Sales Unplugged: The Invaluable “Go-To Guide” for Busy B2B Salespeople

By Michael Walford-Grant

• Targets the millions of B2B salespeople worldwide, of which there are 2-3 million in the US alone
• Provides dip in/dip out support for the busy B2B salesperson keen to avoid making rookie errors
• Complements the range of specialist/one subject business resources 
• Features handy, easy-to-use sales strategies—all in one place!
• Appeals to readers of Mike Weinberg, Jill Konrath, Art Sobczak, and James Mui

• Language: English
• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Release date: Dec 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781636981857

Michael Walford-Grant

Sales professional Michael Walford-Grant has been selling B2B (business-to-business) for thirty years, for both small and large organizations. His main experience is with software companies, as well as banking and financial services. In 2020, he founded his own sales consultancy practice.  Michael has previously published two books, Rock and Pop Crosswords and Telly Teasers Crossword Puzzles with Associated Magazines, part of Mail Newspapers. His newest release, Sales Unplugged, is an essential guide for anyone seeking to improve their B2B selling strategies. He currently resides in London, England. 

Book preview

Preface

In February 2020, after more than thirty years working in sales for financial technology companies, I decided to start my own sales consultancy. I have always prided myself on my timing, but on this occasion, it escaped me. Within a month, we were all in lockdown here in the UK, and consumed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, tenacity and hard work have been the foundations of my long career, and I navigated my way through.

And now, here we are, in early 2023, living through an energy crisis, the Ukraine / Russia war one-year anniversary has just passed, there’s a cost of living crisis, spiraling inflation, a Brexit hangover, a new king on the throne following the seventy-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and a replacement prime minister for one who only lasted forty-four days, and had followed the deposed and disgraced Boris Johnson.

As Mark Twain said: Truth is stranger than fiction.

During some of my early assignments as a consultant, I produced best practice guides on a range of sales topics.

When putting them together, I worked through a dozen or more items I had collated over the years on the topic in question, and created a précis of what I considered were the best practices.

As I was doing them, three things struck me:

How much I do instinctively, without thinking.

There were valuable skills and techniques I had completely forgotten, or had never come across.

There are things I know, but don’t always do.

If only I had a dip in, dip out guide, that I could refer to, to remind me of the best practices and tips on any particular topic. For example, a contract negotiation, or a morning of lead generation activities. It got me thinking…there is the potential for a book here.

A book that would be extremely useful for me, and hundreds of thousands of salespeople around the world, who are either:

Overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information and materials available on any given topic,

Feeling stale in what they do,

Consumed by their role, and have failed to invest in themselves by keeping up to date with new research and new techniques, or

Less experienced, and still learning their trade.

The thought of compiling a book didn’t in any way faze me. During my 20s, when I was playing drums in rock bands, Boy George and Culture Club were shocking the public on Top of the Pops, and Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of England, I had compiled two books of specialist crosswords, both of which were published.

So the result of my endeavors is Sales Unplugged. Designed primarily for B2B salespeople, both experienced and those early in their careers, it is an easy to read, dip in / dip out, aide memoire of sales best practices.

Why is it necessary, and what are its values?

The main reason is this. Research confirms overwhelmingly that the single most important factor influencing the outcome of a sales process is the salesperson. How they perform, day in day out, is therefore critical to their success.

Before I embarked on the book, I wanted to check that the size of potential market was big enough to make commercial sense. I had no idea what size I thought it would be, but I must admit I was blown away when I discovered there are an estimated two to three million B2B salespeople in the United States alone. I couldn’t locate the global number.

So, drawn from a vast range of podcasts, webinars, books, blogs, and articles written by eminent experts, which I have consumed and saved over many years, the materials in the book are a stripped-down collection of curated best practices of what I consider are the necessary foundations and disciplines for consistent high performance.

To supplement these, in Part 2 of the book is Stories From the Front Line. This is a collection of stories, capturing a number of my experiences from the front line, ranging from the dramatic, to the funny, to the deeply personal. It includes winning deals, losing deals, people conflicts, being sacked, ambulances, terrorist attacks, the day Lehman Brothers went bust, and enduring a formal performance improvement process. It takes place in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Abu Dhabi, Vienna, Copenhagen, Dublin and of course my hometown, London.

And if there are a couple of conclusions I have been reminded of, both because of compiling the book and operating as a sales consultant, they are these:

Keep everything you do as simple as possible, and

Be proud of the sheer breadth of knowledge and skills you have acquired, to operate as a B2B salesperson.

Enjoy.

Sales Strategy & Planning

You have a new job or role. You have something to sell, maybe even a range of products and services. Your territory can potentially be segmented by type of company, which vertical industry they operate in, and whether they are large, medium, or small in size.

So which do you decide to prioritize and focus on, both in terms of the market segment and, if you have a choice, which product or service?

