proach will create more objections. Today, most buyers are two-thirds


of the way through the buying pro- cess before they ever engage with our salespeople. They have already researched our company as well as those of our competitors. Therefore, it’s more important than ever that your salespeople are pushing past Level Three calls and are moving into Level Four and Five calls.


Level One – Professional Visitor


Level Two – Price Peddler


Level Three – Technical Teller


At this level, the salesperson relies solely on the importance of relation- ships and rapport for achieving success.


At this next level, selling is all about price. The Level Two salesperson is only interested in winning by selling the company’s products at the lowest available price. This salesperson doesn’t sell value and doesn’t consider added value as part of the equation for winning.


Salespeople who are technically well versed are the ones who frequently conduct this level of selling. For them, selling involves telling the customer about the product features until they hit on something the customer likes. The old expression “spray and pray” was coined to describe this level of selling.


Level Four – Product/Service Consultant


Level Four is the first level of professional selling. It goes beyond price peddling and product pitches. These salespeople serve as Product/Ser- vice Consultants. They ask questions and uncover and develop needs. They address tactical problems but fail to create value because they fail to provide insights into the customers’ broader strategic business challenges and connect a purchase to addressing them.


Level Five – Value Creator


Salespeople at this top level look at the big picture from a business and strategic perspective. They possess an in-depth understanding of their solution’s value to the individual buyer engaged in the sales process. The customer comes to view a Level Five salesperson as a trusted advisor who can provide solutions and insights for driving their business.


quick review of how it works. Across B2B markets and companies,


the days of the price peddler and the product seller have come to an end. Today, customers seek relationships with companies and salespeople who have the Level Five skills required to be trusted advisors. Trusted advisors bring value by the way they sell, as well as by what they sell. Therefore, the Level Five sellers cannot only sell a competitive advantage; they are a competitive advantage.


ISSUE 2: 60% OF CALLS ARE SCRAP AND WASTE Our research viewed more than 2,500 sales calls and found that as many


as 60% of them are scrap and waste, meaning they fail to move the buying process forward. It’s alarming. This amount of waste would never be tol- erated in a manufacturing Lean or Six Sigma environment, and it should not be accepted in sales either. One of the greatest culprits to this waste is that 50% of sales calls are Level Three calls – what we consider Technical Teller calls. These sales- people are highly versed in their product, service, or solution, and they can’t wait to tell their prospective client about it. They get into presen- tation mode, and it’s the old “spray and pray.” They often don’t move the buying process forward, and this ap-


ACHIEVING MEASURABLE RESULTS When you clearly define what a qual- ity sales call looks like and align your organization around those definitions, three things will happen: Self-Assessment: Your salespeople


will begin self-assessing their calls. Re- cently, I completed a call and realized it had been a Level Three call. I knew it right away and could replay the call in my mind and realize where I had gone wrong. Self-reflection is something top performers do regularly. Coaching: Managers will also begin assessing calls occurring on their team. They will be able to talk through the sales call with the sales- person and discuss precisely what they need to improve. Consistency: You will find greater consistency in your sales calls, result- ing in higher close rates and average deal size. For a recent client, we analyzed


the average-revenue-per-rep data for those salespeople whose manager rat- ed them as Level One, Two, or Three sellers versus those whose managers rated them as Level Four or Five sell- ers. Those salespeople categorized as consistently selling at Level Four and Level Five had 91% higher revenue per rep. The payback is big! 


David Pearson is CEO of Level 5 Selling. Email him at david@levelfiveselling.com for a free, no-obligation, confidential report on how you score as a sales coach. Know how you stack up against the more than 1,000 sales coaches Level 5 Selling has assessed for coaching behaviors and activities addressing 30 sales coaching competencies.


SELLING POWER NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 | 19 © 2021 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.


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