Blog #57 Hovering

If you sell to the C-Suite, then you are no doubt well versed in the time it can take to journey from the first hello to the actual sale. Selling to the C-Suite in the B2B space can require a gestation period similar to that of a baby elephant, which is two years for those who are interested.

It is virtually impossible to connect with someone new precisely at the time of need or requirement with any regularity. While there is no shortage of products and services that all claim to help you define and target only those with an immediate need, most if not all, offer any value.

Generally speaking, there will be pauses and delays over the course of time from the original introduction to the back end of the pipe, but it’s what happens in between that can keep you relevant, top of mind, and in the hunt.

In a traditional world, as B2B sales professionals, we are trained to maintain contact with prospects and new customers alike. We are coached to provide topical and insightful touch points that are relevant to our product and what we perceive to be the customer’s needs. Maybe it’s a new product your company is launching that you hope the prospect will be interested in, or perhaps it’s a thought you want to share having just read their just released annual report. Unfortunately, all of these topics usually fall into the same old, same old. That is, another pesky sales rep trying to jam their foot into a busy prospect’s door, all with little differentiation from the spam type rhetoric that prospects and clients deplore.

Think about it. If a prospect or client has said they don’t want to discuss your product or service for six months, that means they don’t want to be pestered with yet another “product up-date” or “we just dropped the price” communique for six months.

So where does that leave you? It leaves you in sales limbo. It means you will have to wait for six months because the alternative is one of becoming a sales stalker, and that can be the very kind of detrimental behaviour that pushes a prospect further away, versus drawing them closer.

In B2B sales, we need to respect what people ask for and not breach the boundary of respectful distance. Again, meaningless harassment only hurts your cause and lumps you in with all the other armatures.
All this being said, we also know that it is essential to remain top of mind with clients and prospects, particularly during the time that they are not interested in discussing your offering. It is imperative that we don’t drift off into the “Don’t remember that person” abyss. It is a death nail to having any chance of being a part of the game once the game resumes.

Staying top of mind, or being someone that the client doesn’t forget is a tricky balance between desirable communication and the wrong kind of communication.

This is where “hovering” comes in to play. Hovering is the act of maintaining contact, communication, and top of mind awareness in a way that doesn’t break the covenant of respectful distance. Hovering requires a different type of client knowledge, and that means knowledge about the total client.

The more you learn about a prospect or client, the greater the opportunity to remain in their space outside of your product or service expertise. Clients are not linear, they are multi dimensional in terms of their whole portfolio of responsibility, which includes various subjects beyond that to which they use your product or service.
If you limit your understanding and discourse with a client to only your direct area of offering, then you limit the scope of responsible and respectful interaction with that person as well.
So how does one “hover”?

Hovering starts with understanding the whole client. It means that you understand – to the extent possible – what keeps them up at night, what their other challenges may be beyond what you’re attempting to sell and from that, you become able to contribute across a wide range of subjects.

Did the client mention they were having car trouble? Was there a theme to their office environment? Did they talk about an issue other than what you came to talk about that was a problem or working really well?

Is there a best practice that they have discovered that could benefit your company or industry? Is there someone else that they would like to know that you know?

These are some, but by no means limited to, subjects of interest to your client or prospect that you can and should continue dialogue, all while having nothing to do with talking about your specific widget or service.

Did your client mention having a real problem with a specific employee’s behaviour? Maybe you have a relationship with a professional coach you could recommend.
Have they expressed concern with another supplier, a supplier that has nothing to do with what you offer? Maybe you could arrange a referral?

Do you see a weakness in their marketing and you know someone who you think could help? Why not arrange an introduction. Better yet, why don’t you arrange a lunch where you can also attend to provide a relationship bridge between two people you both know and trust?

To be clear, I practice what I preach, and go out of my way to help people or provide some kind of value that usually has no relationship to what I sell. However, I do so because it makes me feel good. I like it and I know my clients appreciate it. I have no separate motive other than to help and let them know I care about more than just making the next sale. I like it because I generally like my clients, and by being relevant in ways other than sales training, it allows me to reach out and touch people with greater frequency than would be possible by communications based solely on sales training.

Remember, smart sales people set out to build relationships long before the client’s need arises. The key is to do this while being persistent, doing so in a manner that is genuine, adds value and doesn’t cross the line of respectful distance.

Staying top of mind with a client or prospect is essential if you want to be in the game when it starts. Diversifying how you add value is the only way to remain recent and on the field.