Effective sellers know who influences and makes the final buying decisions. Engaging all stakeholders prevents surprises and stalled deals.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Understand the buying process and all stakeholders involved.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Map out influencers, approvers, and end users.</li></ul>

Identify and Engage All Decision-Makers

Great salespeople ask thoughtful, open-ended questions and listen deeply to uncover real needs. This consultative approach builds stronger solutions and trust.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Use open-ended questions, active listening, and deep discovery.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Focus on diagnosing before prescribing.</li></ul>

Master Consultative Conversations

Becoming a trusted advisor means offering insights and guidance even when you’re not selling. This long-term approach builds deep trust and loyalty.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Become indispensable by consistently helping customers make better decisions.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">This means guiding them even when you’re not selling anything.</li></ul>

Develop a Trusted Advisor Relationship

Customers care less about what you’re selling and more about what it helps them achieve. Shifting the conversation to outcomes moves the discussion from price to value.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Frame your solution in terms of the results it will deliver.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Customers care less about features and more about achieving goals.</li></ul>

Focus on Business Outcomes, Not Products

Bill Stinnett’s Think Like Your Customer teaches sales professionals, consultants, and entrepreneurs how to understand customers’ true needs, priorities, and decision-making processes. The core message is that successful selling comes from deep empathy and business acumen—seeing the world through the customer’s eyes and delivering value that aligns with their goals.

Overview

The most successful sales professionals are the ones who become invaluable resources to their customers.

Show customers the cost or risk of doing nothing to move them toward action. Helping them understand the downside of delay accelerates decision-making.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Help customers understand the cost of inaction.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Show the consequences of delay in clear, business terms.</li></ul>

Create a Sense of Urgency

Communicating in terms your customers care about (like outcomes and metrics) builds immediate credibility. Avoiding internal jargon helps ensure they understand and trust your message.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Use terminology and metrics that matter to them (like ROI, productivity, cost reduction).</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Avoid technical jargon that only makes sense inside your company.</li></ul>

Speak the Customer’s Language

Successful sellers learn what drives their customers’ profits, growth, and success. By focusing on business goals instead of just needs, you position yourself as a valuable partner.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Learn what drives profitability, growth, and success in your customer’s world.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Ask smart questions about their challenges and initiatives, not just about your product.</li></ul>

Understand the Customer’s Business Drivers

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Customers don’t buy products or services; they buy the outcomes they believe those products and services will deliver.

Put real numbers behind the benefits you provide to help customers justify their investment. Quantifying value strengthens your business case and reduces price resistance.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Put numbers to the business impact of your solution.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Help customers justify investment internally.</li></ul>

Quantify the Value You Deliver

Focus on the lifetime relationship, not just the one-time sale, by continually delivering value. Long-term clients are more profitable and more likely to refer others.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Focus on lifetime value, not just one-time transactions.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Cultivate relationships over time with consistent follow-up and value delivery.</li></ul>

Build Long-Term Customer Value

Tie your solution to the customer’s top business initiatives to increase its relevance and urgency. When you help advance their big goals, you become indispensable.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Link your solution to initiatives already on their radar.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Show how you help advance their big-picture goals.</li></ul>

Align with the Customer’s Strategic Priorities

This is one of my top five books on sales and business development. While this summary doesn't go into the specific tools, templates and frameworks of how to execute a large deal sale, the book does and worth reading directly applying the frameworks and tools.

How to capture customers by learning to think the way they do The most common complaint Bill Stinnett hears from his corporate clients is that would-be vendors and suppliers "just don't understand our business." In Think Like Your Customer, Stinnett explains why the key to landing corporate customers is to learn to think about the things executives and business owners think about and understand how they make complex buying decisions. Drawing upon his years of experience as a Fortune 500 consultant, he offers sales and marketing professionals a powerful framework for understanding the inner workings of a business; knowing what motivates its executives and influences their buying decisions; identifying a company's organizational structure and decision-making psychology; and using that information to develop a winning strategy for influencing how and why the customer buys. In addition, you receive: <ul><li>Solid marketing insights delivered in a fun, breezy style by a top corporate consultant and seminar leader</li> <li>Expert tips on how to maximize the value and profitability of relationships with corporate clients and customers</li> </ul>

BILL STINNETT

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SHAWN ACHOR

Start with the big picture

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