Dan Kreutzer Wants You to be a Sales Samurai!

According to sales coach Dan Kreutzer, the Art of Samurai is the focus on human behavior and the emotional and intellectual process a decision maker goes through when making a high-impact decision. And what better example of high-impaction decisions do you need than the skill of selling? Kreutzer tells SalesPop all about his martial-art philosophy in the world of sales, and the single biggest factor in closing a deal, Samurai-style.

SalesPop: Tell us about the biggest deal you closed, and why the Art of Samurai was involved:
Dan Kreutzer: The biggest deal I closed was a $17M contract with a federal agency. 
The procurement process of the federal government is designed to keep vendors at arm’s length and to award business to the lowest bidder.  The objective is to make every decision based on price.  I followed the prescribed process, but in addition, I focused on connecting with the decision-makers at the human level.  I was able to determine what the personal impact (compelling reason) of the success of the project was for each of them, and wrote our RFP response with these specific issues in mind.  I took great lengths to ensure that each individual’s compelling reasons were addressed in our response.

The result was that we were awarded the contract even though we were 7% higher than the lowest bidder.

SP: Tell us about the one that got away:
DK: The biggest deal that got away was a $7M project that was, by almost every measure, a perfect fit for us.  Everything they needed lined up with our solutions so well that it seemed that they developed their requirements by looking at our specifications.  We concentrated on the solution features and how well they addressed their requirements.  We were confident that the solution was a perfect fit.

Unfortunately, a funny thing happened on our way to the bank: they put the project on hold.  We never got concrete answers when we asked why, only vague statements about needing to review their requirements.  The company never did move forward with the project.

Had we been utilizing Samurai thinking, we would have focused on the meaning and personal impact (compelling reasons) the project would have on the decision makers.  Whenever the compelling reasons aren’t great enough to overcome the risk associated with the decision, or the decision makers have not connected the dots between fulfilling their compelling reasons and the decision; the decision is always “do nothing”.  So, that’s what happened.

SP: What is the biggest (or a few of the biggest) reasons why deals don't get closed in the end?
DK: The biggest reason is that the decision maker does not perceive that the decision will be in their best interests.  We all make decisions based on our perceived self-interests.  We call these perceived self-interests “compelling reasons.”  So, if the compelling reasons don’t compensate me for the personal risk I am assuming by making this decision, I will opt for the status quo: doing nothing.

The second biggest reason deals don’t get closed is that the decision maker isn’t sure that they can trust the sales person to deliver what they say they’ll deliver.  The greater the personal impact to the decision maker, the more he will have to be certain that he can depend on (aka, trust) the sales person to not leave him in a failed situation.

SP: What is the singular thing a sales rep who is about to close a deal can do, in order to close the deal?
DK: The most important thing a salesperson can do to close a sale is to make sure that the decision maker identifies the compelling reasons associated with the decision, understands how the decision will address those compelling reasons, and trusts and believes the sales person will deliver.