Strategic Selling
By Paul Neveu, SVP Sales and Marketing, BPAS
Partner Conference 2014
Partner Conference 2014
Opening thoughts
You walk into a presentation. Shake hands, smile at everyone, make eye
contract. Look around the room, get a feel for the players involved, and what
type of meeting they are looking for.
In the next hour, anything can happen. You might walk out frustrated and
exasperated. You might walk out thinking, “that was a decent meeting; now the
ball is in their court”. Or you might walk out knowing you won the business.
How you handle yourself, what happens in the meeting, and the way you
interact with decision makers drive everything.
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Partner Conference 2014
Opening thoughts
There is an art to selling – just like any performance in music, dance, or
theater. In sales, one quality hour can be more important than a week of
“normal work.” It’s where sales people make their living.
This presentation is a collection of observations from hundreds of sales
meetings. I hope you find some these insights helpful.
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Partner Conference 2014
A Look Back to 1995
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Internet was just taking hold
People had time for meetings
Formal presentations were the norm/expectation
Presenter talked for an hour, followed by Q&A
• Everyone was busy, but in a manageable way
• People were impressed by technology (e.g.,
daily valuations)
• There was time for a well informed vendor
selection process
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Partner Conference 2014
Today: the dynamics have changed
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Most people are stretched thin
Too many emails
Information overload
Prospect has a limited time
Can’t consider every issue during
the process
• Meetings become disjointed
• Impression is more lasting than
the information exchange
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Partner Conference 2014
Eight factors that drive wins
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Effective Listening
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Understanding
Personalities
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Balanced Presentation
of Capabilities
Building Trust & Rapport
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Partner Conference 2014
Eight factors that drive wins
Technical Interchange/
Solving Problems
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Quantifying Numbers
& Value Proposition
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Spontaneous
Interaction
Professionalism, Timing
& Follow-up
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Partner Conference 2014
Effective Listening
Take Notice:
• Who are the players?
• What role does each play in regards to the plan?
• Who are the dominant personalities? The deferential
personalities?
• Who will drive the decision?
• Which areas should I focus on in this meeting?
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Partner Conference 2014
Effective Listening
• Open ended questions are essential
• When you talk 90% of the time, you’re not going to win
• When dialogue is 50% /50%,
chances
of winning
triple!
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Partner Conference 2014
Take careful notes
(see handout)
• Plan assets,
participant count,
plan design and
features, payroll
configuration,
current provider
mix, etc.
Administrative issues
Needs Analysis
Effective Listening
Eligibility, loan
adjudication,
hardships and
distributions,
vesting, enrollment,
year-end process,
audit package and
support, testing,
recordkeeping or
administration, level
of QC review, RFP
issues
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Partner Conference 2014
Effective Listening
• Plan design opportunities
• Fiduciary issues:
― Fiduciary status of providers (non-fiduciary, 3(21),
3(38), etc.)
― Quality, frequency of education meetings
― One on one meetings
• Participant advice or education/guidance ?
• Current Configuration
― Issues, concerns, complaints
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Partner Conference 2014
Set your strategy / flow for the meeting
• “Rather than just give you a standard presentation, I
want to tailor this meeting to your actual needs and
concerns
• “Tell me about your plan, your recent experience,
and which topics you’d like me to touch on today?”
• Make sure you conduct a balanced meeting (e.g.,
don’t spending 90% of the time on investments)
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Partner Conference 2014
Balanced presentation of capabilities
A. We have the capabilities,
expertise and credentials to excel
at this engagement
B. We will be humble and
responsive to your needs (not
arrogant or condescending)
A
B
Said another way: We are big enough to handle your plan and
this relationship is important to us.
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Partner Conference 2014
Thoughts on the capabilities overview
• Is your firm a known quantity to the prospect or not?
• People want this section kept SHORT… they get
bored quickly
• Illustrations, visuals, list of household name clients,
figures to validate the size of your organization
• Don’t read bullets in the meeting…respect the
client’s intelligence
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Partner Conference 2014
Thoughts on the capabilities overview
• Your goal: “We know enough about you that we could
present you to our peers as the next provider.”
• Relevant references
– Everyone wants to believe there is something unique
about the way a DC plan works for a car dealership, or
a manufacturing company, or an accounting firm (their
industry)
– Be prepared to give references and cite other clients in
the same industry (BPAS references will always help)
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Partner Conference 2014
Building trust and rapport
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People buy from people that they LIKE
Show you are genuine; you have a life outside of work
Read people and the room
The chameleon beats the elephant every time
– Type of group: formal or informal; white collar, blue collar or a
mix?
