights that empower sales teams to take the right actions and have better outcomes. And I couldn’t be more excited.
Is sales in trouble? I don’t think so – it just needs a new perspective.
Some say sales is in trouble. But I don’t think that’s true. It simply needs a fresh perspective that goes deeper into business relationships.
The rules have changed, and sales professionals must learn new moves.
Like how to gain customers’ trust and sell in a predominantly virtual environment. Or how to develop a strong presence on LinkedIn (I’ve written about my experience: I was an ‘invisible woman’ three years ago, and now I’m a LinkedIn Sales [In]sider — all thanks to the consistent use of this platform). Or how to implement a proper buyer-first approach based on listening and built on empathy.
Deep sales is the answer to those challenges because it’s rooted in authentic human connections. And that never goes out of style.