If the company has many existing clients and case studies, then analyze their characteristics, and draw out what, if any, constitutes An Ideal Customer; and then apply it to your role, and territory.

To further support this approach, below are the main types of considerations you will wish to consider, partly drawn from the best-selling author and speaker James Muir:

SEGMENT & PRODUCT/SERVICE COMBINED

Market share

Reference sites / proven examples

Competitiveness

Alignment with your sales targets, in terms of revenue, sales cycle, complexity of sale

Depth and quality of internal support

Alignment with your company’s strategy (i.e., will you readily get support internally)

SEGMENT

There is a compelling event that needs to be met, if so when / how soon

There are strong industry drivers for change

The segment does / does not have a culture of adopting the type of offering you have

The ability and willingness of the segment to invest

Size of the segment

If there is an option of countries, then each will need individual assessment based on many criteria such as language, culture, travelling, competitiveness and more

Is it a dynamic or static industry?

PRODUCT/SERVICE

The pricing of the product/service, which size of firms can afford this, and what is the size of your sales target

Does it effectively solve the customer’s problems?

Awards or endorsements from independent bodies

SUMMARY

The main ones to focus on:

The size and immediacy of the problem you are solving (Problem).

How proven your offering is in solving this problem (Leverage).

Does this approach provide a realistic and best chance of hitting and exceeding sales target (Realism)?

Apply discipline, and do not waste time on prospects that do not match the ideal customer profile. Qualify them quickly or they will consume time and in all likelihood will fail to result in a positive outcome.

IDEAL CUSTOMER

Building on the above themes, in effect what you need to do is list your best customers, and then ask:

What are their defining attributes?

What are the common factors between them?

An Ideal Customer will therefore consider all of the above, in addition to aspects such as:

Their reputation in the market / industry

Who / whether they are influenced by, for example a research analyst, incumbent supplier, external consultant, or third party

Attitude to risk

How easy it will be to do business with them

Which Role Do You Target?

You have decided on the market segment and the product or service to underpin the sales strategy. Who will you target in the prospect company? What role, and what level of seniority? These will be your main considerations:

Who are the decision-makers?

Who are the budget-holders?

Who are the likely influential people but with no decision-making roles?

Do you approach IT, business, or operations?

Who are the gatekeepers?

Who will benefit most in the organization?

Who is likely to be most receptive to your proposition?

Do you have any existing contacts that will help you decide and guide you?

What role and approach has worked effectively in similar organizations?

Who will be defensive and protective of the status quo because it is a potential threat to them?

Who will embrace the proposition, because it helps address a particular compelling event, business driver, or strategy?

Is it an immediate issue or one lurking around the corner?

Is your proposition leading-edge and pioneering or well-established in the market?

Who will you appear most credible to?

What level of seniority are you?

Do not assume that going in at a senior level and getting referred down is always the best approach. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t.

That said, if you go in too low, then it can sometimes be difficult to get it raised at the appropriate level to count.

CONSIDERATIONS: THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS

IT

If you have a solution that stands out because of its innovative technology, then IT groups may be a good target, but they rarely have a budget.

Sometimes they have enough influence to block initiatives or particular solutions, in favor of others. It depends on the particular culture of a firm and the strength of the individuals in senior positions.

If your solution is strong from a business point of view but has shortcomings in its technology, then you need to adopt a strategy that keeps IT out of the buying process for as long as possible, so a build-up of desire and momentum is created elsewhere in the organization.

STRATEGY

If, for example, you have researched the firm and you know there is a stated strategy to move in a particular direction and your product supports this need, then a strategy group or C level executive could be a good role to target.

Some strategy groups have a budget, some don’t.

Strategy is typically set and driven by senior executives.

THE BUSINESS

They may have a set plan or strategy they are pursuing, and will often be the budget-holders.

Addressing their needs and demonstrating how your solution can help them compete against their rivals, enter new markets, or drive up revenues, should be well received.

They will typically be the most influential group in an organization in terms of what projects happen and which don’t.

OPERATIONS

Typical areas of focus include cost of operation, process automation, and mitigating operational risk.

FINANCE

Anything that directly reduces costs, improves financial reporting and forecasting, and improves the balance sheet and the cost / income ratio of the company, will be of potential interest to this group.

SUMMARY

The main issues to focus on are:

Who will benefit most in the organization?

Who will be open to change?

Who is likely to be influential enough to be able to progress the opportunity internally?

For whom will it solve an immediate and compelling problem?

What has and hasn’t worked for your other clients?

Who holds the budget, or has direct access to it?

Prospecting

This topic embraces many aspects: the approach, calling the prospect, when to prospect, leaving a voicemail, sending an email, approaching via LinkedIn, and so on. There is a wealth of information available on this most challenging and multi-faceted topic, including books, blogs, webinars, and research using neuroscience.

The theme underpinning all of them is:

Prospecting is the most challenging aspect of a