– Observe how THEY act and communicate
– Observe the egos in the room; who likes to “call the shots”
– Dovetail with it
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Building trust
• Limitati
Be honest
ons
about
the
and
rapport
• Fees
product
an’ts
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(l
it
w up afterward with answers
eople are turned off by “stiff”
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Miscellaneous
Non-verbal cues
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Lack of eye contact
Some try to control, steer the meeting
Looking at watches, phone
Shuffling papers
Looks of interest or apathy
Who is willing to ask questions
Who offers limited information / plays a mean game of poker
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Partner Conference 2014
Miscellaneous
• Continuous eye contact
– Spread it around the room--treat all
players as equally important
• Use of industry terminology
– inevitable, but be smart about it
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Partner Conference 2014
Getting into your comfort zone
• Face-to-face meetings vs conference calls or webcasts
• Sales people, earlier in their career:
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Focus on delivering polished presentations
Make a “sales pitch”
Identify and overcome objections, advance the sale, etc.
Anxiety, nerves before meetings
Worry about knowing the answers
Worry about the flow, sequence and agenda of meetings
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Partner Conference 2014
Getting into your comfort zone
• Seasoned sales people (later in their career)
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Know the subject matter inside and out
Quiet confidence
Go in fresh, without rehearsal--go with the flow of the meeting
Leads to far better meetings because nerves don’t get in the way
Not intimidated by key decision makers or dominant
personalities
– Don’t over think it--go into the meeting and respond
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Partner Conference 2014
Technical interchange/solving problems
Tactfully educate the prospect during a meeting to
advance the sale
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Plan design
ERISA rules
Compliance testing
Investment matters
Industry statistics
• DOL or IRS rules
• Fiduciary considerations
• Types of fiduciaries and
what the status means
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Partner Conference 2014
Quantify numbers and value proposition
At the end of the day, decision makers need to be able
to say something like:
– We looked at four proposals. Cost ranged from 101 to 152 basis points;
each proposal had advantages. The proposal from _______ and BPAS
came in around 136 basis points. But, BPAS offers 3(38) fiduciary
services, strong participant education and a full-service plan
administrator to simplify and enhance our plan. It’s a good value for
reasonable fees, so we are making that recommendation. We also
know we could reduce total cost by 30 basis points if we go with the
lowest cost menu of funds.
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Partner Conference 2014
Quantify numbers and value proposition
• Your job is to help them arrive at these figures
– Vendor cost comparison matrix
– Mini RFP
– Joe Boyle’s presentation focused on this
• Best practice: Show what total cost would be for your
recommended menu as well as the lowest cost menu
– Cost of investments needs to be isolated to its own category to
avoid creating impressions which can cause us both to lose the bid.
Don’t “go down with the ship” over a particular investment menu.
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Partner Conference 2014
Points to ponder
• Having variation in investment menus among retirementplan clients is inevitable
• Remember, we are in this business for three reasons:
1. To do an outstanding job of servicing clients
2. To help participants be able to retire
3. To be profitable
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Partner Conference 2014
Points to ponder
• We appreciate it when our financial intermediary partners
have strong convictions about their investment menu.
• However, there will be certain plans where “breaking the
mold” is necessary
– Consider adding certain funds to your approved list (after review)
– Consider supporting certain funds on a “directed” basis, outside of
your fiduciary status
– Possible to handle certain funds through Schwab PCRA window
– Don’t forget the value of “true open architecture”
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Partner Conference 2014
Spontaneous interaction
• Encourage attendees to ask questions as they come up, not
wait until the end
• Continue to ask THEM questions during the meeting
– Have a list of questions in your folder to use throughout
• Short answers are essential
– People won’t remember your response or they think you’re
being evasive
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Partner Conference 2014
Spontaneous interaction
• Avoid long stretches where you’re the only person talking (more
than 3 minutes)
– The mind falls asleep when it hears the same voice for a continued
stretch of time
• Use actor techniques
– Alternate tone, speed, pitch and volume--use pauses, rising or falling
intonation
– Vary body position--standing, sitting, hand gestures, walking around
the room
– Mix it up, keep it fresh, keep people interested
– Practice! Video tape a presentation or meeting, review and critique it
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Partner Conference 2014
Urgency/Respect for time
• Acknowledge the common things in most
proposals so you don’t waste time on them (e.g.,
daily valuation and website access)
• Pay close attention to verbal and non-verbal cues
• More than an hour? Make sure they’re engaged,
not your hostages
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Partner Conference 2014
Urgency/Respect for time
• Wrapping up a meeting early will
score points
• What are your three lasting points?
• Don’t read bullets--respect their
intelligence
• Keep the meeting one of intellectual
engagement, not just a “presentation
of information”
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Partner Conference 2014
Professionalism, Timing and Follow-up
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Identify 2-3 items/questions for follow up
Respond to all parties with answers
Multiple emails are better than a single email
Send thank-you email after meeting
Ask for opportunities to provide web demo,
conference call, or other follow-up discussion
• Continual follow up, while respecting their process
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Partner Conference 2014
References Are Key
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Best way to advance a sale
Have an advance discussion
Select right personality
Cultivate relationship with references
Remember that BPAS has many
references who can be called upon as well
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Partner Conference 2014
Questions?
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Partner Conference 2014
Contact
Paul Neveu
Senior VP of Sales & Marketing
BPAS
[email protected]
603-580-5522
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