From the category archives:

Financial Acumen

7 Ways to Measure Business Performance

December 22, 2011

Seasoned sellers appreciate that customers may measure business performance any number of ways.  They also invest time to employ the most favorable metrics on individual accounts or deals. Here are 7 approaches that illustrate the breadth of this critical function:
1. Bottom line, top line. Many people believe business performance is all about the [...]

ROI: Using Assumptions and Estimates

June 9, 2011

Presenting ROI to executives and business decision-makers can challenge sales professionals as much as any part of the job.
Why?
Common reasons we see are sellers:

Mistakenly presenting Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) numbers – which don’t recognize the required investment; only cost reduction.
Neglecting to take the customer‘s hurdle rate into consideration.
Relying on an [...]

How to Use Hurdle Rates to Win More Deals

October 16, 2009

Want to win more deals? Don’t we all? Obtaining and leveraging your customer’s Hurdle Rate can be a very effective strategy to win deals or to save a deal you thought you lost.
Here are two sales techniques to apply to your own portfolio:
1. To accelerate commitment ahead of schedule
When you reach the point in the [...]

Crack the Credibility Code Using Industry-Specific Metrics

August 18, 2009

To be successful in executive selling, you’ll have to make yourself, your company and your solution stand out. Not easy! Here, we tell you how to crack the credibility code using industry specific metrics.
If you want to create differentiation and gain credibility, you must quantify your solution’s impact using metrics that are meaningful to customer [...]

It’s Payback Time: The Ideal Means to Move Deals Forward

July 23, 2009

You’re in a sales call with a customer executive. They’re showing signs of interest: nodding their head, hanging on every word, taking notes. Now, what’s the best next step to move the deal forward? Short answer: the simple Payback. It’s the logical way to secure executive-level sponsorship for investing in your solutions.
Why Payback is [...]

info@conversation.com | Privacy Statement | © 1990-2009 Executive Conversation All rights reserved.