Use Win Themes to Increase Prospect Receptivity
There's a secret in sales that you need to know. A secret so straightforward, yet so potent and up until now surprisingly little understood.
There's a secret in sales that you need to know - a secret so straightforward, yet so potent and up until now surprisingly little understood. Chances are your competitors don't know it. I'm talking about "Win Themes." Don't be embarrassed if you've never heard the term; only those "in the know" (which includes all my clients) really understand the concept and how to use it for remarkable results.
What are Win Themes?
Win Themes are the intersection of your prospect's priorities and your strengths. For example:
- your prospect specific differentiators
- the messages that will be reinforced throughout your proposal, presentation or demo
- the top three to four areas of overlap that create a sweet spot which translates into immediate prospect receptivity
- a competitive advantage
Note: The opposite of a Win Theme approach is simply sharing everything your company can offer and hoping that your prospect can pull out what’s important to them.
Win Themes can only be built on a solid understanding of your prospect's vision, mission, goals, priorities, initiatives and problems. For example, if your prospect desperately needs to finish a project but lacks resources, and your organization has expert resources with a track record of getting projects done, then you have a Win Theme (and most likely a sale).
Steps to Develop your Win Themes
- Gather the account team to nail down your prospect’s top three to four priorities.
- Think through why each priority is important to them.
- Align your company’s strength with each priority.
- Develop your evidence for each Win Theme.
- Use during sales conversations, presentations, proposals and demos.
Sample Prospect Questions to Uncover Win Themes
- What are your biggest priorities (objectives, goals, initiatives, projects) for this year? Next two to three years?
- What are the top priorities of your company’s senior leadership team?
- How do your short-term goals compare to your long-term goals?
- Where are most of your resources (people, time, financial, tools) focused this year?
- Has your team placed any weight on your priorities or challenges?
- What underlying drivers are most affecting your priorities or challenges?
- How are current challenges affecting your business? What will happen if challenges aren’t addressed?
- What would be the biggest benefits to your business if you addressed this problem (or opportunity) area?
- Several of our other clients in your industry are focused on X, is this a priority for you as well?
- Would a good summary of your most important focus areas be X?
Why So Powerful?
Once Win Themes are identified, tested and expanded, they can be incorporated into proposals, presentations and other prospect interactions. Analyze your Win Themes in order of impact. Determine what evidence can be offered to support each Win Theme. Evidence might be a case study, customer testimonial or reference or a story that underscores your point. To test for strength and validity, have a neutral trusted adviser read through your proposal or listen to your presentation and tell you the top three things that stood out. Strong Win Themes will effectively lock out the competition.
A Sales Success Story
One of my clients was recently responding to a sizable RFP (request for proposal) doing a great job of answering each question. However, after reading through the entire response, there weren't any stand out' points that the prospect could hold on to. Utilizing the Win Theme approach, we zeroed in on several prospect goals that were areas of strengths for my client's company and bingo, we had our Win Themes. My client re-purposed each answer, including the executive summary, finding creative ways to highlight and reinforce the Win Themes throughout their response. The result: a big sale and a new customer for them!
The TOP Line Account Sales Success Model
Common close ratio: 25%
Add consistent pre-call planning: +20%
Add account strategy work, including Win Themes: +20%
NEW CLOSE RATIO: 65% +
Free Pre-Call Planning Tool Available for Download
To help you jump-start your pre-call planning efforts, including Win Themes to ensure a higher degree of success, I’m offering an easy to use Pre-Call Planning Tool. Simply visit www.toplinesales.com to download this invaluable tool today.
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About Lisa Magnuson and Top Line Sales
Lisa Magnuson has walked in the shoes of sales leaders. She was an award-winning sales manager and Sales VP including executive positions with several Fortune 50 companies. Top Line Sales, which Lisa founded in 2005, has a proven track record of helping companies overcome the barriers to winning TOP Line Accounts. Her clients boast of closed contracts totaling over $350 million in new revenue due to Lisa’s “roll up your sleeves” approach to winning big deals.
Lisa D. Magnuson
Mastermind Sales Strategist of 7-Figure Deals
