1: A 5,000 percent return.
“A few years back, we did a survey of some of our top clients to see what type of return on investment (ROI) they were getting from working with us,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their excellent book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
The results were impressive.
“The ROI was 5,000 percent,” the authors report. “That’s not a typo.”
Super exciting. … continue reading
1: “Think about a typical medical-surgical nursing unit,” the Omnicell sales professional says to his prospective client, a major hospital system, Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their terrific book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
Omnicell helps health-care facilities manage and distribute medications and supplies more efficiently.
“Pretend for the time being that you’re in California and that your nurses only have five patients to care for,” … continue reading
1: Guess what percentage of information people could remember 72 hours after hearing a verbal message.
10 percent.
Ouch.
Guess what percentage they could recall if you added a picture?
65 percent.
Wowza.
Another study showed that people could remember 2,500 pictures with more than 90 percent accuracy several days after seeing them.
Guess how long they were shown each picture.
Just 10 seconds.
“That’s incredible,” Erik Peterson and Tim … continue reading
1: The retired chief of staff at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles was on a cruise in the South Seas.
“He noticed something surprising during the trip,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their terrific book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
Every time passengers left the boat to visit a port, the crew made sure everyone washed their hands with antibacterial soap before coming back on board.… continue reading
First, picture an apple.
Easy to do.
Why?
“Because you’ve experienced apples with your senses,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
“You’ve probably done some combination of touching, tasting, seeing, and smelling an apple,” Erik and Tim note.
“You’ve even heard the crunching sound that an apple makes when you bite into it.”
An apple is concrete because you’ve … continue reading
1: The competition to host the 2016 Summer Olympics was down to the final four cities: Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro.
How much was winning the games worth, according to a Credit Suisse study?
The answer: ten billion dollars.
“Three of the cities had reason to be optimistic,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
“Chicago had President Obama … continue reading
1: The salesperson rips a piece of paper out of a notebook.
The piece of paper is the prop, Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their powerful book, Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
The sales rep says: “Imagine that this piece of paper represents all the information that your salespeople need to communicate to their prospects about your company.
“The question is, how much of that information … continue reading
1: What’s the difference between a fact and a story?
A fact is, “The queen died and the king died,” Dan Pink writes in his book A Whole New Mind.
A story is, “The queen died and the king died of a broken heart.”
This week, we’ve been exploring the power of telling customer stories with contrast. Now, take a closer look at what makes these stories compelling.… continue reading
1: “Picture a room with about 10 people from Ford sitting around a table,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
In front of the room, a salesperson stands with two flip charts.
“After several months of unsuccessfully trying to sell a laser device to Ford’s plant managers, this salesperson knew that she needed to change her approach,” Erik and Tim … continue reading
1: Sure. Not getting and keeping your prospect’s attention is a deal killer.
But there’s something worse.
Denial.
“Your prospect’s denial that they have a problem that needs solving in the first place,” Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer write in their book Conversations That Win the Complex Sale.
“All other challenges pale in comparison to this one,” the authors say.
When you are able to solve a problem the … continue reading
